Department of General Services compiling information on small businesses

The Department of State is submitting to the Department of General Services (DGS) voluntarily gathered information from small businesses.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order in September directing DGS to increase the amount of spending for goods and services that goes to small and small diverse businesses, to foster more competitive procurement, and to lead and coordinate efforts with other agencies to increase total operational spending and participation in the Small Business Reserve (SBR) program.

DGS Secretary Reggie McNeil updated the definition of a small business to be a business with 100 or fewer full-time employees that makes less than an average of $47 million over three years. A small diverse business is owned by a woman, minority, individual with a disability, member of the LGBTQ community, or a service-disabled veteran.

“Partnering with the Department of State to gather this pertinent information as soon as possible builds on the steps that the Shapiro-Davis Administration has already taken to open new doors of opportunity for small, small diverse, and veteran-owned businesses,” McNeil said. “This direct feed of information will give us the opportunity to contact these small businesses and help them move along the road of success.”

DGS will post semiannual data for each agency’s total operational spending for SBR procurements.