Knowledge is power for small businesses

Know your small-business regulations.That's one of the firstpieces of advice agency small-businessdirectors give to companiestrying to get a foothold in the federalmarket."Please, please, please, read the regulationsto learn the requirements thatapply to you," Teresa Lewis, director ofthe Treasury Department's Office ofSmall and Disadvantaged BusinessUtilization (OSBDU), told a gathering ofsmall-business owners in August.Brigitte Blackburn takes the advice astep further. The vice president of KildaGroup LLC, a service-disabled veteran-ownedsmall business in Annapolis, Md.,carries a copy of the acquisition regulationswith her when she meets withgovernment program managers todiscuss contracts.Blackburn's regulation of choice isPresident Bush's Executive Order 13360,which details contracting with service-disabledveterans and requires agenciesto set a goal of directing at least 3 percentof their contracting dollars eachyear to small businesses owned by suchveterans.If an agency is struggling to meet itssmall-business goals, having the regulationsat your fingertips can be a persuasivesales tool, Lewis said.Lewis is part of a vocal group of federalofficials that helps businesses goafter government contracts by offeringmarketing advice and matching largecompanies with small-business partners. Officials also try to get their agenciesto set aside more contracts forsmall businesses."We are door-openers," said DebbieRidgely, director of the Health andHuman Services Department's OSBDU.OSBDU directors say they believesmaller firms are an important componentof federal contracting, and thework on their behalf "touchesreal-world people,"Ridgely said.Lewis and her employeessearch through Treasury'scontracts seeking ways tounbundle them and setaside sections or whole contractsfor small businesses.Because of her role as asmall-business advocate,Lewis said she's known as atroublemaker at Treasury. "Iwear my moniker proudly.""The OSDBUs are a veryvocal group. I mean, they'revery vocal," said RobertBurton, former deputyadministrator of the Officeof Federal ProcurementPolicy. But that's necessary if they are tofulfill their role as small-business advocates,he added.OSBDU directors say they are tryingto break agencies' age-old ways ofthinking so acquisition officials willconsider small businesses at the earlieststages of planning. And they areemploying various methods to call contractingofficers' and program managers'attention to small businesses ?everything from handing out awards formeeting small-business goals to changingfederal regulations.However, program managers canpresent one of the toughest hurdles tobroadening small-business access tocontracting opportunities, Lewis said.Program managers can be accustomedto working a certain way and have establishedrelationships with contractorsthat have supported their programs.They question why they should give upthat relationship to contract with a smallbusiness. The OSBDU directors try toconvince them it's worth it, she said.The Energy Department "is like thebiggest ship in the whole ocean," saidTheresa Alvillar-Speake, the department'sOSBDU director. "Turning thatship around is a big challenge."That's when carrying theregulations with you canhelp, Lewis said.Contracting officers understandregulations aboutsmall-business set-asidecontracts, and they areaware of small-businesscontracting goals. Programmanagers might not be asknowledgeable."They don't live it andbreathe it every day, so theydon't understand the intricacies,"Ridgely said.Lewis said she has seenresistance even when opportunitiesopen and marketresearch shows there aresmall businesses that can dothe work. OSBDUs will push and, ifneed be, advise the resisters of thesmall-business regulations.In addition to goals for companiesowned by service-disabled veterans,there also are regulations forHistorically Underutilized BusinessZone, 8(a) and other categories of smallbusinesses. Using the regulations canhelp small businesses get a second lookfrom contracting officers and programmanagers, experts said.The small-business community has towork alongside the agency OSBDUs toincrease their opportunities, GuyTimberlake, chief executive officer of theAmerican Small Business Coalition,wrote in an e-mail. "The fragmentedsmall-business community needs to collectivelydemonstrate" why agenciesshould hire them.Lewis said small businesses withexpertise and white papers on how tosolve an agency's problem will be takenseriously and get a second meeting. Butthose that are unprepared are "a stickin the eye to the government andindustry small-business advocates,"Timberlake said. Thus, agencies will beresistant to and have little confidencein small businesses.Lewis and other OSBDU directors saysmall businesses need experience, andmentor/protégé programs offer the companiesa chance to "do the work andcrawl through the weeds of the issue."The programs also help big companiesand small firms team up on set-asidecontracts. Lewis encourages small businessesto play an active part in the work. Don't let the mentor do it all while takinga cut of the money, she advised.Agency OSBDUs and industry organizationsalso regularly host breakfastmeetings, luncheons and industry dayswhen small companies can have face-tofacemeetings with representatives fromlarge corporations. "It gets a foot in thedoor," Ridgely said.One recent Friday, Diane Dempsey,director of small-business relations atBAE Systems Inc., had breakfast withexecutives from two small businesses.She and representatives from severalother large companies were looking forsmall-business partners.Dempsey said she often finds goodcohorts at networking breakfasts."We're all partners in crime here," shesaid.