Every year, the federal government awards over $700 billion in contracts. These contracts are paid for by taxpayers in every town, district, and community across America.

But too many communities are being shut out. Longstanding legal protections for small businesses—including veteran-owned, women-owned, minority-owned, rural, and disadvantaged firms—are being quietly dismantled through executive actions that limit access and consolidate power.

Restore Fair Access™ is a national campaign to stop this erosion, uphold the law, and ensure every small business has the chance to compete.

What Changed in 2025?
A new Executive Order threatens to dismantle longstanding small business protections in federal contracting. Read our full rebuttal ➡

This Is About the Law
Small business participation in federal contracting is a legal right. It's backed by bipartisan legislation and decades of precedent. The Rule of Two, set-aside programs, and contracting goals are not optional. They're being ignored.

This Is About Your Community
In 2008, there were 144,774 small business federal vendors. Today, fewer than half remain. This isn’t reform. It’s exclusion.

This Is About Your Tax Dollars
When competition disappears, costs go up. When contracts are handed to a few big corporations, local jobs vanish. This affects your pocketbook, your economy, and your democracy.

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Who Gets Shut Out?

When the door to federal contracts closes on small businesses, entire communities lose out. These are the American businesses being left behind:

🟥 Rural Contractors
Local firms that build roads, maintain water systems, and repair energy infrastructure are overlooked when large national vendors dominate awards.

🟩 Women-Owned Businesses
Despite formal recognition through WOSB and EDWOSB programs, women-led firms are sidelined when competition is consolidated or bundled out of reach.

🟧 Veteran-Owned Firms
Service-disabled veterans built businesses after serving their country. Now they face a procurement system that no longer honors the access Congress intended.

🟪 8(a), Minority-Owned and Native Entities
Firms in the SBA 8(a) program and other disadvantaged business enterprises are losing ground — even though their inclusion is required by federal law, not just guided by equity goals.

🟦 HUBZone Employers
Businesses in historically underutilized zones are meant to receive federal opportunities. But consolidation shifts those chances away from their communities.

🟣 Tech Startups in Underserved Areas
Innovators outside Silicon Valley are boxed out when contracting favors entrenched giants instead of new solutions from diverse regions.

🛠️ Small Manufacturers
Even as the president champions revitalizing American manufacturing, federal procurement trends risk locking small manufacturers out. Without honoring small business set-asides, these firms will be excluded — undercutting innovation, reshoring, and job creation.

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What Can You Do?

• Small Business Owners: Share your story, speak to your political representatives, help us show the stakes.

• Community Leaders & Chambers: Add your name to our open letter to Congress.

• Citizens & Taxpayers: Learn how your district is affected. Demand accountability.