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Items of Interest That May Enhance Your Business Opportunities!

Conference News:

Regulatory News:

Central Contractor Registration and Dynamic Small Business Search (formerly Pro-Net):
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration have taken steps to simplify the federal contracting process by creating an integrated database of small businesses that want to do business with the government.  The integration is a combination of SBA's "old" PRO-Net and DOD's Central Contractor Registration (CCR) databases.  It has resulted in the creation of one portal for entering and searching small business sources. This integration assists small businesses with marketing their goods and services to the federal government.

Contractors are now required to be registered in the CCR database if they want to be awarded a NASA contract as well as any other Federal contract.   CCR also collects information needed for electronic funds transfer (EFT) - a paperless way the Government pays its vendors and contractors.  Firms are required to complete a one-time registration process that provides basic information relative to procurement and financial transactions.  However, registration must be renewed and updated annually.  When registered in CCR, contractors will receive a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code.  If your firm is not yet registered in CCR, we suggest you visit http://www.ccr.gov/ for more information and registration.  You may also call the CCR Assistance Center at 888-277-2423 or 616-961-4725.

If, in your CCR registration or update, you want your firm to have more visibility to Government procurement personnel and prime contractors, you should take advantage of the optional data you can supply that will be reflected in the Dynamic Small Business Search data base. Instructions are provided in the registration web site.

Veteran-owned Small Businesses:  Passed into law August 1999, veterans and service-disabled veterans who have their own businesses will be given added opportunities for winning Federal Government contract awards.   More information on this evolving opportunity can be found at: http://www.sba.gov/VETS/    In addition, in February 2001, the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) opened with the express purpose of promoting business opportunities for veterans and service-disabled veterans.  More information on their services and networks of opportunities can be found at  http://www.vetbiz.gov or you may call 202-565-8336 or toll-free 866-584-2344.  In addition, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 was passed and signed into law December 16, 2003, and, among other things, provides for sole source and set-aside competitive procurements for service-disabled veterans.

HUB Zone Companies:  Are you certified as a HUB Zone company?   If your company is located in one of the many HUB Zones across the country, there are some special benefits for you.   For more information on this, go to: http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/hubzone/.

Miscellaneous Items of Interest:

Assistance (Free) Is Always Available to You:  Any business that may be having difficulty penetrating the government market or understanding the government procurement culture can get assistance very readily - much of it  free of charge -- by contacting their nearest Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC).   They are located all over the country and often are identified by different names depending upon the State.   Most of the PTAC’s provide similar services such as procurement counseling, daily automated bid-matching, product buy history, assistance with bid preparation and review, training, use of extensive resource libraries, and post-contract award assistance.   Some will even assist you with electronic commerce.   To find out more about PTAC’s and to find the nearest one to you, visit: http://www.sellingtothegovernment.net/.  For those looking for more broad assistance, SBA’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) program may be another fine source of help.   SBDC’s offer one-stop assistance to small businesses by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations.   The SBDC program is a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community, and federal, state and local governments.   The program enhances economic development by providing small businesses with management and technical assistance.   There are now 58 SBDC’s -- one in every state (Texas has four), the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands -- with a network of nearly 1,000 service locations.   The SBDC program is designed to deliver up-to-date counseling, training and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management.   SBDC services include, but are not limited to, assisting small businesses with financial, marketing, production, organization, engineering and technical problems and feasibility studies.   Special SBDC programs and economic development activities include international trade assistance, technical assistance, procurement assistance, venture capital formation and rural development.   The SBDC’s also make special efforts to reach minority members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups, veterans, women and the disabled.   More information on SBDC’s, including locations, can be found at http://www.sba.gov/aboutsbaprograms/sbc/index.html

Small Manufacturers  --  A Special Assistance Program for You!: In an attempt to create and support a national base of small, cutting-edge manufacturers that are geographically dispersed throughout the 50 states, the Air Force had created the Manufacturing Technical Assistance Pilot Program (MTAPP).   While this program was created for small business manufacturers which support DOD programs, it was also open to firms which support the Federal Government’s civilian agencies, especially those supporting the aerospace industry.   About one-fourth of this congressionally funded program’s applicants were accepted into the program.   The program is not intended for start-up firms.   Information on this pilot program is available at http://www.selltoairforce.org/Programs/mtapp/index.asp

NASA's Small Business Awards Program: The NASA Office of Small Business Programs' (OSBP) Small Business Advocate Awards (SBAA) and Small Business Industry Awards (SBIA) are presented annually to NASA employees and NASA contractors who make significant contributions to the agency's small business program.  For the SBAA, NASA will confer awards to NASA employees in the followin categories:  Small Business Specialist of the Year, Technical Person, Procurement, or Program Person (or Team) of the Year.   For the SBIA, NASA will confer awards to NASA contractors for the categories of Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year, Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year, and the Small Business Subcontractor of the Year.

NASA center SBAA and SBIA winners are eligible to become the Agency-level SBAA or SBIA winner.  The 2nd Annual NASA Small Business Symposium and Awards Ceremony will take place November 16-17, 2009 in Bethesda, MD.  Further details can be provided at http://www.osbp.nasa.gov/award.html

Subcontract Reporting: If you are a prime contractor with a subcontracting plan in your contract, this is a reminder that you must have your semi-annual reports in by April 30 and October 31 of each year.   You must now use the Federal-wide Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) for all your reports.   More information about this system is provided under "Regulatory News."  For your GRC contract-specific questions, you may call the GRC Small Business Specialist, Tim Pierce at 216-433-2147 for more guidance.   For questions on your Agency-wide summary reports, you may contact  Donna Sprinkle at 202-358-0467 or e-mail her at dsprinkl@hq.nasa.gov.    

Commercial Technology Transfer Opportunities: In pursuing its aerospace related research, GRC has developed a broad range of technologies that have found application in industry sectors well beyond the aerospace community.   U.S. companies and entrepreneurs are encouraged to review these technologies by contacting the GRC Technology Transfer and Partnership Office for further information on them.   Companies may want to explore initiating partnerships with GRC to utilize these technologies in their own industries.   For further information, visit http://technology.grc.nasa.gov/.

GRC’s Socioeconomic Goals for FY 2010:

In an effort to keep the public informed about our commitment to small business, GRC is pleased to publicize its socioeconomic prime contract award goals for FY 2010: 

(1) Total Planned Procurement     $409M
(2) Procurement to All Small Business  $254M (62.0% of Line 1)
(3) Procurement to 8(a) Small Business $ 66M (16.0% of Line 1)
(4) Procurement to Small Disadvantaged Business    $147M** (36.0% of Line 1)
(5) Procurement to Women-owned Small Business $  22M (5.3% of Line 1)
(6) Procurement to HUB Zone Small Business $  20M (4.8% of Line 1)
(7) Procurement to SvcDisabled Vet-owned Small Business   $   14M (3.33% of Line 1)
**These figures include the 8(a) values above.

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Responsible NASA Official: Timothy C. Pierce, GRC Small Business Specialist
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Tuesday, 27-Oct-2009 10:09:22 EDT