Right now, a low number of eligible construction firms are entering the 8(a) BD Program. This is likely because business is good in the construction industry, times are booming. Construction firms are having little difficulty finding work, finding skilled workers is now the challenge. This is because over the past six years construction spending in the United States has increased from $800 billion to $1.29 trillion per year. Additionally, if we look at the graph, all of this growth has come from the Private Sector, with the Public Sector representing the green flat line that is showing a recent upward trend.

Federal Construction Market Sizing

For 2020, the federal construction budget request is $120B.

Bucking the trend could be a good idea as less construction firms are now entering the federal market. Furthermore, we are seeing a slight uptick in Public Sector Construction spending (green line) and downtick in Private Sector Construction spending (blue line).

Conclusion

If Federal Construction Spending remains fairly constant, and in good times we lose up to half of the number of 8(a) construction firms due to lack of interest, then the growth in per 8(a) firm revenue due to this decline is equal to or greater than the growth in the private sector.

The 8(a) Certification remains a great way to increase your construction firm’s growth potential with the average 8(a) firms performing on over $4 million per year in federal contracts.