New Year's Message

As we say farewell to 2014 and welcome the New Year, we all reflect on what has transpired over the last 12 months and brainstorm new resolutions for the next 12 months.  We all look for improvements in our successful endeavors, however, let’s also look at our weaknesses so we can emerge stronger than ever. 

The NASA Office of Small Business Programs will continuously look for new innovative and creative ways to promote the development and management of NASA programs that assist all categories of Small Business. 

As you think about your 2015 New Year’s Resolutions, consider your local small businesses and think of ways to support them! We are looking forward to seeing the new ways that small businesses will help NASA achieve its mission next year.

I want to wish you and your families a happy holiday season.

Holiday Message

From the NASA Office of Small Business Programs, we would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday. With the winter holidays quickly approaching, we hope everyone has a joyous holiday break celebrating and spending time with family. If you are travelling to visit family or friends, please travel safely.

I would like to thank the Office of Small Business Programs Team and the Small Business Specialists at each of the NASA centers for their hard work this year. Happy holidays to all!

A Year in Review: 2014

As the year 2014 comes to a close, I would like to take the time to reflect on some of the amazing accomplishments and events for NASA as an agency as well as the NASA Office of Small Business Programs.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden gives a speech at the announcement of the FY 2013 SBA Procurement Scorecard.

As you may know, NASA received the grade A on the Small Business Administration (SBA) Scorecard for FY 2013. I am proud of the efforts of the entire NASA Small Business team, as well as the Office of Procurement for helping us achieve this goal for the second year in a row. We look forward to continuing this success in the years to come.

The setup of the NASA booth at the Marshall Space Flight Center HUBZone Industry Day on June 11, 2014.

The NASA Office of Small Business Programs also successfully executed four Industry Days this year that were focused at increasing small business participation in three set-aside categories. The events took place at:

·      Armstrong Flight Research Center, February 4, 2014, Women-Owned Small Business Industry Day, 283 attendees

·      Marshall Space Flight Center, June 11, 2014, HUBZone Industry Day, 508 attendees

·      Langley Research Center, August 13, 2014, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Industry Day, 322 attendees

·      Kennedy Space Center, October 28, 2014, Women-Owned Small Business Industry Day and Expo, 318 registered attendees, 611 attendees

At the KSC WOSB Industry Day and Expo, we had the highest participation rate to date and we hope to continue this succes. For 2015, there are two Industry Days planned that I would like to encourage you to attend:

·      Stennis Space Center, February 3, 2015, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Industry Day – to register visit http://bit.ly/1yhkdPL.

·      Johnson Space Center, August 11, 2015, HUBZone Industry Day

A photo of some of the attendees at the October NIF meeting.

The Office of Small Business Programs also successfully hosted the inaugural NASA Industry Forum (NIF) Meeting in March in Washington, D.C. and the second at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in October. The goal of the NIF meeting is to ensure that the Office of Small Business programs remains engaged with each of the ten centers spread across the country; representatives from NASA headquarters meet with small business representatives from each of the ten centers along with the centers’ large and small business contractors to discuss the business environment and address any concerns. I am happy to celebrate a successful second year.

A shot of the filming for the HBCU/MSI video.

The NASA Office of Small Business Programs also held its first ever Historically Black Colleges & Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) Partnerships Meeting at Marshall Space Flight Center in September. NASA is the only government agency with a goal for doing business with HBCU/MSIs and has reemphasized the HBCU/MSI One Percent Goal, so we were proud to host this event in order to encourage these institutions to do business with NASA. View the video we filmed for the HBCU/MSI Partnerships Meeting at http://bit.ly/1pUQ3DY.

I’d like to thank everyone for their contributions to NASA and the NASA Office of Small Business Programs this year, and we hope that we can continue to develop and grow in the year to come.

The Launch of Orion Delta IV Heavy Exploration Flight Test-1

NASA's Orion Delta IV Heavy Rocket being set up on the launchpad.

