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Small Business News

Small Business News

News | April 5, 2024

ICAM Networking Days Brings Diverse Collaborators Together

By Suzanne Zurn Office of Small Business Programs

Arlington, VA  –  

 

This week, members of our leadership team participated in the DoD’s Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) office’s Networking Days event at the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center in Crystal City, Va. with representatives from industry, academia, government program offices, and the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCIEP) directorate. Mr. Farooq Mitha, OSBP Director, shared information about the mission of the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs, recent updates to its programs, and resources. Ms. Kasey Diaz, OSBP Deputy Director, also met with attendees and connected them to OSBP resources including the Department’s Mentor-Protégé Program.

ICAM manages and executes the Department’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program, which aims to improve the readiness and competitiveness of the U.S. industrial base by establishing high priority domestic capabilities for new supply chains needed for national security and mitigating exposure to global supply chain risks. About ICAM>>

DoD Small Business News

OSBP and NIST Partner for Small Businesses

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP), the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on small business matters, and  U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP) signed a memorandum of agreement on May 02, 2021 to collaborate on strengthening the national security of the small business industrial base.

The new partnership links two DOD organizations with a common mission to assist small businesses and  to achieve shared objectives:

  • Provide training and technical support to small-and-medium U.S. manufacturers engaged or planning to engage with the defense sector.
  • Promote and co-sponsor joint training events beneficial to national security, with an emphasis on cybersecurity for defense manufacturing.
  • Establish direct and consistent relationships at multiple organizational levels within both Parties to document and share complementary assistance best practices.  
  • Develop clear objectives, benchmarks and goals to measure success, added value, and synergy of collaborations between NIST MEP and OUSD(A&S) OSBP.

The OSBP and NIST partnership enables more DOD collaboration and support of small and medium manufacturers (SMMs). They will Collaborate to support the ongoing development and security of the Defense and Industrial Base.

This partnership will combine OSBP’s expertise in leveraging small businesses to close capability gaps for our armed forces with the MEP National Network.  The MEP operational base provides an opportunity for OUSD(A&S) OSBP to serve as a resource for the MEP Program of MEP Centers engages defense sector and defense-relevant manufacturing clients to promote and provide technologies, prototypes and products for National Security missions.