Weeks ago the DOD had its Defense Department Small Business Training Week Conference. Where the theme was “Expand. Innovate. Diversify.”
A lot of DOD small business professionals, contracting officers, and program managers were all encouraged to attend the conference.
Speaking remotely at the conference was Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks. She spoke highly of small businesses. According to Hicks, small businesses generate more patents than larger firms. They can create innovative technologies, weapon parts, and system platforms as well.
Hicks also mentions that small businesses can experiment faster and test out change. She adds that our military needs to “out-innovate” competitors and probable adversaries; and that small business participation has fallen by 40% in the past ten years.
The Deputy Defense Secretary knows that small businesses don’t have it easy and they may have issues with compliance, that sometimes stops them from working with the department.
These barriers, according to her, need to be reduced, thus creating better opportunities for small businesses, following their theme– “Expand, Innovate, and Diversify.”
She says that various programs have been put into place to make the DOD’s relationship with small businesses a better one: The Mentor-Protege program, integration of the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, and providing technology and tools to the acquisition workforce allowing them to do better research of the market.
The conference, which concluded last June 23, is a testament to the department’s belief that small businesses will be a great help to the DOD, allowing the department to be more innovative and ready for the days ahead.
This means, that if you’re a small business and want to start being part of the Government Contracting business and hope to get one from the DOD, you will need all the help you can get. IF you are new to the game, then you would need a ton of information, a lot of preparation, and a team to help you with all these. It’s high time you give PWCPA PC a call. We’ll take the burden of learning from your shoulders so you can focus on the contract and be part of something great.