It’s been said that small business is the engine that drives the American economy and lately you can’t follow the news without hearing about how important small businesses are to our nation’s economic recovery.

Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees represent 99 percent of all U.S employers.  They also employ half of the nation’s workforce.

In 1953, our government passed the Small Business Act calling for protection of these businesses by preserving free competitive enterprise and giving these entrepreneurs a fair proportion of government contracts.  America recognized that the health of our defense industrial base depends on these suppliers.

Those of us in government should encourage participation of new competitive suppliers that renew and refresh technology.  That ensures that the products and services delivered to the warfighter benefit from innovation. It is also important that NAVAIR be as transparent as possible to encourage this innovation.  To be successful we must constantly work to remove or lower the barriers to access. 

Each year NAVAIR publishes a forecast that can help. The consolidated Long Range Acquisition Forecast is published each August on the NAVAIR Office of Small Business Program’s public web site at: http://www.navair.navy.mil/osbp . Publishing the forecast increases transparency by advertising planned procurements to a wider range of industry.  This should contribute to better support of Navy requirements, foster increased competition and decrease the prices taxpayers pay for goods and services.

The forecast is also important to small business.  In order to develop long range strategic plans, businesses rely on information from the government as they engage in Capture Planning, which can be a lengthy and expensive process.  The process includes meeting with the client when possible, intelligence gathering on potential competition, identifying teaming partners and Bid/No-Bid criteria.  Capture Planning and bid/proposal expenses are eventually passed to the government in overhead rates, so it is in the Navy’s best interest to make sure industry thoroughly understands the requirements.  The overall timeline for the Capture Planning is at least 18-24 months.  Typically the Government allows 30-60 days for proposal preparation.  Therefore, industry must be aware of upcoming opportunities well before the Request for Proposals is released.

Industry Days, such as those held by NAWCAD and NAWCWD in Orlando, Patuxent River and China Lake are extremely valuable to industry, as evidenced by the increased turnout and industry feedback requesting that these be annual events.   This information sharing increases competition, decreases costs and reduces procurement cycle time.  It also serves industry’s needs to learn as much as possible about upcoming opportunities and optimizes the use of precious resources.

In the end, it’s a great opportunity for industry and the taxpayers.  NAVAIR benefits from innovative technology, new solutions, and new ideas that small businesses bring to the defense industry.  These small businesses, participating in NAVAIR procurements as prime and subcontractors, contribute to the Nation’s economic recovery. 
 

Small business: good for the Navy and good for America.