The annual SBA scorecard controversy

Press releases on the small business numbers released today are trickling in.

The American Small Business League, which has vehemently criticized the SBA's data for years, claiming agencies award small business contracts to large companies and the SBA intentionally fudges the numbers, sent a lengthy statement, which is no yet posted on their website but will likely be soon.

"Despite all of President Obama's pre- and post-campaign rhetoric regarding small businesses, the fact is that the Obama Administration is allowing approximately $400 million a day in federal small business contracts to be awarded to Fortune 500 firms and some of the largest corporations in the world," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "The fact that the Obama Administration is awarding small business contracts to Fortune 500 corporations cannot be denied. It is irrefutable. I challenge anyone in the country to prove me wrong. In my mind, the Obama Administration is anti-small business, and we all need to stop listening to what they say, and start looking at what they do."

The SBA's scorecard causes controversy every year. The agency readily admits the numbers aren't perfect and have made a point to publicize efforts to improve the data. The scorecard -- like many stoplight-style rating systems -- has flaws and is based on federal contracting data, which in and of itself is often incomplete and or hard to digest. Nevertheless the agency seems to be putting forth a good faith effort to evaluate the government's progress in this area and make the results of those evaluations public.

Here is a statement from Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairwoman Mary Landrieu, D-La.:

"While these numbers show seeing areas of improvement, there is still work to be done to ensure we meet our goal every year. The Obama Administration is working to improve the number of small businesses earning government contracts by increasing public knowledge over the next 90 days on federal contracting opportunities. The Small Business Committee will continue to monitor the number of small businesses receiving federal contracts over the next fiscal year as we fight to get small businesses their fair share of the billions of dollars in government contracts available. Small businesses, including minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses, should be given the same opportunities as larger organizations because their employees work just as hard. While I am encouraged by these numbers, I still see room for improvement and I commit to working to improve these numbers for the next fiscal year and beyond."