NASA Communication Plan Seeks to Enhance Opportunities for Small Disadvantaged Businesses
Published: October 30, 2024
Federal Market AnalysisNASASmall BusinessSubcontracting
The communication plan is designed to help achieve the increased FY 2025 subcontracting goal for Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB).
NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) developed its Small and Minority Business Enterprise (MBEs) Communication Plan this year to improve the utilization of Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs). The plan and this month's Enhanced Mentor Protégé Program launch will provide resources to increase SDB contracting and subcontracting opportunities with the space agency.
The SDB socio-economic category includes 8(a) firms, Women-Owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.
In the plan's welcome and introduction, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said that during FY 2023, the agency had obligated more than $3.7B in small business prime contracts with $1.6B awarded to SDBs. This was the same amount reported for FY 2022. Historically, the agency has averaged about $1.5M in SDB awards annually and consistently exceeded SBA goals. However, the goal had remained stagnant at 5% for 14 years with the last increase occurring in 2008.
In FY 2022, the SBA began an upward trajectory to drive SDB participation and increased the SDB goal to 8%. The goal increased to 9% in FY 2023, 13% in FY 2024 and 15% in FY 2025. So, while the FY 2023 spending represented 8% of total SDB prime obligations, it fell shy of the nearly 9% FY 2023 goal. FY 2024 final performance numbers are unavailable, but SDB reported spending through September 30 was $1.3B representing about half of the 13% goal. So, it’s unlikely the agency hit the target, possibly marking two years of SDB underutilization.
This underachievement and continued goal increases prompted the development of the communication plan to educate the agency’s workforce and industry partners on effective communication and involvement of SDBs before contracts are awarded. The plan’s fourfold objectives are to:
- Enhance outreach efforts to increase awareness among SDBs about contracting opportunities with NASA
- Provide clear guidance and support to SDBs throughout the procurement process
- Foster partnerships with SDBs to promote innovation and diversity in NASA’s supply chain
- Ensure equitable access to procurement opportunities for SDBs.
The agency established specific sections within its website with information targeted for SDBs to achieve these objectives. This includes opportunity forecast, event and training information and the NASA Vendor Database. Additionally, the OSBP developed the NASA Acquisition Innovation Launchpad (NAIL) framework to stimulate one-on-one conversations with SDBs, identify improvements in participation, foster innovation and encourage collaboration.
“NASA’s dedication to fostering collaboration with small and disadvantaged businesses remains at the forefront of our mission,” Melroy said. “By implementing innovative practices and refining our procurement processes, we aim to not only drive forward our key mission objectives but also to stimulate industry-wide innovation and inclusivity.”
And this dedication is evident in the agency’s SDB subcontract awards. During the last five fiscal years, the agency significantly exceeded its subcontracting goals for this group with $788M of the $4B in small business subcontracts awarded to SDBs.
Combined with the launch of the new Mentor Protégé program, SDB firms can expect a wide variety of opportunities in the coming years. The NASA Acquisition forecast lists 80 planned awards during the next five years with 48 during F 2025. The value of these ranges from $M to $100M and includes projects under every SDB category.
Be sure to monitor upcoming NASA opportunities through Deltek’s GovWin solution and watch for the release of GovWin’s latest enhancement to include subcontracting data.
Read more about this feature in Logan Ferro’s upcoming blog on The Power of Strategic Teaming: Gain a Holistic View of Subcontracting with GovWin IQ.
“GovWin IQ is dedicated to supporting our users with actionable insights for their business no matter if that means primarily priming, subbing, or a healthy mix of both,” Ferro said. “Users can explore sub-award data throughout GovWin IQ in the following places with the ability to export key details to Excel and instantly remove duplicates: Tracked Opportunities, Company Profiles, Contracts, and Task Orders. “