DoE Small Business Conf & Exp: Registration Now Open!

Are you a Small Business? Check out the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization 11th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, May 10-12, 2010.

The event will feature plenaries, educational workshops, an Exhibit Hall with 200+ exhibitors/sponsors, as well as business matchmaking sessions. Over 1,600 attendees will represent all levels of federal, state, and local government agencies, the small business community, large/prime contractors, and many more!

Please review the conference site at: http://smallbusinessconference.energy.gov

You can also call the Conference Hotline at 1-877-837-9147 or email ExpoDOE@aetherquest.com

Proposed rule is designed to help agencies award 5 percent of federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses.
The Small Business Administration proposed a procurement set-aside rule that would give women business-owners more opportunities in federal contracting.

The intent of the rule is provide more opportunities for women-owned small businesses to compete for federal contracts, while helping agencies reach the existing statutory goal of awarding 5 percent of federal contracting dollars to WOSBs, SBA said. According to figures, the government exceeded its 5 percent goal in 2002, but otherwise hasn't reached it. The level has usually hovered around 3 percent since 1999, when SBA first started tracking the numbers.

A set-aside rule would reserve some contracts for the businesses, ensuring that those contracts will count toward the goal no matter which competitor wins. SBA’s proposal finds that women are underrepresented in 83 industries in the federal marketplace, according to the agency. Officials used the analysis in a 2007 study commissioned by SBA from the Kauffman-Rand Foundation to determine where women are underrepresented.

“Women-owned small businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of our economy, yet they continue to be underrepresented when it comes to federal contracting,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. Reference article.

Try SubTeamPartners For One Year

The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA) welcomes the Association of Naval Aviation as an official association partner for its upcoming Military Air Assets Exhibition and Conference. The event will take place this March 30–31, 2010 in at the Prime F. Osborn, III Convention Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Association of Naval Aviation is an advocate group for all aviation forces in the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and US Coast Guard. Most of its members are affiliated with the over 50 squadrons (chapters) of varying size in the U.S., UK, France, Italy and Australia. ANA’s influence reaches beyond its base in Alexandria, Virginia. These squadrons interface, insofar as possible, with active duty personnel, tour military facilities and ships, and hear presentations from key members of the military establishment, civic authorities and related government officials.

For more information, please visit http://www.idga.org.

Acquisition provides AAR with robust capabilities to provide
worldwide aviation services to government agencies.

•  Supports the U.S. Government’s requirement for critical airlift services
•  Enhances AAR’s engineering and modifications capabilities
•  Leverages AAR’s existing aircraft maintenance and supply chain/logistics businesses

WOOD DALE, ILLINOIS (March 25, 2010) — AAR CORP. (NYSE: AIR) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS), a leading provider of expeditionary airlift services and aircraft modifications to the U.S. and other government customers, from Xe Services LLC. AAR is acquiring the business as part of its long-term strategy to expand its products, services and capabilities in support of government customers in the United States and abroad.

AWS, through its operating subsidiaries, Presidential Airways and STI Aviation, provides fixed- and rotary-wing flight operations, transporting personnel and cargo in support of worldwide U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State deployments, and performs engineering and design modifications on rotary-wing aircraft for government customers. AWS operates a fleet of 58 customized aircraft, of which 17 fixed-wing and 21 rotary-wing aircraft are currently deployed and 20 rotary-wing aircraft are available for future deployment.

The purchase price of the acquisition is $200 million, funded through a combination of available cash, a new 270-day syndicated credit facility and a five-year term loan secured against certain aircraft. Based on the current operating fleet, the business is expected to generate approximately $175 million of revenue on an annual basis and be accretive to earnings and margins within its first year of ownership. The Company expects the acquisition to be completed during the month of April, subject to customary closing conditions. Read Full Press Release.

GSA Administrator Martha Johnson announced yesterday that her agency will experiment with using wikis to help develop the requests for proposals (RFPs) on two new acquisitions.

The idea for this actually emerged from the dialogue on procurement innovations GSA has conducted (in cooperation with the National Academy of Public Administration) on the Web at a site called BetterBuy. At the BetterBuy website, there is now a link presenting information on two acquisitions that are in the development stage -- one for hosting the Data.gov website and the other (unexplained and as yet not up at the site) for an acquisition called Clearpath. GSA is asking members of the public to provide advice for features and performance requirements for these applications, as well as other elements of the RFPs. Specifically, GSA is asking for members of the public to point out mistakes and engage in "meaningful technical debate."

Given the endemic problems government has developing good requirements for IT acquisitions, the idea of drawing on the public for suggestions is in principle a great one. Reference Article.

Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has proclaimed National Small Business Week to recognize the contributions of small businesses to the economic well-being of America. As part of National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration recognizes this special impact made by outstanding entrepreneurs and small business owners. In 2010, National Small Business Week will honor the estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America. Small businesses are major contributors to the strength of the American economy. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business. They also create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country. Small businesses drive innovation, create 21st century jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness. More Info