Each year, NAVSEA processes more than 60,000 contracting actions.  Printed and stacked, that’s a pile of paper nearly 4,000 feet high.  With nearly 20 percent of the Navy’s annual budget, at approximately $30 billion, NAVSEA has developed a number of strategies to meet the challenges of awarding and managing this volume of contracts. 

The responsibility to efficiently maintain a fleet of nearly 300 ships, systems and their support infrastructure is a huge undertaking, and success is only possible through ongoing partnerships between NAVSEA and its large and small business partners in industry.  NAVSEA contracts for the following services:

• Design and integration
• Maintenance and repair
• Modernization and conversion
• Technical, industrial and logistic support
• Engineering and professional services
• Research and Development

Within these broad categories lie many opportunities for participation in commercial enterprises. 

Prime/Sub-Contractors:  Due to the huge volume of contracts managed, NAVSEA uses a prime/subcontracting strategy to most efficiently serve the defense needs of the country and the men and women in uniform.  Major contracts are awarded to large and small prime contractors. Thousands of related contracts for labor, manufacturing, supply and other needs are coordinated through agreements between the prime and its partners through subcontracting agreements. Primes are often mandated to complete a portion of their prime contracts using small businesses.

FedBizOpps: Qualified vendors can search this online site to monitor and retrieve current procurement opportunities and general contracting information. This is the single government point-of-entry for federal procurement opportunities greater than $25,000. For information on how to get started, visit www.fedbizopps.gov

SeaPort Enhanced (SeaPort-e) is the Navy Virtual SYSCOM Commanders' (NAVAIR, NAVSEA, NAVSUP and  SPAWAR) integrated approach to contracting for support services.

SeaPort-e’s electronic procurement of Technical, Engineering, and other professional services represent a key strategy to meeting NAVSEA’s contracting needs.  SeaPort-e preapproves a large & diverse community of contractors.  Once approved, contractors bid on work, individually or in teams.  Seaport-e favors small business concerns, with a goal of 33 percent of its available funds and 20 percent of large business awards going to small business subcontracts.  Details on admission to SeaPort-e are available on its website, http://www.seaport.navy.mil/

NAVSEA Long Range Acquisition Forecast: NAVSEA's Long Range Acquisition Forecast (LRAF) is now available. This forecast creates a demand signal of anticipated business needs and makes early planning possible to a wide range of current and potential industry partners.  It also contributes to better support of NAVSEA’s requirements and fosters increased competition which benefits both NAVSEA and new business partners. The LRAF is available by clicking here.            

The Navy buys more than $12 billion in goods and services each year from its small businesses partners.  At NAVSEA alone, small business invoices annually total more than $2 billion. Interested businesses are encouraged to visit the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs www.acq.osd.mil/osbp and the Navy's Office of Small Business Programs www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness/ websites.

For businesses unfamiliar with federal contracting, the following 10-step tutorial provides step-by-step guidance: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness/pages/doing-business.aspx

NAVSEA also relies on the technical innovations of America’s small business entrepreneur.    NAVSEA invites technical proposals from high-tech small businesses to help solve tough technical engineering and scientific challenges, either individually through the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program or in cooperation with a research university through the Small Business Technology Transfer program http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir.

More than half of NAVSEA’s small business opportunities are awarded through the surface and undersea warfare centers.  A number of these technical facilities are in close proximity to Washington, D.C. at Dahlgren, Va.; West Bethesda, Md.; and Indian Head, Md., but similar opportunities are available at other warfare centers across the country: Newport, R.I.; Panama City, Fla.; Crane, Ind.; Port Hueneme, Calif; Corona, Calif.; and Keyport, Wa.

NAVSEA can also assist small businesses, including veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, small disadvantaged, and women-owned small business enterprises in marketing their products and services to NAVSEA.  Small business representatives may contact NAVSEA's Associate Director of Small Business Programs at 202-781-3965 for more information about doing business with NAVSEA.