SBA8(a) Business Development Program Data July 2006 The SBA 8(a) Business Development Program data is a list of companies that qualified for this business assistance program, which is geared toward minority and other disadvantaged businesses. This data is current as of April 2006. Federal acquisition policies encourage agencies to award a certain percentage of their contracts to businesses that qualify for the 8(a) program and another SBA program, the Small Disadvantaged Business Certification Program. Companies that qualify as 8(a) businesses, automatically qualify for the other program. As a result, journalists could use this data set along with the Federal Procurement Database (also available from NICAR) to study whether small disadvantaged businesses in their region are truly getting their share of federal contracts. ON THIS CD: In addition to this readme file, there should be: FIRM.dbf - The data file contains 21953 records This database contains all businesses that have participated in the SBA 8a program, including the name, address, number of employees in the firm, NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes, and average annual sales of the firm. layout.xls - The record layout for the data file. NAICS.dbf - This table lists the descriptions of the codes needed to decipher the field "naicscode" in the main table, along with the corresponding NAICS number. NAICSCODE refers to North-American Industry Classification System (see naicsdef.dbf for the definitions of each NAICS number). It replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997. Since its inception there are 350 new industries being recognized for the first time with NAICS and the economy is now grouped into 20 sectors versus the 10 sectors that had been used with SIC classification. This table is from the Census, http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html. There you can also find more information. SICDEF.dbf - This is a basic listing of SIC codes, which were replaced by NAICS codes. There is one record for each SIC code, whereas in the NAICS table there could be multiple records for each code depending on the changes brought by the NAICS codes. Use this table if you want to join to the FIRM table. DUNS.dbf - DUNS stands for Data Universal Numbering System. DUNS numbers are for internal processing, and they represent a kind of ID number. Approximately 11 million numbers have been assigned to active domestic firms . COUNTY.dbf - This lookup table has the code definitions for the field "firmcounty" that appears in the firm.dbf table OFFICES.dbf - This lookup table has the code definitions for the field "offcode" that appears in the firm.dbf table We've also included a couple GAO reports that deal directly with SBA 8(a): GAO.pdf - A GAO report from July 2000, "The SBA could better focus its 8(a) program to help firms obtain contracts." GAO2.pdf - A GAO report from July 2000, "SBA 8(a)'s information system is flawed and does not support the program's mission." There are several more recent GAO reports that you can find on www.gao.gov such as GAO-02-17 and GAO-01-792. The data file is in database format (dbase IV) and can be imported into any database manager, such as Access or FoxPro, or can be opened in Excel (it is small enough so that it won't exceed Excel's record limit) Here are directions for opening in Access: 1) Copy the table from the CD to your hard drive. 2) Open a blank database in Access, name it and save it. 3) Inside the new database, in the File menu select "Get external data" Then select "Import." 4) An import wizard will ask you to locate the file. You will need to change the "file of type" to "Dbase IV". A few points worth noting: - There are 24 records in firm.dbf that appear to have invalid data. Fourteen of these records are listed as "test" in the CASE field, and contain numerals in most fields. You can query these records out using wild cards: select * from FIRM where (case not like "0*") and (case not like "1*") - Several fields are kept in "logical" format. In FoxPro, these are represented by "T" and "F." In Access, the same values are shown as "0" and "-1." When querying, surround values with periods instead of quotes. Here is some general information about the 8(a) program: The 8(a) program was created through the Small Business Act. Through award of sole-source and limited-competition contracts, pursuant to Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, the Business Development program provides a logical, systematic approach to market access and enterprise growth to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The program design promotes competitive development over a nine-year period. Each participant's progress is monitored and measured, and its developmental needs are identified through annual reviews of business plans. For the 8(a) program, the applicant firm must be a small business, must be unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who are of good character and citizens of the United States, and must demonstrate potential for success. SBA district offices monitor and measure the progress of participants through annual reviews, business planning, and systematic evaluations. 8(a) participants may take advantage of specialized business training, counseling, marketing assistance, and high-level executive development provided by the SBA and its resource partners. They may also be eligible for assistance in obtaining access to surplus government property and supplies, SBA-guaranteed loans, and bonding assistance. Under the Small Business Act, certain presumed disadvantaged groups include African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, and Subcontinent Asian Americans. Other individuals can be admitted to the program if they show through a "preponderance of the evidence" that they are disadvantaged because of race, ethnicity, gender, physical handicap, or residence in an environment isolated from the mainstream of American society. In order to meet the economic disadvantage test, all individuals must have a net worth of less than $250,000, excluding the value of the business and personnel residence. Successful applicants must also meet applicable size standards for small business concerns; be in business for at least two years; display reasonable success potential; and display good character. Although the two-year requirement may be waived, firms must continue to comply with various requirements while in the program. The most recent annual report on the web is for FY 2005. You can find the report on this CD. All of the reports are located at http://www.sba.gov/8abd/indexwhatwedo.html More information about the program is available on the SBA Web site, http://www.sba.gov/8abd