COMMERCIALIZATION:
RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Federal agencies increasingly favor commercial products and services. While this holds great potential to harness small-business innovation, past trends raise alarms.

★★★★★
With the recent issuance of the Executive Order on Commercialization (April 16, 2025),
these issues have become urgently relevant.

THE PROVEN RISK:

49%
Decline

The federal small-business vendor base has suffered a 49% reduction from FY2008 to FY2024.

Larger contracts increasingly awarded to fewer small businesses—shrinking competition, reducing innovation.

Without safeguards, commercialization could further reduce competition and harm local economies.

The Proven Solution: Enforce the Rule of Two

Enforcing this existing bipartisan safeguard will expand small-business participation, prevent harmful market concentration, and align commercialization with broader economic priorities.