Friday, April 20, 2018

The Importance of Subcontracting


We often get asked the question, “How do I do business with NASA?” One avenue that I always stress, that is often overlooked, is subcontracting opportunities. Last year, or the first time since I’ve been at NASA, subcontracting awards accounted for more dollars to small businesses than prime awards. In fiscal year (FY) 2017, NASA awarded $5.5 billion to small businesses. Subcontracting awards accounted for 51% of those awards.

Subcontracting provides you a path to get your foot in the door with NASA by establishing past performance and a relationship with NASA stakeholders. You’re able to learn the ins and out of the agency while handling smaller, more manageable scopes of work. This is especially important for new businesses that are just starting out.

This is where business development becomes a key factor in your small business. You must build relationships with prime contractors and demonstrate how you will help them achieve their goals faster, more efficient or with better quality. Prime contractors attend many government small business outreach events and should not be overlooked when you are attending. You may be able to find information for small business liaison officers (SBLO) on many company websites, as well.

The opportunities are out there. Over 800 small businesses worked on each the Orion and Space Launch System (SLS) programs. Our large primes can’t do this work alone and are actively searching for companies like yours to help achieve the NASA mission.

Friday, April 6, 2018

NASA OSBP FY2018 Update

The NASA Office of Small Business Programs has had a busy and productive year so far. At the NASA Industry Forum in March, we announced our Agency-level Small Business Industry Award winners and presented them with their awards in front of their peers and the NASA small business team. I extend my congratulations and thanks to our winners:

Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year: Omitron, Inc.

Small Business Subcontractor of the Year: Metis Technology Solutoins, Inc.

Large Business Prime of the Year: Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

Mentor-Protégé Agreement of the Year: URS Federal Services, Inc. (Mentor) & Seabrook Solutions LLC. (Protégé)

More information about the awards and these winners can be found at https://osbp.nasa.gov/award-industry-winners.html.

Last week, we held the HBCU/MI Technology Infusion Road Tour at Clark Atlanta. I’ve spoken to these Road Tours before, but I am continuously impressed with the relationships from these events that produce actual results. Our office’s time at Clark Atlanta was no different. Thank you to those who made this event possible and we’re looking forward to continuing the Road Tour in August at University of Hawaii at Mānoa. If you or your school are interested in hosting a Road Tour, please feel free to reach out to us at smallbusiness@nasa.gov.

Finally, we’ve kicked off our Small Business Learning Series – webinars aimed at the small business community that contain invaluable information. We’ve collected a great group of speakers to help answer some of the frequently asked questions from the industry and are providing a unique opportunity to ask questions directly to subject matter experts. Our upcoming trainings can be found at https://osbp.nasa.gov/knowledge-portal.html.

We look forward to a continued strong year as we head into spring and I look forward to working with you soon.