Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

VA direct access program events in 2022

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) provides support and resources for Veteran small businesses, looking to do business with the federal government.

Recently, they formed a Direct Access Program (DAP) that offers unique opportunities for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) to build partnerships, maximize networking, and gain access to Procurement Decision Makers (PDMs) through structured, screened, and periodic events.

Examples of activities that may occur at a DAP event include Business Opportunity Sessions (BOS), Networking Roundtables (NRT), and education sessions.  The VA OSDBU Direct Action Program is planning several important events in 2022.

You can learn more about the Direct Access Program and view the schedule of upcoming DAP events on the VA’s website.

Click Here to view the schedule of upcoming DAP events.

GSA hosting small business event/webinar on April 15, 2021

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General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is hosting a Webinar – “How to do Business with GSA.”  The webinar is open to all small businesses looking for additional information and guidance on GSA opportunities.  This webinar is a comprehensive overview of GSA, which includes a discussion on the GSA Schedule program and Public Building Services (PBS).

Please register on the following Google Form and a calendar invite will be sent no later than the day prior to the event:  https://forms.gle/WebCCqK8NEhe5ArK8

The webinar will be hosted by the GSA Region 6 Small Business Technical Advisor on Thursday, April 15, 2021, from 10 am – 10:30 am EDT (9 am – 9:30 am CDT).

Note:  Webinar will be hosted using Google “Meet.”  Recommend using either the “Google Meet” App or Google Chrome when accessing the training link provided and there is no cost to attend this webinar.

You can find the original posting about the event here:  https://beta.sam.gov/opp/e4e41f808d534dc88bcac7e882f6363a/view

 

Navy Office of Small Business Programs holding three events in March

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The Navy Office of Small Business programs is holding three online events in March with special guest speakers, on March 4th, 11th, and 18th respectively.  Some of the guest speakers will be officials from other government agencies who are responsible for ensuring and encouraging small business participation.

The March 4th event will take place at 1:00 p.m. EDT and will provide an overview of the Department of Homeland Security’s procurement programs and will discuss FY21 contracting opportunities and procedures for small businesses.  The presentation will be given by a special guest speaker, Ms. Darlene Bullock, Executive Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The March 11th event will take place at 1:00 p.m. EDT.  It will provide an overview of USAID, its mission, and small business objectives.  The special guest speaker for that event will be Ms. Teneshia Alston, Small Business Goaling Program Manager at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU).

Finally, on March 18th at 1:00 p.m. EDT, a special presentation will be held by Mr. Barry Edelberg, Associate Counsel at the Office of Naval Research.  He will give an overview of Small Business Data Rights and information on the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980.

You can register for all three events at the Navy Office of Small Business Programs website.

To register:

CLICK HERE

HHS OSDBU hosting Engage2Connect virtual event Feb. 10th

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), is reaffirming its commitment to support small businesses and create “real access to resources and procurement opportunities.”  On February 10, 2021, from 1:00 – 2:30 PM ET, it is hosting “Engage2Connect,” its 3rd in the series of listening labs.

They state: “As we embark on a new year, and new administration, join HHS OSDBU for a panel discussion, at our 3rd listening lab, ‘Engage2Connect.’  Panelists include Mr. Sam Le, from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) who will share new legislation updates, Mr. Cameron Hernandez, from the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) presenting contracting and grant opportunities; and Tommy Marks of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), who will discuss customized business development and industry-focused services to provide greater access to capital, contracts, and markets for small businesses.”

You can find more information on the event, including a link to register at the: Engage2Connect website.

 

Small businesses need to stand out — here’s how

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Getting on the radar (in a positive way) of government buyers and influencers before you start bidding seems to be a daunting task for some.

When I speak at proposal and contracting events, a major complaint from small businesses that lose on bids is “the customer doesn’t know us.”

This is not a problem for the customer, the government agency. It is YOUR problem, and there are several ways to get on the radar of government buyers and influencers, before, during and after the bidding process.

The first method is to go to agency briefings, often held by the agency Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and get some face time with the small business office. Industry associations and publications often hold events where feds will speak, and this is another chance to briefly get in front of influencers.

Keep reading this article at: https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2017/02/17/insights-amtower-market-differentiation.aspx

SBA and GSA, OFPP not seeing eye-to-eye on ‘rule of two’ application

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SBA logoA major dispute is brewing in the small business community. Just four months after the Supreme Court’s June 16, 2016 unanimous decision on the Kingdomware case, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is taking a stand on the “rule of two” that is stressing out industry and agencies alike.

As a quick reminder, the nation’s highest court ruled in the Kingdomware case that the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) must continue to apply the “rule of two” for veteran-owned small businesses even if the agency surpassed its annual prime contracting goal. The “rule of two” states if an agency can find two or more qualified small businesses during market research of a contract under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) — between $3,500 and $150,000 — it must set aside the solicitation.

