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Small Business News

Small Business News

News | April 19, 2024

The White House Announces Record Investment in Small Disadvantaged Businesses

By Suzanne Zurn Office of Small Business Programs

On April 12 President Biden announced record investment in small disadvantaged businesses with a record-breaking $76.2 billion, or 12.1% in federal contracting dollars, going to small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) in FY 2023. This is the third consecutive year of record-breaking awards to SDBs and represents steady progress toward achieving the President’s goal of awarding 15% of federal contracting dollars to SDBs, including Black, Latino and Asian American-owned small businesses, by 2025 – or an increase of 50% from 2010.

“The Department of Defense continues to prioritize ways to engage non-traditional suppliers and under-resourced businesses to diversify the Defense Industrial Base and I am pleased to see the government-wide growth in contracts to small disadvantaged businesses,” said Mr. Farooq Mitha, Director of the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP).

Read The White House Statement>>

Learn More about the SDB Program & Eligibility>>

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.