Daily Dawdles With Vital Information

 

The government recently wanted to buy some women's shirts and blouses, but most potential suppliers probably missed that information. The Commerce Business Daily (CBD) published it under "Containers, Packaging, and Packing Supplies." When the government wanted bids for women's pant suits, the CBD printed the notice under "Steel Structures." An upcoming manure purchase was listed under "Rations."

Herman Director, who reads the publication daily on behalf of the members of the National Small Business Association, recalls those snafus and others. The CBD for Thursday, October 8, got to subscribers on Tuesday, October 13. The late delivery cut from 10 to 5 the number of days companies had to mail their requests for bid forms into government agencies. "How the hell are you going to make it in 5 days?" asks Director, exasperated.

The CBD isn't always late with the wrong information, but it happens often enough to frustrate some would-be-government suppliers, and some people suspect that the mistakes aren't always accidental. "If a procurement official wants to bury something, he'll synopsize it late under the wrong code. That way," says Paul Seidman, a Washington attorney specializing in government procurement, "he'll be sure not to find any competitive bids, and he can award the contract to whomever he wants."

Virtually everything the government buys on competitive bidding must first be advertised in the CBD, which is about the only way that most small companies can learn what the government wants to buy. "We get constant complaints," says Kim Elliott, who works on procurement problems for the Senate Small Business Committee.

Part of the problem is antiquated technology. In some agencies, procurement officers must still type up the information they want published and mail it to Chicago, where the CBD is typeset, printed, and mailed to subscribers.

Another part of the problem is bureaucracy. The Commerce Department exercises editorial control of the CBD, but the Government Printing Office prints it and collects the $130 per year subscription fees (recently raised from $105). It uses the money to subsidize unprofitable publications, not to improve the CBD.

None of this would matter to anybody, says Seidman, "except that an inadequate and untimely Commerce Business Daily has been a substantial barrier to small business participation in the procurement process."