DoD Publishes Request for Comments on Barriers Facing Small Businesses in Defense Contracting
Today, the Department of Defense ("DoD") Office of Small Business Programs ("OSBP") published a request for comments regarding barriers that small businesses face when doing business with DoD.
DoD requests that comments focus on the "policy objectives listed in E.O. 14017, E.O. 14036, and E.O. 13985 as they affect the U.S. and global supply chains." Notably, comments will ultimately help DoD in updating its Small Business Strategy, which is led by the OSBP.
DoD would like input from small businesses and other industry experts on the following:
i. Government business practices that might inhibit or deter small businesses' from producing and/or providing goods, services, and materials for DoD requirements, to the detriment of the small business sector and in turn the defense industrial base;
ii. Regulations and business practices which may strain rather than strengthen the relationship between the Department and small businesses;
iii. The impact of the Department's major programs to support small business participation in the defense industrial base, specifically, the Mentor-Protégé Program, Indian Incentive Program, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the Rapid Innovation Fund, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR);
iv. The use of past performance information during the periods of source selection, ongoing performance, and collection of information;
v. Increasing the Department's utilization of small business innovations;
vi. The Department's efforts to assist small businesses that seek to do business with the government, including experiences in working with the Department's contracting workforce;
vii. Contracting timelines and the impact of those timelines on small businesses;
viii. The availability of skilled labor and other personnel to sustain a competitive small business ecosystem;
ix. Research, development, and demonstration priorities to support production and an advanced manufacturing base for the Department's requirements;
x. Policy recommendations or suggested executive, legislative, regulatory action to foster more resilient supply chains, greater competition in the defense industrial base, and/or more small business participation during the procurement process;
xi. Any additional comments from small businesses relevant to the assessment of supply chain resilience required by E.O. 14017, E.O. 14036, and E.O. 13985.
Comments are due by October 25, 2021.
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Comments