Report on small business procurement-breakdown of all contract procurement by types of requirements, by bureaus—Continued STATEMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS POLICIES, U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT The Treasury Department follows the principles and requirements enumerated in the Federal Procurement Regulations in carrying out its small business procurement program. The Treasury Department issuance on Procurement prescribes the general policy that bureaus shall, to the greatest extent possible, conduct their procurement programs so that a fair share of their contracts is placed with small business concerns. There has been no possibility to date of class set-asides on Treasury procurement. Bureaus operate on a decentralized basis procuring directly their own requirements that are not available from an established source. The bureaus' requirements fall into two general categories, either highly specialized, such as (1) the needs of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for engraving and printing supplies, and those needs of the Bureau of the Mint for coinage raw materials and production equipment, and (2) the requirements of the remaining bureaus for general administrative requirements. The specialized requirements (Bureau of Responsive to item 3 of the subcommittee's request. the Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing) are generally not available from small business; therefore, class set-asides are not practical for our specialized requirements. The bureaus that have requirements for primarily administrativetype items are not a fertile source for class set-asides either, since their needs are miscellaneous. However, Treasury bureaus make a continuing effort to evaluate the possibility of setting individual procurement requirement items aside as a total or partial set-aside for small business. In many cases we have found that there are no small business bidders who are able or who are willing to bid. For example, the Office of the Treasurer, U.S., made a set-aside for 100 million Government blank card checks in 1965. However, no bidder responded. Previous evaluations by representatives of the Small Business Administration had indicated that class set-asides were feasible in the U.S. Coast Guard but no other areas were considered to be desirable because of the nature of the bureaus' needs. However, we plan to re-evaluate all bureau requirements in the near future to determine whether any requirements may be suitable for class set-asides for small business. The most success in distributing a portion of our procurement program to small business is realized on negotiated small purchases. All contracting officers make every effort to place as many of our small purchases with small business as small business capability for handling such orders is available. For example, Treasury policy on small purchases states "To the extent possible, small purchases shall be made from small business". All Treasury bureaus follow a practice of publishing their requirements above $5,000 in the Commerce Business Daily for broad dissemination to small business concerns. UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY (The subcommittee's request for information follows:) SELECT COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, Hon. LEONARD H. MARKS, DEAR MR. MARKS: The Procurement Subcommittee of the House Select Committee on Small Business is conducting a study of the small business procurement policies, practices and programs of Federal departments and agencies. In connection with this study, it will be appreciated if you would furnish the following: 1. Statistical report showing small business participation by dollars and percent in the agency's advertised, negotiated and set-aside procurements over $100 during fiscal years 1964-1967. 2. Description by type of requirements procured and the relative dollar value of each category. 3. Statements of policies applied and methods utilized to develop and encourage small business participation in the agency's procurements. A response and your comments in 12 copies by October 31 will be appreciated. Sincerely yours, (The response follows:) ABRAHAM J. MULTER, Chairman, Procurement Subcommittee. UNITED STATES INFORMATION Agency, Hon. ABRAHAM J. MULTER, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your letter of 9 October requesting certain information regarding U.S. Information agency small business procurement policies and practices. It is the policy of the Agency to promote and encourage small business participation in its procurement programs to the fullest extent feasible within the authorities granted under law and the nature of the Agency's requirements. Compliance with this policy is the responsibility of all contracting officers and heads of purchasing activities under the supervision and guidance of the Agency Contracting Officer. Compliance with the above includes: 1. Maintenance of a list of supplies and services set aside for award to small business concerns exclusively. 2. Publicizing in the Department of Commerce Business Daily all solicitations for offers estimated to exceed $2,500. 3. Establishment by contracting officers of joint or unilateral set-asides whenever the nature of a procurement warrants. 4. Solicitation of small business concerns for placement on established Bidders Mailing Lists and development of new lists for supplies or services which such concerns can furnish. 5. Initiation of policies and procedures which will assist Agency activities employing small purchasing procedures to increase orders placed with small business concerns. A statistical report of Agency procurements for services, supplies, and construction for the fiscal years 1964-1967 is enclosed. Sincerely, Enclosure. LEONARD H. MARKS, Director. VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION (The subcommittee's request for information follows:) SELECT COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, Hon. WILLIAM J. DRIVER, Veterans' Administration, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. DRIVER: The Procurement Subcommittee of the House Select Committee on Small Business is conducting a study of the small business procurement policies, practices and programs of Federal departments and agencies. In connection with this study, it will be appreciated if you would furnish the following: 1. Statistical report showing small business participation by dollars and percent in the administration's advertised, negotiated and set-aside procurements over $100 during fiscal years 1964-1967. 2. Statistical report for the same period showing small business participation in procurements of construction work. 3. Description by type of other requirements procured and the relative dollar value of each category. 4. Statements of policies applied and methods utilized to develop and encourage small business participation in the administration's procurements. A response and your comments in 12 copies by October 31 will be appreciated. Sincerely yours, ABRAHAM J. MULTER, Chairman, Procurement Subcommittee. (The response follows:) VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington, D.C., October 31, 1967. Hon. ABRAHAM J. MULTER, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reply is made to your letter of October 10th in which you request certain information regarding our participation in the small business program, and other agency-wide procurements. The policies and procedures followed by this agency to develop and encourage small business concerns to particpate in our procurements are outlined in Federal Procurement Regulations 1-1.700 thru 1-1.711. Unilateral determinations are utilized in making set-asides for small business concerns. Enclosed are twelve copies of our statistical reports as requested by subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3 of your letter. We regret that some delay occurred in our reply. If there is any further information required, it will be promptly furnished. Sincerely, W. J. DRIVER, Administrator. (525) |