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Open Recommendations (31 total)

Small Business Innovation Research: Better Data and Clarity on Eligibility of Venture Capital-Owned Businesses Are Needed

GAO-24-107004
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Administrator of the SBA should take steps—such as clarifying the SBIR policy directive or eligibility guide or suggesting model language for SBIR solicitations—to ensure that all agencies participating in the SBIR program fully understand the eligibility of small businesses with differing levels of ownership by VCOCs, hedge funds, or private equity firms. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Privacy: Dedicated Leadership Can Improve Programs and Address Challenges

GAO-22-105065
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of SBA should fully define and document a process for ensuring that the senior agency official for privacy or other designated privacy official is involved in assessing and addressing the hiring, training, and professional development needs of the agency with respect to privacy. (Recommendation 58)
Open
SBA stated that it agreed with our recommendation and was developing plans to address it. SBA officials told us in March 2023 that the agency was updating its Privacy Program Plan, which would, among other things, delineate hiring, training, and professional development needs of the agency with respect to privacy. We will continue to follow up with SBA on its efforts.

Small Business Administration: Targeted Outreach about Disaster Assistance Could Benefit Rural Communities

GAO-24-106755
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The SBA Administrator should ensure that the Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience distinguishes between rural and urban communities in SBA's outreach and marketing plan and incorporates actions to mitigate challenges encountered by rural communities in accessing the Disaster Loan Program. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Small Business Administration: Recent Changes to the 8(a) Program's Financial Thresholds Need Evaluation

GAO-22-104512
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Associate Administrator of SBA's Office of Government Contracting and Business Development should document the procedures for the Section 408 report process. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In March 2024, SBA stated that its Office of Government Contracting and Business Development and Office of Performance, Planning, and the Chief Financial Officer were working to document the procedures for the Section 408 report process. SBA plans to develop standard procedures, a process map, and a desk guide to document the procedures identified to gather data used for the Section 408 report. SBA stated that the agency anticipates completing these actions by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. GAO will continue to monitor SBA's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Disability Employment: Hiring Has Increased but Actions Needed to Assess Retention, Training, and Reasonable Accommodation Efforts

GAO-20-384
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Administrator of SBA should develop and implement policies and procedures for obtaining employee feedback about the agency's reasonable accommodations efforts and use such information to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the program. This may include identifying any effects on employee retention, identifying potential risks, and determining any improvements that may be warranted. (Recommendation 5)
Open – Partially Addressed
According to SBA, as of December 2020, it has implemented actions to evaluate the effectiveness of its Reasonable Accommodation (RA) program. For example, SBA stated that it implemented a revised Employee Exit Survey to solicit feedback relating to the agency's efforts to recruit, hire, and advance individuals with disabilities. According to SBA, survey results are assessed on a quarterly basis to determine whether there were any concerns related to being accommodated during their employment at the agency. SBA stated it developed an RA survey to solicit employees' and managers' feedback with the RA process. According to SBA, this is a survey that will be deployed to both managers and employees at the time a decision is made and implemented, and the case has been closed. The agency plans to deploy the survey starting in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021. In addition, SBA created a Reasonable Accommodation mailbox for employees and applicants to anonymously submit inquiries about any disability-related matters or reasonable accommodation requests, which may include medical documentation that they are uncomfortable sharing with their supervisors. In September 2022, SBA provided an update and corresponding documentation, which included RA survey results, exit survey results, and employee separation data by disability. In January 2023, we requested additional supporting documentation of how the agency's efforts are captured in SBA policies and procedures. According to SBA, it revised its Reasonable Accommodation and Personal Assistance Service Policy and Procedures in July 2021, however did not include assessing the effectiveness of the RA process. SBA stated it plans do add this in a later version, or addendum, of its policy. In March 2023, SBA (1) provided documentation that it continued the survey through Q1 of Fiscal Year 2023, and (2) stated that it has taken steps to update its procedures to capture these actions, but that the addendum is not yet complete. This would help to indicate that the agency expects to continue and institutionalize its efforts with regard to obtaining employee feedback about the agency's RA efforts and using such information to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the program. When we receive the requested documentation, we will update the status of this recommendation accordingly. As of July 2023, SBA said it is continuing efforts to close this recommendation. In January 2024, SBA reiterated that an update is forthcoming. Once we receive additional information from SBA, we will update this recommendation accordingly.

Small Business Administration: Recent Changes to the 8(a) Program's Financial Thresholds Need Evaluation

GAO-22-104512
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration
Priority Rec.
The Associate Administrator of SBA's Office of Government Contracting and Business Development should assess the process for producing Section 408 reports in light of identified delay-causing factors and use the results of the analysis to identify potential operational efficiencies and develop a plan to address report delays, including revising procedures as needed and developing time frames for report submission. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In March 2024, SBA stated that the agency had assessed the current Section 408 process to develop revisions that reduce or eliminate reporting delays. In addition, SBA stated that the agency had completed and obtained Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the fiscal year 2018 Section 408 report. SBA also stated that the agency the Section 408 reports for fiscal years 2019-2022 were drafted and pending OMB approval. SBA stated that the agency anticipates completing these actions by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. GAO will continue to monitor SBA's efforts to implement the recommendation.

