Comment on FR Doc # E8-23139

October 20, 2008 Linda Korbol Assistant Administrator for Women’s Procurement Office of Government Contracting Small Business Administration 409 Third Street SW Washington DC 20416 Docket ID SBA-2008-0006 Docket Title The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures Document ID SBA-2008-0006-0001 Document Title The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures Comments on Proposed Rule Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures Small Business Administration Proposed rule Request for comments With this letter, I am formally responding to the SBA proposed rule in the Federal Register (72 FR 73285) issued on December 27, 2007 and ask you to withdraw it or amend it to facilitate the goals set forth by Public Law 106-554 of the year 2000, which allows contracting officers to award up to 5% of all contracts to women owned businesses. The number of contracts received would not matter if the 5% goal is not obtained. In our opinion, the SBA is correct with the best measure of underrepresentation by using a disparity ratio that measures utilization by computing the contract dollars awarded to WOSB’s relative to the total contract dollar awarded. It would only seem fair to use a dollar amount. The SBA was charged with implementing a women-owned procurement program that would help increase the contracting percentage from 3% to the 5% goal. The proposed rule is a drastic step backwards. Out of 140 NAICS, you intend to single out 4 primary codes for restrictive competition to eligible WOSB’s for certain federal contracts. . The program proposed by SBA frustrates the purposes set forth by Congress by narrowing its methodology and limiting the class of industries that can benefit from the act. Furthermore in the study used by RAND and the non-public Survey of Business Owners (SBO) data set from the Economic Census, there is either 0% underrepresentation or 87% underrepresentation for WOSB. I am awaiting response regarding my application into the 8(a) set-aside program. It is not merely enough to simply register with CCR and ORCA, while attempting to obtain certification for the 8(a) set-aside program designed to assist women in small business, one must do a lot of research and fact finding. I would like to commend the people that I have come into contact with at the SBA level. They have all been very helpful in providing feedback and assistance in an expedient manner. Let us not forget how and why we came to be here. Our Forefathers left the old world to break away from persecution of all types. When they got here they had to build the seaports and harbors which would eventually bring world trade to America. It is with this same pioneering spirit that I got into the Marine construction business, classified under NAIC code 237, which encompasses a very broad scope of Heavy and Civil Engineering construction. We do dredging and recovery and all aspects of the water front. As a General Contractor we use subs for aspects of the business that requires divers, welders, piledriver etc., as needed and we do not have employees. As per the definition of NAIC’s code 237 Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction; specialty trade activities are classified in this subsection if skills and equipment present are specific to heavy or civil engineering construction projects. However, the SBO non- public Survey of Business Owners data set from the Economic Census study used appears to only include numbers from companies “with employees” up to 500. Our company and field of endeavor would thus be under the field of radar in these surveys and would not be included in the underrepresented industries. The RAND computed report points out 28 different calculations narrowing it down to 4 specific NAICS codes in their opinion that are underrepresented. In the non-public SBO data and the RAND, 31 of 140 NAICS codes were identified as underrepresented. The closest measure under this survey for underrepresented industries to our field was that of Residential Building Construction. In the Residential Building Construction industry there are many specialty trades such as plumbers, electricians, heating and cooling, etc. The Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction subsector comprises establishments whose primary activity is the construction of entire engineering projects. Establishments in this subsector are classified based on the types of structures that they construct. This classification reflects variations of the underlying production processes. These different NAIC’s codes for these industries do no even come close in comparison. As in all studies or surveys most of the data is not accurate by comparison. In our opinion 87% underrepresentation is more accurate. I am a women owned business of 8 years with no reported employees, I pay taxes, have paid all sub-contractors, while trying to compete in a male dominate world, however, because of gender and ethnic background, I am held back socially and economically due to competition. In 8 years I have not met another woman owned business doing Marine construction nor am I aware of one. From sea to shining sea, we in marine construction, build to maintain America’s Harbors, Lakes, Rivers and Canals. Sincerely, Denise Knop BC Marine, Inc.