Air Force Pushes “Beyond Goals” for Small Firms Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne has endorsed a new drive to meet the 23% small business procurement goal. The initiative, called “Beyond Goals,” is spearheaded by Ron Poussard, director of small business programs. In a letter to major commands, Wynne said the Air Force has awarded 15% to 17% of its prime contract dollars to small firms in recent years. In contrast, he said operational commands have sent 40% to 75% of their dollars to small contractors. However, many of those commands declined in 2007. “While our major systems acquisitions do not lend themselves to small business prime contracts, we can and must do more across our entire acquisition portfolio to grow and strengthen the Air Force Small Business Program and improve our contribution to achieving DOD’s [23%] goal,” he wrote. At the February Air Force Small Business Conference in Destin, FL, Poussard said, “We don’t exist to meet a goal. It is not about percentages. What happens to our customer if we hit our goal and feel we’re done?” Writing in his office’s newsletter, Poussard said, “A necessary step is to put small business solutions first in the Air Force initiative to regionalize installation contracting. A regionalized contracting structure is not good for small businesses, local businesses and Air Force installations unless we make it good for small business, local business and the installation. The Air Force plans to establish five regional centers that will handle most contracting for domestic installations. The first one stood up at Randolph Air Force Base, TX, to take over procurement for bases in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Four others will be established over the next four years at or near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Robins in Georgia, Scott in Illinois and Peterson in Colorado. Poussard said a new Small Business Solutions Center at Brooks-City Base, TX, will seek opportunities for small firms.