FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
Nearly 1,000 registrants took part in the 2021 Small Business Training Week held virtually Aug. 17-19. The annual event is sponsored by the Defense Department Office of Small Business Programs in collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Defense Logistics Agency Office of Small Business Programs Director Dwight Deneal said 52 DLA employees participated in the virtual event that helps federal acquisition and Procurement Technical Assistance Center employees learn about small-business policy updates and how to increase small-business participation.
Event topics included SBA legislative and regulatory updates, subcontracting policy, cybersecurity, industry best practices, innovation in small business and the PTACs’ role, which Deneal facilitated.
The conference also featured a small-business directors’ town hall and the Vanguard Awards Ceremony, which honors small-business professionals, teams and organizations that influence small-business participation in defense acquisitions.
DLA policy dictates a fair proportion of prime contract opportunities with small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, historically underutilized business zone small businesses and women-owned small businesses.
Deneal said 80% of companies that do business with DLA on an annual basis are classified as small businesses.
“We really want to highlight the broader agenda that the Defense Department has right now around increasing small business opportunities to drive the industrial base forward,” he said.