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Small Business News

Small Business News

News | May 17, 2024

DoD Northeast Regional Training & Matchmaker Event

By Suzanne Zurn Office of Small Business Programs

Arlington, VA  –  

Small businesses throughout New England and New York gathered in Burlington, Vt. this week for a training and matching making event to connect with government agencies and prime contractors, as well as representatives from state, federal and local resources,

Hosted by the Vermont APEX Accelerator (Formerly VT PTAC) in partnership with the Department of Defense Northeast Regional Council, and sponsored by BAE Systems Inc. and the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the event featured networking opportunities, informative training sessions, and a series of ten-minute-long, pre-scheduled, and industry-code-matched one-on-one appointments.

“The matchmaker event was an invaluable opportunity for small businesses to network, learn, and gain business, and a chance for prime contractors and government agencies to fulfill purchasing requirements,” said Joanne Spaulding, Director of the Vermont APEX Accelerator.

Eva Marie D’Antuono, Kareem Sykes, and Joanne Spaulding at the DoD Northeast Regional Training & Matchmaker Event.

Mr. Kareem A. Sykes, ITIL, Industry Engagement Manager (CTR), Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs, briefed attendees on the cybersecurity educational training and tool benefits of Project Spectrum. Small- and medium-sized businesses are particularly susceptible to cyber threats due to funding and other resource limitations, and the DoD has cybersecurity education, awareness, and compliance resources to help.

A peek from inside the matchmaking session.

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.