As we prepare for the launch of the Orion Delta IV Heavy rocket tomorrow for Exploration Flight Test-1, we are excited to celebrate the small businesses that have contributed to this project. The uncrewed Orion spacecraft, launching out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, takes the human dream of visiting Mars one step closer, and it brings the United States toward reaching President Obama's goal of having men on Mars by the 2030s.

The Orion Project is a huge success for small businesses as there are over 1,000 small business suppliers that are contributing to this effort in 45 of the 50 states across the United States. Many high-tech small businesses have participated by doing work involving engineering services, procurement services, software development, ground support equipment, thermal and pressure panes, building flight hardware and much more. Small businesses have received more than $643 million dollars since the start of the program and the Orion Project small business plan commits over $1 billion dollars to small businesses in total.

The road to Mars begins here.

There is no limit to what small businesses can accomplish with NASA, including work on projects such as this one, the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The small businesses that have assisted in this effort will be featured in a publication to celebrate their accomplishments and work with NASA coming next quarter.

Tune in to the launch tomorrow, Thursday December 4, 2014 at 7:00am EST - live coverage of the event will begin at 4:30am EST at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. For more information about the Orion Project, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion/#.VH8dKY1dVW6.

Register Now For The NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Industry Day!

I would like to extend an invitation to the Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) community to attend the NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) SDVOSB Industry at SSC in Mississippi. The event will take place February 3, 2015 at the INFINITY Space Center at 1 Discovery Circle, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, 39556.

I am encouraging VOSBs and SDVOSBs to attend with the goal of increasing NASA’s VOSB participation rate. This event is designed to allow all categories of small businesses to have networking opportunities with representatives from the NASA centers, as well as NASA prime contractors and other small businesses. The attendees can expect participation from NASA center Small Business Specialists, SSC Technical Coordinators, and other Small Business representatives.

To register for the NASA Stennis Space Center Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Industry Day, please visit the SSC SDVOSB Industry Day Registration Link

NASA's next Industry Day is a HUBZone event at the Johnson Space Center on August 11, 2015. The registration link will be posted on the OSBP website in February 2015.

And the Small Business Administrators Award Goes to....Langley Research Center!

Yesterday, Charles Bolden the NASA Administrator and I had the pleasure of presenting the FY13 Small Business Administrators Cup to the Langley Research Center Director Stephen Jurczyk and Randy Manning, the Center Small Business Specialist.

This award recognizes the center with the best overall small business program for the fiscal year. Langley's solid commitment to small business is evident in its history of meeting or exceeding its small business goals. Langley Research Center (LaRC) has met or exceeded their negotiated Small Business goals from FY 2008 to FY2013.

Pictured from left to right: Randy Manning, LaRC Small Business Specialist, Stephen Jurczyk, LaRC Center Director, Virginia Wycoff, LaRC Associate Director and Charles Bolden, NASA Administror

                   A closeup of the 2013 NASA Small Business Administrator's Cup


What is more impressive is what LaRC actually achieved in their commitment to small businesses:

• In FY 2010 LaRC actually awarded 33% of their procurement dollars to Small Businesses
• In FY 2011, raised it to 38%
• In FY2012, raised it to 42.6%
• And in FY13, LaRC awarded 54.4% of all of their total procurement dollars to Small Businesses

 
Congratulations to LaRC on this remarkable and so well deserved achivement

 

NASA Administrator Honored the AFRC FY13 SBAA Winners

Each year, NASA and the NASA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) recognizes outstanding efforts in developing and implementing innovative practices in support of the Agency’s small business program with the NASA Small Business Advocates Awards.

I was honored to be on site at Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) yesterday with Administrator Bolden to acknowledge and celebrate of Fiscal Year 2013 Small Business Advocate Award winners at the official AFRC Renaming Ceremony.

On behalf of the entire NASA OSBP, a sincere congratulations to our latest winners:

Procurement Person of the Year

Ra-Deon L. Kirkland

Glenn Research Center

Technical Person of the Year

Mary Fran Risinger

Langley Research Center

2013 Small Business Specialist of the Year

Robert Medina

 Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator and I are on either side of him.

