DOD contracting falling short on competition goals

The Defense Dept. and three largest military agencies did not meet goals for competition in contracting in the first half of fiscal 2015, according to a memo from Althea Coetzee, DOD’s acting director of defense procurement and acquisition policy.

The Air Force competed 35.3% in the second quarter, short of the 44.4% goal; the Army competed 51.6%, short of the 66.6% goal; and the Navy competed 38.7%, short of the 45.2% goal.

DOD overall competed 51% in the quarter, short of the 59% goal.

More information: DOD memo: http://goo.gl/d3PsAL

SBA Women’s Business Centers--are they effective?

The Small Business Administration has put out a request in the Federal Register for public comment on how its Women’s Business Centers are being used and whether changes are needed to reach their target populations.

“SBA expects this effort will remove any ambiguity and uncertainty in the program,” the notice states.

The SBA has requested a small increase in funding for the centers, to $16 million in fiscal 2015, up from $15 million last year.

However, the centers are not necessarily popular in Congress. A year ago, Rep. Sam Graves, R-MO, then-chair of the House Small Business Committee, proposed to cut $50 million from the SBA’s budget, including reductions in funding for the women’s business centers.

More information: Fed Register: http://goo.gl/NkzwxG

Navy assigns deputy PMs to be small biz advocates

The Navy has assigned deputy program managers to serve as advocates for small business suppliers, according to Sean Stackley, assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, FedNewsRadio reported.

"Each deputy program manager in the Department of Navy has been assigned the responsibility to be the small business advocate for all things associated with this program,” Stackley told the Senate Armed Services Committee recently.

More information: FedNewsRadio article: http://goo.gl/C9dypC

US small biz contracts hit 25% on dashboard

Owe back taxes?

DOD memo on “limited” LPTA

MD couple indicted

Column: Cash flows --the lifeblood of your business

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