The Honorable Parren J. Mitchell and 8(a): Knowing the history behind the program that created opportunity
Black History Month is celebrated every February. As a federally recognized, nationwide celebration, it calls on all Americans to reflect on the significant roles that African Americans have played in shaping U.S. history. As a Black business owner, I am honored to highlight the significant role that one African American played in shaping our economy through opportunity in entrepreneurship.
I am the President and CEO of Civility Management Solutions (CivilityMS). CivilityMS provides professional consulting services as a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified business, along with other socio-economic status. Just this past month we celebrated six years of this certification. For those of you who do not know, the 8(a) Business Development Program—commonly known as the “8(a) Program”—provides small businesses with training, technical assistance, and contracting opportunities in the form of set-aside and sole-source awards. A set-aside award is a contract in which only certain contractors may compete, whereas a sole-source award is a contract awarded, or proposed for award, without competition.
The U.S. Federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world. Federal government purchases—called procurement—can have a substantial impact on the success of small businesses, especially those owned by underrepresented people. The program was created by the Small Business Development Act of 1958 and the regulations governing the act and it's subsequent amendments generally fall under 13 CFR part 124. In the 1980s, Congress expanded the program to include small businesses owned by four disadvantaged groups.
Recently, SBA issued a new analysis to identify industries where diversity is more commonplace and where there is room for improvement. Three main findings emerge:
People of color, women, and those from rural areas are underrepresented in their share of total Federal procurement dollars, even relative to their low rates of ownership in the general economy.
Diversity is higher when particular attention is paid to procuring goods from small businesses.
Programs like SBA’s 8(a) program, which offers contracting set-asides for small disadvantaged business as well as training and technical assistance, may help explain the greater level of diversity among small business contractors—including among Native American-owned small businesses.
This is all very valuable information, however, have you ever wondered what brilliant mind led the charge to make 8(a) what it is today? The Honorable Parren J. Mitchell was elected in 1970 to the first of his eight terms in Congress from the 7th District (Democrat—Baltimore, MD) after holding posts in the administrations of two Baltimore Mayors and one Governor.
Mitchell was one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), playing a significant role in crafting the identity of the new organization. During his sixteen years in Congress, he served on multiple committees; among them, he was Chairman of the House Small Business Committee. During his tenure, he fought tenaciously for Black economic empowerment which he phrased as "The second phase of the civil rights movement."
The 8(a) program was the brainchild of Mitchell while he was chair of the House Small Business Committee and his staff, led by National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Board Member Anthony W. Robinson. It is the most successful minority business program in the history of federal procurement. No formal program has made more Black millionaires than this program. Still, it must be updated and reinforced. “I worked very hard in Congress to get laws on the books to benefit minority business,” Mitchell told Sonny Goldreich in the Baltimore Business Journal.
Thanks to the commitment of Mitchell, in FY2020, 8(a) firms were awarded $34.0 billion in federal contracts, including $9.3 billion in 8(a) set-aside awards and $11.1 billion in 8(a) sole-source awards. Other programs provide similar assistance to other types of small businesses (e.g., women-owned, HUBZone, and service-disabled veteran-owned).
But we still have a lot more work to do! Black-owned businesses are still facing challenges with obtaining federal government contracts. U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has picked up the torched and I have joined him in the fight. Increasing access to federal contracts for underserved small businesses has long been a priority for Cardin. In November 2021, Cardin’s legislation to expand the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) passed as part of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. The measure will expand the MBDA’s programs to support minority entrepreneurs, including its federal procurement centers, into more communities/ It will establish the Parren J. Mitchell Entrepreneurship Education Grants Program to cultivate the next generation of minority entrepreneurs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority serving institutions, such as community colleges and native colleges.
In December 2018, the Senate passed Cardin’s Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018, which increased the small business size standards calculation from the average annual receipts from the previous three years to the previous five years, which I was honored to speak on at one of the Senate’s Committee Hearings. The change reduced the impact of years wherein businesses experience unexpected rapid growth, often causing them to prematurely lose their small business status. In December of last year, Cardin secured a 1-year extension for small businesses participating in the 8(a) Business Development Program in response to economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which valued CivilityMS greatly … until 2026 now!
As you can see, we need to fight for minority small business owners. This month, we thank the Honorable Parren J. Mitchell for the groundwork he laid that has allowed Black business owners like me, to develop million dollar businesses and having the ability to have impact in your community. If you are interested in becoming 8(a) certified, I encourage you to take your time and make strong relationships before you certify to ensure your known by federal government employees. I waited until they began to ask me ‘Laurie, are you 8(a) yet?” Also, definitely find a mentor who can assist you with both the process and your growth.
As of November 16, 2020, the 8(a) Mentor-Protégé program and the All-Small Mentor-Protégé program have merged into one SBA Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). You can click here to find out more information about that program.
If you are interested in learning how I obtained my first million, read my blog titled “Obtaining 6-figure Government Contracts as an African-American Business Owner.”
Happy Contracting!
Laurie Sayles