Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Air Force to host first small business pitch day, with $40 million up for grabs

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Like departments and agencies throughout government, the Air Force is tuning its acquisition methods to get closer the speed of technology, and will be holding its first live pitch day in March, with an available funding pool of $40 million.

The Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has issued a call to start-ups and small businesses—those with fewer than 500 employees—to offer pitches on innovative technologies for secure communications, down-range battlefield operations and digital technologies.

“Mind-blowing ideas are being birthed in U.S. start-up companies, but the Pentagon largely misses out on them,” Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said in a release announcing the pitch day. “We have to do business at the speed of ideas so we can both inspire and accelerate start-up creativity towards national security challenges. The only way we’re going to do that is by making sure partnering with the Air Force is easy and energizing.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/01/air-force-host-first-small-business-pitch-day-40-million-grabs/154114/

Defense Innovation Conference less than a week away — Register now!

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Let’s start with a few questions …
  • Are you interested in doing business with the Department of Defense (the biggest buyer on earth of everything)?
  • Do you want to learn about the latest programs designed to help innovative small companies do business with DoD?
  • Would you like to know how major Defense contractors select their subcontractors?
  • Are you interested in the new cybersecurity requirements and how they apply to DoD contractors?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, you need to be in attendance at GTPAC’s Defense Innovation Conference to be held on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center in Atlanta.

Hurry — Space Is Limited!

The registration fee to attend this one-of-a-kind, day-long conference is only $50, and includes both breakfast and lunch.  Registration details are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228.  Advance registration is required — no registration at the door!

One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

The conference represents a unique and rare opportunity to:

  • Hear directly from Lisa R. Sanders, Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).  She will be speaking about SOCOM’s contracting priorities, problems to solve, and doing business with SOCOM.
  • Learn from major defense contractors who will be speaking on their subcontracting needs and their procedures for selecting subcontractors.
  • Meet scores of small businesses who are looking for opportunities to form teaming partnerships to apply their innovative technologies, services, and products.
  • Participate in break-out workshops on topics like compliance with DoD’s cybersecurity requirements.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet and hear from leaders in the Defense industry!  Advance registration is required. 

To register, click here.

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

 

Learn what DoD prime contractors want in a subcontractor

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How do major Defense Department contractors select their subcontractors?

If you want answers to this question — and even more insights into doing business in the Defense industry — you should plan to be in attendance at “Creating the Next: Defense Innovation Conference” to be held on Monday, January 14, 2019.

Included in the conference is a panel presentation by representatives of large contractors — including Lockheed Martin, LMI, and Huntington Ingalls Industries — who will describe how their companies pick subcontractors.

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) is hosting this day-long event to provide businesses with details on how to contribute to the achievement of the Defense Department’s mission.

A featured speaker at the event is Lisa R. Sanders who is Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).  She will be speaking about SOCOM’s contracting priorities, problems to solve, and doing business with SOCOM — with a focus on options available to small businesses.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet and hear from leaders in the Defense industry!  Advance registration is required. 

To register, click here.

The Jan. 14th event is being held at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  Both breakfast and lunch are included in the $50 registration fee.

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

 

 

Bill changes small business size measurement term from 3 to 5 years

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On Monday of this week (Dec. 17, 2018), the president signed the “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018” into law.   The new law changes the basis on which a business determines whether or not it meets the federal definition of a “small business.”

Our friends at Koprince Law, LLC have published two articles about this change, providing details on how the size status under revenue-based NAICS codes will now be calculated using a five-year average instead of the longstanding three-year average.

As they point out, for some contractors, the new law is great news, as it will allow them to stay small longer.  For others, the opposite is true: the law could force those companies to stay large longer, or even change their self-certifications from “small” to “other than small” in SAM.

Read their articles here:

Special Operations’ science and technology director is speaking at Jan. 14 GTPAC event

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Lisa R. Sanders, Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), is a featured speaker at the Defense Innovation Conference being hosted by the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.

Registration details for the conference are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228

Ms. Sanders is responsible for all research and development funded activities for Special Operations Forces, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (SOF AT&L), SOCOM, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

A Defense Intelligence Senior Leader, Ms. Sanders will be speaking at the Jan. 14th event on SOCOM’s Priorities, Problems to Solve, and Doing Business with SOCOM — with a focus on options available to small businesses.

Don’t miss out on hearing from Ms. Sanders and other leaders in the federal government’s innovation arena.  Register to attend today!

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

New decisions clarify small business minority shareholder protections

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One of the easiest small business affiliation rules to apply is that a person that owns “50 percent or more of a concern’s voting stock … controls or has the power to control the concern.” (13 C.F.R. § 121.103(c)(1))

It is far more difficult, however, for minority owners that own less than 50 percent of a concern’s voting stock to determine what, if any, controls they can have over a small government contractor without jeopardizing their small business status.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has long held that minority owners may have negative controls to protect their investment without creating affiliation as long as the negative controls do not create control over day-to-day business operations.