2013 Small Business Specialist of the Year Robert Medina's Family

Pictured are Julie Medina, Joey Medina, Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator, Julia Medina, Robert Medina, NASA AFRC Small Business Specialist and I.

NASA AFRC received the “FY2013 NASA Small Business Prime Socioeconomic Goal Achievement” recognition
for exceeding all of is small business goals.
Pictured below in the middle is David D. McBride, NASA AFRC Center Director
and on the left is Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator.

FY13 Program Team of the Year

Flight Opportunities Program Team

Pictured are Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator; Laguduva R. Kubendran, NASA HQ Space Technology Mission Directorate,  Flight Opportunities Program Executive; Ron Young, Flight Opportunities Program Manager; Christopher Baker, Flight Opportunities Campaign Manager; Joel Lozano, Flight Opportunities Contract Specialist; Charles Rogers, NASA Armstrong’s,  Acting Director of  Exploration and Space Technology Programs; David D. McBride, NASA Armstrong Center Director; and I.
 

Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator graciously took a selfie with Julia Medina, which turned out great!

I also had a chance to network with some AFRC personnel.
Pictured are Daniela Cruzado, Megan Ermilio, Simone Jackson and Tameka Williams

Overall it was a rewarding trip. Thank you AFRC!

2014 National Small Business Week

I am proud to join President Obama and NASA Administrator Bolden in celebrating National Small Business Week. On Friday, President Obama issued the proclamation kicking off this year’s well-deserved recognition of our nation’s small businesses, as every president has done since 1963. These businesses are the lifeline of America, creating nearly two out of every three jobs in the U.S. and providing invaluable services and materials in every field.

I’d like to extend my gratitude and the gratitude of the entire NASA Office of Small Business Programs to all of NASA’s small business partners across the country. NASA’s proven track record in small business has proven time and time again to help propel NASA further and help us reach our goals. For more information regarding the Agency’s commitment to small business, please see the press release.

Please take a moment and join NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in celebrating National Small Business week and all that small businesses do for NASA:

NASA Industry Forum and NASA Small Business Industry Award Winners

The Inaugural NASA Industry Forum

This has been an exciting week at the NASA Office of Small Business Programs. In December, I told you post about our newly formed NASA Industry Forum (NIF). The inaugural meeting was held on March 18 and 19 here in Washington, D.C. Despite snow and weather related challenges, the new members of the NIF managed to not only make it to the meeting, but also provide much need appreciated perspective and insight into the nuances of each of the centers. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to all of the NASA representatives who provided insight into how the Agency is meeting its mission with our small business contractors.

The NIF in session

NASA OSBP Associate Administrator Glenn A. Delgado
addresses the NIF

The FY2013 NASA SBIA Awards

We recently announced the winners of our Agency-Level NASA Small Business Industry Awards (SBIA) and were lucky enough to have them attend the NIF to receive their award. These businesses went above and beyond in the small business contracting arena and deserved these accolades:

From Left to Right: NASA OSBP Associate Administrator Glenn A. Delgado, Healtheon; Inc. President Mr. Jasmeet Walia; and NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Richard Keegan

Agency-Level Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year

COMPANY: HEALTHEON, INC.

WEB SITE: www.healtheon.biz 

CENTER: Stennis Space Center

From Left to Right: NASA OSBP Associate Administrator Glenn A. Delgado; Houston Precision Fasterners' Adrian Allison, Mark J. Hahn, Jr., Paul Griese; and NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Richard Keegan

Agency-Level Small Business Subcontractor of the Year

COMPANY: HOUSTON PRECISION FASTENERS

WEB SITE: www.houstonprecisionfasteners.com 

CENTER: Johnson Space Center

From Left to Right: NASA OSBP Associate Administrator Glenn A. Delgado; Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. Director, Sustaining Engineering and Assurance Philip Montag; and NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Richard Keegan

Agency-Level Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year

COMPANY: HONEYWELL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC.

WEB SITE: www.honeywell.com  

CENTER: Glenn Research Center

Thank you again to all those who attended and, once again, congratulations to our SBIA winners.