Now the SBA is expanding that Supreme Court ruling to apply to all task and delivery orders under SAT if the request for proposals comes under the General Services Administration’s Schedules.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2016/12/sba-gsa-ofpp-not-seeing-eye-eye-rule-two-application/

Here is a copy of the SBA’s memo telling its PCRs that the should apply small business preferences to all task orders and all delivery orders because they are considered contracts pursuant to the Kingdomware decision: http://www.wifcon.com/dgc_memo.pdf

2017 NDAA strengthens subcontracting plan enforcement

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osdbuThe 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, if signed into law, includes a few changes designed to help small business subcontractors. Among those changes, the bill, which has recently been approved by both the House and Senate, includes language designed to help ensure that large prime contractors comply with the Small Business Act’s “good faith” requirement to meet their small business subcontracting goals.

Section 1821 of the 2017 NDAA is called “Good Faith in Subcontracting,” and is another Congressional effort to put teeth into the subcontracting goals required of large prime contractors.  (Congress took a crack at this same subject in the 2013 NDAA.)  The 2017 NDAA makes a handful of additional changes to the law, all of which should help ensure small business subcontracting goals are met.

The 2017 NDAA strengthens the current statutory language by specifying that a large prime contractor is in breach of its prime contract is it fails to provide adequate assurances of its intent to comply with a subcontracting plan (including, as requested, by providing periodic reports and other documents). The statute also provides that agency Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBUs) will review each subcontracting plan “to ensure that the plan provides maximum practicable opportunity for small business concerns to participate in the performance of the contract to which the plan applies.”

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/statutes-and-regulations/2017-ndaa-strengthens-subcontracting-plan-enforcement/

SBA: White House focus, SES visibility help agencies meet small business goals

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The government’s success in meeting mandatory small business contracting goals two years running is due largely to White House focus and new requirements that program managers in the Senior Executive Service pay greater attention to the acquisition process, the Obama administration’s small-business development chief said on Tuesday.

SBA logo smallMany call set-asides for small business “not a handout but a hand-up, but I say it’s a matter of survival for the federal government as a whole,” said John Shoraka, associate administrator of government contracting and business development at the Small Business Administration (SBA). He spoke to contractors gathered for American Express OPEN’s all-day summit with agency acquisition officials working with small businesses that are women- or minority owned or economically disadvantaged.

Outlining the government’s efforts to institutionalize the success of meeting the goal of steering 23 percent of contract dollars to small business, Shoraka said, “I’ve told my staff I could write a book saying that America’s secret weapon is small business procurement — when small business is engaged, the industrial base is preserved. It’s win-win, because companies hire employees, which has impact on the economy.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/08/white-house-focus-ses-visibility-help-agencies-meet-small-business-goals/119043

VA awards new veteran-owned small business program management contract — spurring another lawsuit

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Spurred by a protest in a federal court, the Department of Veteran Affairs picked a new company to manage the process of getting veteran-owned small businesses verified. The result? Another lawsuit from the prior winner that saw its contract terminated.

It’s the latest in something of a contracting debacle for the department, which has left the management of its Center for Veterans Enterprise in a state of flux for more than a year.

The VA decided to award to the $39.9 million contract to manage its Center for Veterans Enterprise to Loch Harbour Group Inc. of Alexandria. The bulk of that work is for processing contractor applications to be verified as veteran-owned, which in turn allows them to be able to compete for work set aside by the VA. That contract was originally awarded to Monterey Consultants Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, but terminated in November when the VA opted to take corrective action in response to a protest filed by Loch Harbour in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/fedbiz_daily/2014/12/va-awards-new-veteran-owned-small-business-program.html?page=all

An interview with the Pentagon’s small-business director

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Andre Gudger has heard the argument many times that, as he puts it, “small businesses don’t build planes and ships and nuclear weapons.”

It’s his job — or at least part of it — to change that perception.

A Maryland native, Gudger has been the director of the Defense Department’s Office of Small Business Programs since 2011. During the three years prior to his arrival, the share of the agency’s contracts awarded to small companies had shrunk every year. Moreover, in the more than three decades since federal small-business contracting goals had been put in place, the agency had never once accomplished them.

In the three years since, even amid budgetary constraints, small-business participation in Defense Department projects has expanded each year. In fact, this past year, the agency for the first time eclipsed not only its small-business goal, but also the federal government’s target, awarding roughly 23.4 percent of defense contracting dollars, representing about $53 billion, to small employers.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/operation-small-business-an-interview-with-the-pentagons-small-business-director/2014/10/23/216d4cc8-5a12-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html

 

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