In recent cases, SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) has further clarified what specific arrangements may comply with that rule.

Generally, a minority owner will be found to control a concern if it can veto or block important business actions.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=759238

10 problems DHS wants innovative small businesses to solve in 2019

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The Homeland Security Department released a list of 10 bleeding-edge research areas it plans to pursue in fiscal 2019 in partnership with innovative small businesses.

The department’s Science and Technology Directorate and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office announced Friday the tentative list of technical areas for this year’s Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, program. In the coming year, Homeland Security SBIR officials are proposing research into topics including using drones to detect radiological threats, sharing cyber threat data, using blockchain for forensic analysis, and advanced identity management—from DNA to cyberspace.

“The SBIR program provides an opportunity for innovative small businesses to find solutions that meet the technology needs of the department’s operational components and the nation’s first responders,” William Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology, said in the announcement.

Homeland Security’s SBIR program obligated almost $250 million across 805 awards from its start in 2004 through 2015, the latest year with data available on the SBIR.gov dashboard. The program hit its height in 2006 with almost $29.9 million in funds obligated to 95 projects.

In 2015, Homeland Security’s program obligated $20.7 million to 48 projects. This amount is relatively small when compared to the largest SBIR awarders that year: the Energy Department at $193.6 million, Health and Human Services at $714.4 million and the Defense Department at $956.9 million.

The list for 2019 includes eight topics under the Science and Technology Directorate and two more under the CWMD office’s program.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2018/12/10-problems-dhs-wants-innovative-small-businesses-solve-2019/153230/

Air Force reveals same-day contracting opportunity forum

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Small businesses will be invited to submit their best solutions to the U.S. Air Force for the opportunity to participate in pitch sessions scheduled for March 6-7, 2019.

Prior to the event, the service will reveal a list of requirements, requesting five-page white papers from organizations describing their products or services. Businesses offering the solutions with most potential will be asked to take part in the two-day event and could receive a one-page contract immediately.

“We did an experiment where we wanted to do 50 contracts in 50 hours. We ended up doing 104 contracts with small business, and that was kind of a dry run [for the upcoming event],” U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said.

Prior to what’s being called “pitch day,” the Air Force will describe some of its toughest problems in areas such as software, intelligence and special operations via venues such as LinkedIn and other websites. The service also plans to include an open category so businesses with innovative ideas in other fields can participate.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/air-force-reveals-same-day-contracting-opportunity

See Air Force Nov. 13, 2018 announcement posted on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/AirForceForum/photos/pcb.1117075248466114/1117075098466129/?type=3&theater 

Fort Gordon to hold ‘forecast forum’ Dec. 13th

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If you are interested in learning about upcoming contract opportunities at Fort Gordon, you should consider attending the base’s year-end Forecast Forum on December 13, 2018.

Fort Gordon’s Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) is inviting all businesses to hear their presentation on their anticipated forecasted opportunities for FY 2019 and FY 2020.

Additional presentations will be made by representatives of the Georgia District Office of the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), and the General Services Administration (GSA).

On-site registration for the event begins at 8:00 am.  The event is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am and end at noon.

Location: Signal Theater – Building 21610 (next to the indoor swimming pool), Fort Gordon, GA 30905.

Important access information: If you have Military/DoD Civilian ID or CAC Card, you can gain access to Fort Gordon through any gate.  If you do not, you can gain access only through the Main Gate (Gate 1) by way of Dyess Parkway and Gordon Highway.  You will need to show auto registration, auto insurance, driver’s license and a second form of ID.  Please allow extra time for background check and vehicle inspection.  Do not speed or use cellular phones without a hands-free device while driving on Fort Gordon.  All vehicles must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.

Registration: There is not a formal registration process, but those who wish to attend are asked to contact Ophelia Brown in advance via email to:  ophelia.m.brown.civ@mail.mil

See promotional flyer here: MICC Fort Gordon Forecast Forum FY19 – 12.13.2018

 

 

GTPAC to host Defense Innovation Conference on Jan. 14th

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If you and your company have the next key discovery or the next great idea that could benefit the Department of Defense (DoD), block-out January 14, 2019 on your calendar right now.

On that date, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will host a day-long event designed to benefit innovative small businesses – with priority given to small technology companies that have the potential to directly enhance achievement of DoD’s mission.

Registration is now open at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228     Advance registration is required for this event; on-site registration will not be allowed.  The registration fee is $50.

By attending, you’ll learn all about the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF), Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for prototype projects, and additional contracting vehicles aimed at attracting innovative companies to help the U.S. Department of Defense.

See promotional flyer here: Defense Innovation Conference – Jan. 14 2019 Event

So, save the date!  Registration is at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

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