Small-biz contract numbers rise

The Small Business Administration said small businesses got $3 billion more prime contract dollars in fiscal 2003 than previously reported.

The increase pushed small-business prime contacting to 23.6 percent of the $277.5 billion in federal prime contract dollars awarded that year -- above the statutory goal of 23 percent. The 23 percent goal was last met in 1999, according to SBA spokeswoman Tiffani Clements.

The new total, $65.5 billion, set a new record for small-business prime contracting, according to SBA. The small-business contracting number was revised after SBA discovered a computer glitch that occurred when contracting data was transferred from the Defense Department to SBA, said SBA spokesman Seth Becker.