The Defense Logistics Agency’s Office of Small Business Programs co-hosted with George Mason University an annual Training, Outreach and Networking Event for U.S. businesses in Arlington, Virginia, May 18.
GMU is home to the Virginia Procurement Technical Assistance Center. PTACs, which are in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam, offer U.S. businesses help in finding government contracting opportunities, working through the bidding process and registering in federal procurement systems. The training and assistance offered by PTACs is usually free for small businesses, which may lack the time and staff to explore the ins and outs of government contracting.
Training at the event was designed for prime contractors with contracts that include a subcontracting plan. These plans, which the Federal Acquisition Regulation requires for contracts that exceed $700,000, include a goal for the use of small businesses as subcontractors.
The performance of DLA prime contractors against these plans is important because it is part of what the SBA considers when it grades DoD’s Small Business Program each fiscal year, along with the programs of other federal agencies. A PDF of the latest “report card” for the Department of Defense in its small-business engagement can be viewed here. DoD earned a grade of A, having exceeded its goal for supporting small businesses in 2016.
A variety of experts spoke at the event, including retired Rear Adm. Sean Crean, director of the SBA Office of Government Contracting. Topics included subcontracting policy, cybersecurity, industry best practices and new challenges in government contracting. Attendees praised DLA for offering training on topics not readily available from other sources.
Business owners and employees joined in a discussion about doing business with DLA where they received an overview of the agency and learned what DLA buys to support its mission. Prime vendors set up tables in the venue’s Exposition Hall and spent the afternoon networking and discussing opportunities for subcontracts with small business attendees.
More than 500 business participated in this year’s event. Several other federal agencies also took part, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Patent and Trademark Office and the Department of Transportation.
More information on PTACs and DLA’s Office of Small Business Programs is available at on the program’s home page on the DLA website.