John Shoraka

  • The American Small Business League filed a lawsuit May 3 calling on the Small Business Administration to stop what its president claims amounts to giving small business contracts to large firms and "inflating" numbers to meet compliance goals.

    May 04, 2016
  • SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet says her agency is spearheading several programs that make startup easier for small businesses. SBA also announced its 2016 Small Business Person of the Year award, which went to woman-owned, LGBT coffee company in California.

    May 02, 2016
  • The Small Business Administration is trying to institutionalize accountability across the government for meeting small business contracting goals as well as answer critics by increasing the amount of “eligible” procurement dollars.

    March 04, 2016
  • John Shoraka, associate administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development at the U.S. Small Business Administration, talks small business contracting with host Derrick Dortch. November 20, 2015

    November 18, 2015
  • The federal government awarded 24.99 percent of its prime contract dollars to small firms during fiscal 2014, the largest percentage on record. But Congressional overseers called the administration’s statistics misleading since they do not account for tens of billions of dollars in federal spending.

    June 29, 2015
  • A new rule proposed by the Small Business Administration could help small companies team up to go after larger government contracts, says John Shoraka, associate administrator of government contracting and business at SBA.

    January 20, 2015
  • The Small Business Administration is proposing a new rule that it says will help small companies get government contracts. Among the changes is that two or more small firms could bid as a joint venture, while not losing their small-business status. To discuss that and more, John Shoraka, SBA's Associate Administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development, joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.

    January 20, 2015
  • For the first time since 2005, the government awarded at least 23 percent of all prime contracts to small businesses. The Small Business Administration reported Friday small firms received $83 billion out of a possible $355 billion in 2013.

    August 04, 2014
  • Lawmakers and small business contractors are wondering why the Small Business Administration has not implemented the procurement reforms that President Obama signed into law 18 months ago.

    July 16, 2014
  • While agencies missed their overall small business goal in 2012, they did meet the governmentwide goals for small disadvantaged businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said the results are "unacceptable."

    July 03, 2013
  • On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories and resources we discuss.

    May 10, 2013
  • Federal agencies already have had a hard time meeting their goal to award 3 percent of contract dollars to small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone). But the 2010 Census wiped out more than 30 percent of the HUBZone companies certified by the Small Business Administration — leaving agencies searching for new firms and decertified firms trying to figure out what's next.

    October 11, 2012
  • The Obama administration has pushed agencies to increase contracting opportunities with small business, most notably creating a governmentwide task force to share best practices. Yet the federal government on a whole has continued to miss its 23 percent small business contracting goal. Federal News Radio examines this issue as part of our special report, The Obama Impact: Evaluating the Last Four Years.

    September 20, 2012
  • SBA released data today that showed the amount of total dollars going to small firms is down as are the overall percentage of contracts small businesses won in 2011. Agencies made only one governmentwide goal for SDBs last year.

    July 03, 2012