About
Twenty-two years in the federal marketplace
We measure the federal marketplace and take the evidence — and what it actually means for small business — directly to the people writing the rules, so small business is heard in rooms where it has no lobbyist. We bring agency buyers and prime contractors to the table, and we equip small businesses to compete.
Funded by our members only, since 2004.
Independent, and in one room
The whole marketplace, at one table
The American Small Business Chamber of Commerce™ brings the whole federal marketplace into one room: small business suppliers, the agency buyers who award the work, the small business liaisons inside those agencies, the prime contractors looking for subcontractors, and the resource partners who help firms get ready. A supplier base is a set of relationships before it is a set of contracts, and this is where those relationships get made.
Agency representatives, primes and resource partners attend our summits complimentary, and any of them are welcome to join the chamber. ASBCC is funded by its members — dues, events and capped sponsorships — and our sponsors are members too. Sponsorships are held to modest thresholds, and we take no money from political activist organizations. No one writes a check large enough to change what we file or the actions we take.
Leadership
Charmagne Giardina, President
A marketplace does not happen on its own. It is built one relationship at a time — and that is the work Charmagne Giardina does. She fosters the relationships small businesses need to find their footing in the federal marketplace, and to grow once they have it.
The work takes many forms. She prepares and signs the comments ASBCC files with federal rule makers. She directs the chamber's research, putting the government's own data to work for the Congressional leaders and small businesses shaping the marketplace's future. And she builds the educational meetings and national summits where suppliers sit down with the government and prime contractor representatives who award the work. This is her work, and her passion.
She brings to it a career spent in government and trade association leadership — and a conviction that the federal marketplace works best when small business has a full seat at the table.
ASBCC's recent filings carry her signature. The record is public.
Why it matters
Small business is the economy
99.9%
Of all American firms are small businesses
SOURCE SBA OFFICE OF ADVOCACY · FAQ · FEBRUARY 2026
45.9%
Of private sector employees — 62.3 million people — work for one
SOURCE SBA OFFICE OF ADVOCACY · FAQ · FEBRUARY 2026
43.5%
Of America's GDP is generated by small business
SOURCE SBA OFFICE OF ADVOCACY · FAQ · FEBRUARY 2026
A goal met by fewer firms
In FY2024 the federal government awarded 28.8 percent of its contract dollars to small businesses, comfortably ahead of its 23 percent goal. Over the same years, the number of small businesses actually winning federal work fell — from 62,862 to 56,728, down every complete year.
Both things are true, and only one of them gets reported. A goal stated in dollars can be met by a shrinking number of firms. That gap — between what the numbers say and what they mean — is why ASBCC measures for itself.
GOAL FIGURE SBA SCORECARD FY2024 · FIRM COUNT FEDERAL MARKETPLACE INDEX™ · FY2022–FY2025
How we measure →What we do
Four things, funded by our members only
01
Research
We measure what is actually happening to small business in the federal marketplace — reproducibly, from public data.
The evidence base →02
Policy
We take the evidence to the people writing the rules, so small business is heard where it has no lobbyist.
The filed record →03
Access
We bring federal agency buyers and prime contractors to the table — attending complimentary, so the people who award contracts are in the room.
Meetings and summits →04
Education
We equip small businesses to compete — contract vehicles, certifications, proposals, and the practical steps that turn interest into contracts.
Training →