Defense Dept. rethinks plan to consolidate. (contracts)

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Defense is expected to significantly reduce its contract-consolidation plan, a scenario that until now has hurt hundreds of small businesses across the nation.

Senior officials at the Defense Department issued a memo last month to procurement personnel within the agency stating that consolidation, also known as bundling of contracts, only will be allowed when there is significant savings for the government.

Bundling contracts allows procurement officials to consolidate different contracts into one large piece, which often makes it too big for small businesses to even bid for the contract.

"It (big contracts) often changes …