The SBTC last week had a meeting with the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) to talk about issues small business facing related to DOD contracting. This meeting was at SASC’s request, so they could hear directly from high-tech small businesses what their top concerns and recommendations to improve DOD contracting, with the aim of setting the stage for the next Congress. Five SBTC Board members, including both SBTC Co-Chairs, were at the meeting to share their expertise on working with the DOD.
It was a very thorough and productive conversation that touched on the biggest problems and inefficiencies facing high-tech small businesses who do contracting with the DOD. Among other issues raised, SBTC highlighted the lack of education and training of Contracting Offices, onerous cyber security requirements and inability to secure clearances in a timely manner, and lack of a simplified contracting process as barriers that slow down and degrade small business’s ability to work efficiently with the government. After the meeting, SASC was open to having more discussions with the SBTC in the future on specific topics, and we look forward to continuing to work with SASC in follow-up meetings and calls.
The SBTC also presented the committee with a paper written by members of our board, going into greater detail on some of the issues we discussed in the meeting. Click on the link below to view the paper:
SBTC Comment to SASC on DOD Contracting