NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development have announced an agreement to attract high-technology companies to the state.

Nona Cheeks, chief of Goddard’s Office of Technology Transfer, said the state agency can help find scientists in industry that may contribute to NASA missions. NASA will participate in technical exchanges to attract startup technology companies with skills specific to the space agency’s needs.

GSA has launched an online training course designed to help acquisition personnel understand regulations for contracting with service-disabled veteran-owned small business, and to help those businesses understand federal contracting.

The course is available fsstraining.gsa.gov.

A salesman and three employees of the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland have been indicted for an alleged procurement scam.

A federal grand jury in Baltimore charged Wayne Silbersack of Chicago-based Lawson Products altered invoices so the Army paid for merchandise that was shipped to the employees’ homes.

The indictment alleges the employees received golf balls that were invoiced as a “ball bearing assortment” and a generator described as a “metric nuts and washer assortment.” The alleged scam continued for nearly two years, according to the grand jury.

The four defendants appeared in court June 22, but did not enter pleas.

SBA has granted waivers of the nonmanufacturer rule for the following products: Furniture Frames and Parts, Metal, Manufacturing; NAICS 337215; Furniture Frames, Wood, Manufacturing; NAICS 337215; Furniture Parts, Finished Metal, Manufacturing; NAICS 337215; Furniture Parts, Finished Plastics, Manufacturing; NAICS 337215; Furniture, Factory-type (e.g., cabinets, stools, tool stands, work benches), Manufacturing; NAICS 337127; Furniture, Hospital (e.g., hospital beds, operating room furniture), Manufacturing; NAICS 339111 and Furniture, Laboratory-type (e.g., benches, cabinets, stools, tables), Manufacturing, NAICS 339111.

The agency says it knows of no small business manufacturers for those products.

SBA has denied a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule for the following; Furniture (except wood), office-type, padded, upholstered, or plain, manufacturing, NAICS 337214; Furniture parts, finished wood, manufacturing, NAICS 337215. The agency has determined that there are small business manufacturers of these products.