DRIVING SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS


headquarters on their small business programs on a monthly basis. As GEN Dennis L. Via, AMC commanding gen- eral, put it, “Small business is big business at AMC. Even with declining resources, business opportunities will


still exist,


especially in the small business commu- nity.” Subordinate commanders are well aware of the distinct qualities of innova- tion and agility that small businesses can bring to AMC’s mission, and how small businesses strengthen the industrial base.


Te Army OSBP negotiates and assigns AMC its small business goals, based on the Small Business Act of 1958 (Pub- lic Law 85-536) and other statutory requirements. Small business programs have


four distinct socioeconomic small cat-


egories: small disadvantaged business programs; women-owned


busi-


nesses (WOSBs); certified Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses; and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.


PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT


MG Kevin G. O’Connell, commanding general of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC), speaks with John Nelson, sales manager at ESCP Corp., during the annual Midwest Small Business Government Contracting Symposium in June 2015 in Moline, IL. The event included remarks from GEN Dennis L. Via, AMC commanding general, about the importance of advance planning briefings for industry, which are designed to ensure that industry and the Army have a mutual understanding of future requirements and industry’s capabilities. (Photo by Justin Graff, ASC Public Affairs)


AMC’s overhaul and modernization efforts are enhancing and upgrading major weapon systems— not just making them like new, but inserting technology to make them better. These efforts create opportunities.


36 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2016


AMC awarded 23.72 percent of its con- tract dollars to small businesses in FY14, surpassing its assigned small business goal of 19 percent, and 24.72 percent to small businesses in FY15 against an assigned goal of 19.5 percent. All seven AMC major subordinate commands exceeded their overall small business goals, and four of the seven commands met all their socioeconomic goals as well. (See Figure 2 on Page 39.)


But goals, on their own, will not drive the actions needed to meet them, such as the outreach to small businesses, engagement with industry and the training necessary for government contracting personnel to make the necessary awards properly. Suc- cess requires support from leadership at all levels.


“Te reason AMC is so successful is because of the mandatory performance


requirements the Department of Defense leverages on senior executive perfor- mance objectives,”


said Nancy Small,


AMC’s director of small business pro- grams. “Tese objectives are intended to support and promote the right command and program climate that are responsive to small business concerns,” she added.


LEADING BY EXAMPLE AMC sets


the example for the federal


government, awarding a higher percent- age of contract dollars to small firms than any other federal agency or military ser- vice, Small said.


AMC negotiations with DA for its FY16 small business goals resulted in DA assigning the command an overall small business goal of 19 percent of eligible contracting dollars. Determining these goals is a process that uses a trend analy- sis of historical and current performance,


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