WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal government awarded nearly $273 billion in prime contracts and subcontracts to small businesses in fiscal 2025, exceeding its statutory small business contracting target and directing a record share of procurement dollars to smaller firms, according to an annual procurement scorecard released by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The U.S. Small Business Administration said small businesses received nearly 28% of all prime federal contract dollars during the fiscal year, above the government’s 23% statutory goal, representing $179 billion in direct contract awards.
The spending underscores the federal government’s role as a major source of revenue for small businesses in sectors including manufacturing, construction, technology, defense and research and development.
The SBA estimated that prime contract awards supported about 793,400 jobs, while small business subcontracts supported an additional 418,000 jobs.
The report also showed a decline in awards made through the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program, which provides contracting opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.
The federal government awarded $24.3 billion in prime contracts to 8(a) firms in FY25, or 3.7% of all prime contract dollars, down $1.5 billion from the prior fiscal year. Small Disadvantaged Businesses overall received $75.3 billion in prime contracts, representing 11.6% of contract spending, down from 12.27% in FY24.
The Trump administration attributed the decline to efforts to tighten oversight of the 8(a) program and eliminate what it described as discriminatory contracting practices.
The SBA said it launched the first audit of the 8(a) program in its nearly 50-year history and initiated proceedings to remove nearly 800 firms that either failed to meet program requirements or did not provide requested financial documentation.
The agency has also proposed changes that would eliminate the program’s race-based admissions framework.
“Now, as the SBA scorecard shows, a historic share of federal contracting dollars is reaching qualified American small businesses,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said in a statement, adding that the agency would continue efforts to address “waste, fraud, and abuse” in federal contracting.
The report highlighted increased contracting opportunities for veteran-owned businesses. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses received $32.5 billion in prime contracts, exceeding the federal government’s 5% contracting target for that category.
The SBA said it also cleared a backlog of more than 2,700 Veteran Small Business Certification applications last year.
The annual scorecard measures how individual federal agencies perform against government-wide small business contracting goals. Three agencies — the U.S. General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Commerce — received A+ grades, while 13 additional agencies earned A grades.
Overall, the federal government received an A grade on the government-wide scorecard.
Individual agency scorecards and the methodology used to calculate the grades are available at SBA.gov/scorecard.
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