SUCCESS AND TRACK RECORD
The Fairness in Procurement Alliance (FPA) was established in 2005 to challenge, in
Federal Court, a ‘front’ for a large business and demonstrate that ‘Size Protests do not Work
and need to be Strengthened.’ The challenge was led by Raul Espinosa, CEO of FitNet
who secured the support of 10 national advocacy groups to help him with his court challenge.
His widely publicized success has lead to a widespread demand for more transparency and
changes on the SBA Size Standards. FPA now represents the procurement priorities of 34
national trade organizations whose combined constituency is comprised of ten (10) million
small businesses. Below is a brief summary of what Raul Espinosa has been able to
accomplish through FPA thus far:
Established a Procurement Think Tank at a major university to help level the playing field.
Conceived The Umbrella Initiative whose mission is ‘to double the number of small
businesses contracting with the government by the year 2020.”
Convinced the SBA Office of Advocacy to incorporate two of its targets on their ‘r³ Initiative’
which targets - for removal - ‘the Worst 10 Regulations and Rules affecting small businesses.’
Initiated and won key cases on Federal Court to demonstrate that ‘Size Protests don’t work.’
Demonstrated that the ‘Set-Aside Exemptions on the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)
are not supported by any statutes and have illegally diverted $640 Billions away from small
businesses’ over the last decade.
Published White Papers on ‘Size Protests;’ ‘Procurement Abuse’ and ‘Abusive Procurement
Practices’ which were used and referenced in the drafting of an Executive Order making
contracting with small businesses a priority.
Created ‘Procurement Advisories’ to raise the level of awareness of the procurement
community on issues which affect the statutory small business reservation.
Provided Congressional Testimony at Hearings and industry round tables on ‘waste, fraud and
abuse’ issues affecting small businesses.
Convinced DFAS, the Government Payment Office, after a three year battle, to pay small
businesses in ‘accelerated fashion’ to comply with the FAR regulations.
Arranged for the involvement of University Professors and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) in
all the sustainable projects of The Umbrella Initiative that create jobs
The mission of FPA is to bring fairness to public procurements so that small businesses can both compete and prosper at
the federal, state and local levels.
esses can both compete and
prosper at the federal, state and local levels. The FPA website is http://www.umbrellainitiative.org
es are posted
at http://bit.ly/White_Papers
he process.
The mission of FPA is to bring fairness to public procurements so that small businesses can both compete and
prosper at the federal, state and local levels. The FPA website is http://www.FPAportal.org and its activities are posted
at http://bit.ly/White_Papers