The U.S. Small Business Administration refuses to recognize people with disabilities as disadvantaged small business owners.  Respectfully, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Sub-continent Asian Americans, African Americans, and Pacific Asian Americans are automatically considered disadvantaged small business owners, but disabled people (including our service-disabled veterans) are not considered presumptively disadvantaged, thus denying them Federal and State government contracting set-aside benefits for minorities.  The SBA’s lack of action suggests that disabled persons are not the right kind of minority.

Change is needed!  The U.S. government is the largest customer in the world. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses.  As part of buying it provides set-asides to support minority run businesses, yet the SBA does not believe that disabled-owned small businesses warrant support to participate in such contracting opportunities.  The SBA is picking and choosing who it classifies as a minority, ignoring decades of law and fact to the contrary.

Holding all other things the same with racial minorities, disabled individuals must demonstrate (through witnesses, names, dates, frequency, etc.) that they have been discriminated against to prove they are socially disadvantaged -- unlike other visible minorities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 19% of people with disabilities were employed during the nine-year period between 2009 and 2018, as compared to more than 65% of people without disabilities.  It is impossible to understand how the SBA believes disabled-owned small business owners are not discriminated against.

People with disabilities are vastly underrepresented in the fastest growth occupations in the economy and are over-represented in the occupations with the fastest rates of decline.  Thus, it is imperative that the SBA recognize disabled persons as presumptively disadvantaged to allow them to gain access to important State and Federal programs that support disabled-owned enterprises со аs to create jobs.

I am a disabled-professional, having completely lost my left-arm 2.5 years ago, I have been witnessing first-hand discrimination of the disabled. Though fortunate with my education, I feel compelled to support all the disabled people who have not had all benefits of education that I do.  Please support this cause, people with disabilities, particularly visible disabilities and “severe” disabilities are woefully underrepresented in the economy.  Let's SUPPORT THE DISABLED with the dignity of developing their small businesses with government contracts — tell the SBA that disabled-persons are presumptively disadvantage!