“The Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) will have a significant adverse economic impact upon distributors, manufacturers, and other vendors of jansan products to the federal government,” ISSA Legislative Affairs Director Bill Balek stated in formal comments submitted to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in response to the agency’s draft request for quotation for the Establishment of Government-Wide Multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) for Janitorial/Sanitation Commodities.

ISSA urged GSA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the economic impact on the small businesses and their employees that will be impacted by this initiative. Such an economic analysis is critical prior to the prior to the implementation of the FSSI in the jansan sector in order to “achieve the desired purchasing efficiencies while minimizing economic displacement in the private sector.”

While the FSSI may result in savings to the federal government, Balek noted that the record is “void of any information related to the potential economic impact to the jansan industry and the economy in general.” In support of the requested cost-benefit analysis, Balek noted the severe economic hardship suffered by the office products industry after FSSI was implemented in that sector.

Balek referred to an informal ISSA economic survey conducted by the association, the results of which clearly demonstrate that jansan vendors to the federal government will lose substantial sales, and would be forced to lay off employees as a direct result of FSSI implementation.

In its comments, ISSA observed that GSA is proposing to drastically reduce the number jansan vendors on the GSA schedule to only 15—compared with the more than 1,000 vendors that currently do business with the federal government. “This drastic reduction in vendors will result in far more losers than winners under GSA’s proposed approach, and we can expect small businesses to take the brunt of the blow,” Balek stated.

Small Business Committee
In addition to its formal comments to GSA on the subject of federal strategic sourcing, ISSA is working with members of the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee to explore other avenues that will help minimize and mitigate the potential economic losses to the jansan industry due to federal strategic sourcing.