Many of these small government suppliers are run by women, reflecting the practices of some governments to set aside contracts for firms owned by women or minorities.
In the case of economically disadvantaged businesses, government agencies can often set aside contracts and award them without putting them up for a competitive bid.
Such a notion would place the city's finances and operations under the control of an appointed manager only months after Michigan leaders vastly expanded the power of such emergency managers, giving them the ability to set aside contracts with public workers' unions.
Ms. Preckwinkle, several other aldermen and a number of community and labor groups eventually persuaded the city's bid committee, Chicago 2016, to agree that if the city won the Games, it would set aside contracts for minority-owned businesses, jobs for local residents and new housing for low-income families.
The SBA's 8(a) program provides mentoring, counseling, and access to sole-source or set aside contracts.
The basis for the latest Constellation upheaval is a clause in the contracts of Lockheed Martin, Alliant Techsystems Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which states that the companies are responsible for setting aside contract money to pay for termination costs if the Constellation program were canceled.
HubZones are designated disadvantaged neighborhoods; the government sets aside contracts for businesses that have their principal office in a HubZone and employ HubZone residents.
The effort, started last year by the Pentagon's Kabul Regional Contracting Center, sets aside contracts totaling $365 million over five years to produce clothing and equipment for the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army.
The government sets aside contracts of under $100,000 for certified small business, for example.
