Economic Opportunity

              Office of the Illinois State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka
Division of Economic Opportunity
Springfield Office Chicago Office
300 West Jefferson Street 100 West Randolph, Suite 15-600
Springfield, IL 62702 Chicago, IL 60601
Fax 217-557-6439 Fax 314-814-3716
Volume 1, Issue 12
1, Issue 2
ment Data –Next Generation
(FPDS-NG) system, the only offi-cial
data reporting system for fed-eral
procurement data. The data
show that the federal government
purchased $314 billion worth of
goods and services from busi-nesses
large and small.
For the third year in a row, the
federal government has met or
exceeded its small business con-tracting
goal. The Department of
Defense, the leading purchaser of
goods and services, awarded $53.8
billion of its contracts, or about
24.6 percent, to small businesses.
The FPDS-NG report showed that
the government surpassed the 5
percent goal of contracts going to
small disadvantaged businesses.
Participants in the SBA’s 8(a) Busi-
Small Businesses Garner $79.6 Billion in Federal Contracts in
FY 2005; Another Record Year for Small Business
SPRINGFIELD OFFICE
David C. Freeman
217-558-6222
dfreeman@treasurer.state.il.us
Rebecca Crabtree
217-557-6436
rcrabtree@treasurer.state.il.us
CHICAGO OFFICE
Bob Kogut
312-814-1244
bkogut@treasurer.state.il.us
John Cieslik
312-814-1788
jcieslik@treasurer.state.il.us
Ben Noven
312-814-1244
bnoven@treasurer.state.il.us
Inside This Issue
Record Year; Small Business
Bright Start
2006 Agriculture
Scholarship Winners
Farms Focus on Finance
Salary Increases in 2007
Smart Women
Smart Money Conferences
2006 1 Year Anniversary Issue
Federal Government Again
Surpasses Statutory Goal
For the first time in history,
small businesses received a
record-breaking $79.6 billion in
federal prime contracts, $10
billion more than the year be-fore,
Administrator Hector V.
Barreto of the U.S. Small Busi-ness
Administration said.
The contracts represented
25.4 percent of federal prime
contracting dollars in FY 2005,
surpassing the overall govern-ment
statutory goal of 23 per-cent
for the third consecutive
year.
The small business contracting
data was reported by the gov-ernment’s
Federal Procure-ness
Development received $10.5
billion in contracts, a 25 percent
increase over the previous year.
Firms in the Historically Under-utilized
Business Zone
(HUBZone) program received
$6.1 billion in contracts, a 27
percent increase over the previ-ous
year.
Contracting dollars awarded to
women-owned small businesses
increased by $1.4 billion to a
record $10.5 billion, a 15 percent
increase over the previous year.
Contracts to service-disabled
veteran-owned small businesses
increased significantly, reaching
$1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion
in FY 2004 and a 58 percent in-crease
over the previous year.
A Bright Start in a Financial College Savings Program
IL State Treasurer offers
unique gift-giving ideas:
Bright Start College Savings Pro-gram
Gift Certificates
Bright Start is the 529 college
savings plan administered by
Topinka’s office that gives fami-lies
and friends an easy way to
help save for a child’s college
education.
With the ever growing popu-larity
of gift cards and certifi-cates,
any U.S. resident may
purchase a gift certificate for
friends or relatives, whether or
not the recipient lives in Illinois.
Attractively designed with holiday
decorations, the certificate is deliv-ered
in a festive envelope in
amounts beginning at $25.
Contributions are deductible from
an Illinois resident’s state taxes.
Another benefit is that interest
earned on the account is exempt
from federal taxes when the funds
are used to pay for college-related
expenses such as tuition, room and
board, books and supplies. Addi-tionally,
the funds can be used at
most accredited public or private
institutions throughout the coun-try.
To date, over 127,000 Bright
Start accounts have been opened
since the program started in April
2000, and over $1.6 billion has
been invested.
Account owners can save some
time and energy from crowded
shopping malls by ordering the
certificate by phoning 217-558-
7101 in Springfield, 312-814-1700
in Chicago.