Restaurant Revitalization Fund: Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight

GAO-22-105442
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access should develop and implement policies and procedures for addressing RRF recipients who do not meet annual reporting requirements. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed
In July 2023, SBA sent a final letter to recipients urging them to submit their annual reports. In September 2023, SBA provided documentation of steps taken to communicate with recipients who had not met reporting requirements, as well as documentation of procedures for recovering funds for recipients who do not comply with the reporting requirement. In March 2024, SBA officials said about 10 percent of recipients had not submitted a post-award report (which had been due by April 30, 2023). SBA officials said that they are planning to send letters to the overdue recipients requesting they return their awards. In April 2024, SBA officials said that the letters would be dispersed after they complete a system update that would allow recipients to remit their awards. According to SBA's post-award recovery procedures, SBA will refer recipients that fail to submit post-award reports to the Office of General Counsel who will determine if it should be referred to the Department of Justice. This recommendation will remain open until SBA provides evidence of implementing these procedures.

COVID Relief: SBA Could Improve Communications and Fraud Risk Monitoring for Its Arts and Entertainment Venues Grant Program

GAO-23-105199
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Associate Administrator of SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance should develop a comprehensive strategy for communicating with potential and actual grant program applicants in the event of a disaster or other emergency. Such a strategy should provide guidelines for how to communicate information in a timely and effective manner during nationwide emergencies (such as pandemics) and for doing so for any future industry-specific emergency assistance programs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In April 2023, SBA stated it had engaged an outside contractor to gather grant recipients' perception of the SVOG program through a survey of randomly selected applicants and interviews with awardees. SBA anticipates completion of that effort in July 2023. In addition, grant awardees will complete surveys as part of the grant closeout process. SBA said it would incorporate lessons learned from these efforts into an evaluation report for interested stakeholders. Further, SBA stated that future emergency programs would benefit from flexibility to pursue unique communication solutions, similar to how SBA waived its Standard Operating Procedures to allow for a high level customer service team to have direct contact with applicants during the application process. In April 2024, SBA stated its Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience (ODR&R) and its Disaster Public Affairs and Communications Division will move forward on its overall communication strategy based on organizational changes made to ODR&R. SBA said the strategy will take a wholesale approach to public facing messaging platforms along with disaster outreach tactics to include a higher profile social media presence to meet survivors where they are. Further, a key element of the strategy will be utilizing better resources to connect directly with disaster survivors and more effectively pushing accurate and timely information, so they are able to make better decisions regarding the various disaster and traditional SBA assistance available. SBA plans to fully address this recommendation by October 2025. This recommendation will remain open until SBA shares documentation of the strategy with GAO.

Tribal Economic Development: Action is Needed to Better Understand the Extent of Federal Support

GAO-22-105215
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Assistant Administrator of SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, in coordination with tribes, should establish a plan for periodically analyzing and publicly reporting the amount of economic development assistance provided by SBA to tribal entities and using that analysis to identify opportunities to improve assistance to tribal entities. (Recommendation 5)
Open – Partially Addressed
As of March 2024, SBA has continued to take steps to address this recommendation. For example, SBA held a series of three listening sessions during 2023 to identify barriers to accessing SBA's business counseling services and any resulting impact to tribal and Native American businesses. In addition, according to SBA data, SBA-backed loans to American Indian and Alaska Native entrepreneurs had nearly doubled from $139 million in fiscal year 2020 to $278 million in fiscal year 2023. SBA told us that this data is based on voluntary reporting of race and may not be comprehensive. As we reported in August 2022, geographic analyses that supplement analyses of race can provide additional insight into the reach of SBA programs in tribal communities. To fully implement this recommendation, SBA's Office of Native American Affairs needs to show evidence of regular data analysis and public reporting on the amount of economic development assistance provided by SBA to tribal entities (in addition to data analysis based on race), as well as a plan for how they will use the results of this analysis to improve opportunities for assistance to tribal entities.

COVID Relief: SBA Could Improve Communications and Fraud Risk Monitoring for Its Arts and Entertainment Venues Grant Program

GAO-23-105199
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration The Associate Administrator of SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance should ensure that its post-award monitoring procedures for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program specifically address the risks the agency has assessed, including fraud risks, and clearly link them to monitoring activities. As a part of this effort, SBA should document its tolerance for the risks it has identified. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In April 2023, SBA stated that the SVOG fraud risk assessment has been finalized and now directly addresses the risks identified in the post-award monitoring procedures as well as risk tolerance. According to SBA, the updated fraud risk assessment includes a mitigation plan for the risks identified and describes monitoring procedures designed to reduce those risks. SBA stated that the agency's Fraud Risk Management Board reviewed and approved the updated fraud risk assessment in March 2023. In April 2024, SBA stated that the agency has adopted an updated and refreshed Fraud Risk Assessment for the SVOG program focusing on the post-award Monitoring and Closeout phase of the grant life cycle. SBA said the assessment addresses the risks that accompany this phase and the impacts of those risks and links its monitoring activities to those risks. SBA plans to fully address this recommendation by October 2025. This recommendation will remain open until SBA provides documentation of updated post-award monitoring procedures.
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