Here's how you can crack the Marine Corps small biz market

If you’re a small business, there are plenty of ways you can get involved with the Marine Corps.

Speaking at ACQUIRE, an acquisition tradeshow put on by Washington Technology parent 1105 Media, Dave Dawson, associate director for Small Business Programs, Marine Corps Systems Command, spoke about small businesses and their relationship with the  Marine Corps.

After the Marine Corps switched to the SeaPort-e contract vehicle a few years ago, the service significantly increased the amount of small business work it put through the vehicle. But Dawson said that small businesses should know that SeaPort-e is not the only contract they utilize.

Dawson also recommended NASA SEWP V for IT-related requirements, GSA schedule contracts, GSA 8(a) STARS II and other GWACs.

“If you’re marketing to us and our project managers and you have no acquisition vehicles available to you, we will help recommend you to FedBizOpps," Dawson said.

There are also a number of opportunities for subcontractors. According to the Defense Department small business subcontracting requirements, 20.7 percent of subcontracting dollars can go to prime contractors’ small business plan, which Dawson said is required of a prime for any contract action over $700,000.

The other subcontracting allotments are:

• Woman-owned small business – 5 percent
• HUBZone – 3 percent
• Service-disabled, veteran-owned small business – 3 percent

Dawson recommended that companies register on FedBizOpps.gov because the website has a service that will notify them, after the company puts in applicable NAICS codes, of procurement opportunities posted by Marine Corps Systems Command.

The Marine Corps also hosts many industry days to keep industry in the know, Dawson said. “We host them all the time. We’ll do them individually, we’ll do them in a group setting, and our project managers will also hold industry days, and they will announce those on FedBizOpps.”