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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Set-Aside Alert exclusive:Q & A with Robb Wong of SBA’s government contracting officeIt’s been a busy nine months for Robb Wong since he was appointed by President Trump as the top person in charge of the small business federal contracting portfolio at the Small Business Administration last year. As SBA’s Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development, Wong oversees the flagship 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) programs, among others. The government offers set-asides to small firms participating in these programs. Wong, who is an attorney, previously worked at SBA headquarters as an advisor and in SBA district offices in Texas in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. He ran a consulting business in Rockville, MD for 19 years. He spoke with Set-Aside Alert Editor Alice Lipowicz about what he has been doing and his plans for the year ahead. Set-Aside Alert: What have you been doing since your appointment, and can you give us some idea of your accomplishments and frustrations to date? Robb Wong: At this intersection of my life, there is a Japanese phrase that applies: “iki gai.” My wife is Japanese and she taught me the phrase. It means doing what you love, what the world needs, and what you do well and have a passion for. I feel that I am blessed to have both a great opportunity and responsibility to help people in a meaningful way and in an industry that I know well – not just as a former SBA employee and manager but also as a small business contractor. I am also incredibly fortunate to be in an agency with Mrs. (Linda) McMahon as our leader, who supports our office, and most importantly, I have a tremendous team of SBA professionals to advise and help me. My greatest frustration is the sense of urgency. I feel like a kid in Disney World with only three hours left before closing time. I feel an incredible sense of responsibility and a sense of excitement trying to put into effect things that really help people. Set-Aside Alert: Would you please talk about your agenda at the SBA Office of Government Contracting and Business Development for 2018 to 2020? Robb Wong: In general, I’m looking at it sort of like a business. Our job is to work in concert with government and companies to make sure that 23% is spent on small businesses. The certifications for our programs (8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB) are like products to us. We hope we can make changes so that businesses find the certifications easier to get and easier to use, and we want to make sure that the government continues to supply contracts to small businesses. I have to meet both of those expectations. Set-Aside Alert: What are your plans for improving the programs? Robb Wong: I have some specific ideas that are in the process of being reviewed and are not fully approved yet. In general, for 8(a), HUBZone and WOSB, I want to update and modernize the programs in 2018. I’ve spoken to about 10,000 people in the last nine months, inside and outside government, small and big company professionals. I have gone to a lot of business conferences and I’ve heard a lot of ideas for administrative and congressional changes. I have some specific proposals that I’m reviewing that I am not ready to discuss yet. I am working on improving process, policy, laws and regulations, and advocacy. I believe 8(a) is a cornerstone of the SBA’s reputation and identity. But there has not been a significant change for 30 years. Except for your spouse, what works as well today as it did 30 years ago? 8(a) needs to be modernized to be more useful and to meet increased demand. One recent example is the 8(a) certification application system on Certify.gov that began in mid-November. We have gotten several hundred applications through Certify.gov. The system is still a work in progress. We continue to make improvements. What will happen is that Certify.gov should shorten the processing time for 8(a) applications. We are still in the process of verifying the efficiencies Set-Aside Alert: I believe Certify.gov was in the works before you came on board. What was your contribution? Robb Wong: I pushed up the timetable to November. A previous timetable would have taken longer, and I redirected efforts so that we went live earlier. The goal is to return efficiencies to the public—a shorter turnaround for processing applications, and a shorter turnaround for annual reviews. And if we digitize and computerize, we can give the Business Opportunities Specialists in our offices more time to deal with customers—the small businesses. Set-Aside Alert: What changes in policy are you working on? Robb Wong: I have the intent to deal with policy for each program: 8(a), HUBZone and WOSB. I have some ideas on how to improve them. The main thing I’m concerned about is that in general, I want everyone who gets our certifications to get contracts and make money. Set-Aside Alert: Any plans for the All Small Mentor Protégé program? Robb Wong: The mentor-protégé program is the program that allows Mighty Mouse to team up with Superman. It’s one of the best-kept secrets in our office. Set-Aside Alert: Is it really a secret? I believe it has more than 370 teams at this point, about 15 months after it launched. Robb Wong: Well, 370 is better than 270. Set-Aside Alert: What do you mean? Robb Wong: What I meant to imply by “370 is better than 270” was only that I am glad we seem to be moving in the right direction and I am glad for progress. It is my goal to make sure that those who applied for the ASMPP were able to do it efficiently, but more importantly, I hope that they find the program effective. Growth for growth’s own sake is only one thing I focus on. If the increase in number also comes with an increased satisfaction and effectiveness – then yes – more is better. Set-Aside Alert: What other policy changes are you considering regarding category management, etc.? Robb Wong: As for category management, strategic sourcing, consolidation, the reality is that we are going to hit the 23% goal with no problems, but the problem is that the number of small businesses winning those contracts is shrinking. We are trying to address this problem like a business. If the industry has shifted, the SBA needs a business response. We need to change our products. We are looking at things and trying to work with all sectors of government—DOD, Navy, Army, GSA, etc. We need to focus more on subcontracting as that will be a growth area. If you cannot get a prime contract, maybe you can get a subcontract. We want to empower our small businesses to get ahead of the game as fast as possible with access to pre-decisional information—before the contracts are announced. Who buys what you sell? Where are you located? There are some small businesses that want to be government contractors that don’t put a lot of effort into sales. They also feel they need to hit a home run the first time. Set-Aside Alert: How are you going to give small businesses pre-decisional access? Robb Wong: We’re going to try to provide tools, training and counseling in a “one to many” format. It could be webinars, maps or other materials. Read Part II - “Q&A with Robb Wong of the SBA’s Government Contracting Office” in the Feb. 2, 2018 edition of Set-Aside Alert.
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