You must be talking about the 8a set-side that is for minority owned/women owned businesses. Most of their contracts are not high dollar. They are awarded in AFMC which I am the most familiar with. For 8 years they get preferential treatment in getting contracts but they cannot just sit back and do nothing or perform badly or they will not get anymore contracts.
Know some 8a contractors that have done some great work and others that our louzy. But then that can be said of the other contractors as well -- some are good and some are really bad.
The big guys still get the larger contracts and those companies are white male dominated -- if you don't believe me look at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin; TRW and the list goes on and on.
They are also stiffened the rules on 8a is my understanding and they don't have as many set-asides as they used to have!
I'm no fan of the big corporations -- they would do well to split up into *many* small true *independent* entrepreneurial units. That would really kick this economy into gear!
I despise that rascist and sexist 8a stuff -- and it's used beyond the welfare bureaus, you should know. For example in the railroads, getting smaller jobs is more difficult unless you have minority ownership -- much of the smaller, newer work is partly funded by Federal grants, and that throws the whole thing into the 8a morass.