SMALL BUSINESS IN THE BIG PICTURE


“IT’S BEEN A CHALLENGE TO FIGURE OUT JUST HOW MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE WORKING IN THE SMALL BUSINESS FIELD, MOSTLY BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T ALWAYS REPORT THEMSELVES WORKING IN SMALL BUSINESS.”


CAREER FRAMEWORK Te SBCF qualification framework, which mirrors the Army’s acquisition workforce development framework and the Air Force’s Program Management Leadership Development model, out- lines a clear track of career advancement for small business professionals, from point of entry through executive leader- ship positions. Certification in the SBCF will require a bachelor’s degree, as well as credits related to business and science, technology, engineering and mathematics as employees move through the career.


Key to developing the new acquisi- tion career field was first to understand the composition and expertise of the existing workforce. But just how many small business professionals there are is difficult to quantify. DOD estimates a total of 686, roughly 200 of them in Army acquisition. “It’s been a challenge to figure out just how many people we have working in the small business field,” said Foster, “mostly because people don’t always report themselves working in small business. We conducted a self- identifying data call in May 2013 and arrived at a figure of nearly 300, but a second self-identifying data call in June 2014 put that figure closer to 200.”


COURSE DEVELOPMENT Work on developing the new career field began in 2012, when the DOD Office of a


Small Business functional


Programs created integrated product team


(FIPT). In 2013, the FIPT completed a competency validation effort using a


168 Army AL&T Magazine January–March 2015


competency assessment by the Office of Personnel Management. Te resulting small business competency set, which includes 38 technical and 13 professional competencies in categories such as small business utilization, contracting, science and technology, and entrepreneurship, provides the basis to determine the learning objectives for the small business certifica- tion curriculum.


Te FIPT is now working with Defense Acquisition University (DAU) to incorpo- rate the competencies into the topics and learning objectives that underpin course development. DAU, with input from the FIPT, completed an initial analysis to determine which of its existing courses may offer content for the small busi- ness curriculum, to minimize cost and redundancies.


“Te SBCF is heavily contracting- centered,” said Foster, “and there are a lot of courses in our contracting curriculum that would be applicable for the SBCF.”


Development of all the SBCF courses is expected to be complete by the end of FY16. Within 24 months thereafter, small business acquisition professionals will be required to achieve compliance with the training requirements. Likewise, all new entrants to the small business workforce will have 24 months to complete the training required for the position. Pro- fessionals entering the SBCF from other acquisition career fields may already have completed some of the courses in the cur- riculum. In such cases, those courses will


count toward completion of small busi- ness certification requirements.


Career development programs will include a Small Business Exchange Pro- gram (SBEP). Te SBEP will primarily follow the model of the Defense Procure- ment and Acquisition Policy Acquisition Exchange Program while incorporating aspects of other successful programs, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers’ small business rotation and the Air Force’s PALACE Acquire program. Te goal of the SBEP is to give small business acquisition professionals the opportunity to see how industry and other small busi- ness program offices operate, to broaden their skill sets and to use those lessons learned in their offices.


Additionally, DOD’s Office of Small Business Programs will pilot a small busi- ness executive fellowship (SBEF) that will allow participants to work in an Office of the Secretary of Defense program and take part in the interaction among indus- try, Congress, the services, the White House and other stakeholders.


Pilots for SBEP and SPEF are tentatively planned for the second quarter of FY15. DOD is developing its implementation plan for the SBCF and is working with each of the services to develop service- specific implementation strategies, Foster said.


MS. SUSAN L. FOLLETT provides con- tracting support to USAASC for SAIC. She holds a B.A. in English literature from St. Lawrence University. She has more than two decades of experience as a journal- ist and has written on a variety of public and private- sector topics, including mod- eling and simulation, military training and technology, and federal environmental regulations.


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