ENGINEERING CONNECTIONS
SELLING SMALL BUSINESS Su-Chen Chen of the Facilities Reduction Program at the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, AL, speaks with Victor Curry of Vision Centric Inc.—a service- disabled veteran-owned small business—dur- ing the 2015 Small Business Forum Oct. 15 in Huntsville. Events such as these give small businesses a chance to talk face to face with the contracting officials who will be soliciting work, forging connections that can lead to later success. (Photo by Amy Newcomb)
want to work with small business to harness specialized products, skills or resources. Small businesses want to work with large busi- nesses and other small businesses, which they can do through teaming arrangements or formal mentor-protégé programs.
Te U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which has met its overall small-business utilization targets for the past five years, offers five tips on how to succeed in making the necessary con- nections, and more.
TIP #1: REDEFINE SMALL BUSINESS ‘GOALS’ Grace Fontana, associate director of the Office of Small Busi- ness Programs (OSBP) in USACE, attributes the command’s success to a concentrated focus on maximizing small business participation, as opposed to numerical targets or goals.
For example, the Galveston District has significantly exceeded its HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) par- ticipation rates on a regular basis. However, Melea Crouse, assistant director, Southwestern Division OSBP, does not view this as a major accomplishment because there are an unusually high number of HUBZones in the region. (Te HUBZone pro- gram of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferen- tial access to federal procurement opportunities.)
Instead of focusing on goals as raw numbers, Fontana’s division focuses on finding and connecting people and businesses who want to work together.
56 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2016
TIP #2: GATHER CONTACTS As engineers know, connections require connection points. Te same is true in small business: If you want to make connections, you first need points of contact.
Industry outreach is critical. Small businesses typically make sales based on relationships. Giving them a personal point of contact can help acclimate them to the government contract- ing culture. All USACE divisions perform outreach through traditional industry days as well as at conferences and other ven- ues as appropriate, in addition to posting to Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps), at
www.fbo.gov. FedBizOpps is the central website that all federal agencies use to post open pro- curements that exceed $25,000.
Gathering contacts doesn’t stop with current contractors and potential offerors. It includes all professional resources necessary for building bridges—the earlier, the better. Involving inter- ested people and potential resources early in the process yields benefits. For example, acquisitions with elements that will need review at any point by the principal assistant responsible for contracting (PARC)—a high-ranking contracting official who fulfills responsibilities defined by Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and HQDA policy, including nominat- ing contracting officers, appointing source selection authorities, ratifying unauthorized commitments and approving determina- tions and findings—or someone higher call for the PARC to be invited to the initial kickoff and subsequent meetings.
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