Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks speaks at an event in May. Hicks said she is committed to continuing to make it easier for small businesses to work with the department.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks speaks at an event in May. Hicks said she is committed to continuing to make it easier for small businesses to work with the department. Staff Sgt. Brittany A. Chase / U.S. Air Force

Defense Wants to Know More About Potential Barriers for Small Businesses Contracting 

The department has met its goals in that area, but is looking to do even better. 

Defense officials are seeking input by October 25 on how they can make the department’s contracting opportunities more attractive to small businesses. 

“The participation of dynamic, resilient, and innovative small businesses in the defense industrial base is critical to the United States' efforts to maintain its technological superiority, military readiness, and warfighting advantage,” said a request for comments in the Federal Register on September 8. “The department seeks public input on the barriers that small businesses face in working with the department. This input will be used to update the department's Small Business Strategy led by the DoD Office of Small Business Programs.” 

The department would like insight in order to further President Biden’s executive orders on bolstering the domestic supply chain; advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities through the federal government; and promoting American competition. Some of the specific topics officials would like to explore are:

  • What are regulations and/or business practices that might hinder the relationship between the department and small businesses?
  • What is the impact of the department’s initiatives to support small business? (The Mentor-Protégé Program, Indian Incentive Program, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the Rapid Innovation Fund, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer)
  • How do contracting timelines impact small businesses?
  • What is the availability of skilled workforces to “sustain a competitive small business ecosystem?”
  • How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted small businesses in the defense industrial base? 

Defense Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks noted during remarks at the 30th annual Pennsylvania Showcase on Commerce that the Defense Department received an “A” grade on the Small Businesses Administration's annual scorecard about contracting with small businesses in 2020. The department has met its contracting goals for seven straight years, she added. 

“Yet, over the past decade, small businesses in the defense industrial base shrunk by over 40%,” Hicks said. “The data shows that if we continue along the same trend, we could lose an additional 15,000 suppliers over the next 10 years.” The department is committed to making it easier for small businesses to receive contracts, however, she added, referencing the upcoming notice in the Federal Register. 

The notice also cites the results of a recent survey of small businesses conducted by the National Defense Industrial Association that found about four in five businesses (77.3%) were impacted by the pandemic. Of that 85% said it was a negative impact. 

The industry association is encouraging members and non-members to respond to the request for comments. 

“We’re delighted DoD is reaching out to better understand barriers to entry,” said Ally Veres, vice chair of the association’s small-business division, in a statement last week. “This is a great opportunity for us to provide insight into where well-meaning efforts may have inadvertently brought about unintended consequences for small-business entry and ongoing engagement in the defense industrial base.”

September 12 through September 18 is National Small Business Week. The Biden administration is “committed to nurturing small businesses that have faced historic barriers in rural and urban America, including businesses owned by veterans, women, and people of color—especially Black, Latino, and Asian American businesses,” the president said in a proclamation for the week. Biden also noted he is seeking to double the share of federal contracts that go to small, disadvantaged businesses over the next few years as part of his administration’s goal to narrow the racial wealth gap. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.