FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 12, 1998
Contact: Luz A. Hopewell
Tel.: (202) 366-1930
(800) 532-1169
DOT 46-98

NATIONAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW
REINVENTS SECTION 8(a) CONTRACTING PROCESS

As part of National Performance Review (NPR) efforts to streamline the federal government’s acquisition program, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to speed up processing for Section 8(a) federal government contracts.

"Vice President Gore is committed to transforming outdated federal government procurement practices into smart, common sense methods that work for small businesses," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater said. "This innovative means of developing public-private partnerships is yet another excellent example of the National Performance Review at work."

Three objectives of the MOU are to:

• reduce the interval between the date DOT offers a proposed acquisition to the SBA and the date SBA accepts the offer on behalf of the 8(a) firm.
• avoid redundant processes by authorizing DOT to negotiate and award contracts directly to eligible 8(a) firms.
• provide for 8(a) simplified acquisition awards of less than $100,000.

Before this MOU, vendors meeting 8(a) certification criteria who wished to participate in DOT contracts were required to wait weeks or sometimes months before receiving notification of the award’s status. The MOU is based on a pilot program between DOT and SBA which began in January of 1997.

DOT’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Administrative Service Center were the catalysts behind the MOU. This DOT team recently received Vice President Gore’s NPR Hammer Award for its involvement in this program.

Due to the program’s success at DOT, the SBA plans to expand this concept to other federal agencies.

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