Increasing Opportunities for Small and Local Businesses at the Naval Postgraduate School Through Simplified Acquisitions Contracting

Abstract

The Small Business Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), numerous policy updates, and memorandums direct the Department of the Navy's acquisition community to maximize small business awards and increase access by nontraditional suppliers. This Joint Applied Project (JAP) examines the barriers, tools, and best practices of small business contracting in the simplified acquisition environment, with particular emphasis on targeting requirements and industries for award to small and non-traditional suppliers. Through the Small Business Reservation (SBR), Congress intends that agencies automatically attempt to award contracts below the dollar amount of the Simplified Acquisitions Threshold (SAT) of $150,000.00 through small business set-asides. In theory, the FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisitions Procedures (SAP) is a highly effective tool that can overcome barriers to grow non-traditional and small business suppliers to receive experience, revenue, and positive past performance. The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of the Navy (DON) leaders are concerned the SAT contracts are disproportionately benefitting large firms across entire North American Industrial Category System (NAICS) categories. The SAP environment is a flexible tool in government contracting in which to procure from small business vendors. In December 2011, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) was granted SAP contracting authority to award fixed firm priced contracts below the simplified acquisition dollar threshold of $150,000.00. As a result, NPS is in an ideal position to serve as the test case for an innovative model of fundamental principles which utilizes best practices of small business contracting. Specifically, this foundational model identifies the tools and best practices to overcome the barriers to small business SAT level awards in the Open Market and Indefinite Delivery Vehicle (IDV) contracting vehicles.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA585535

Entities

People

  • Jennifer D. Lee

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Best Practices
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Environment
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Small Business
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) EDI Research and Innovation.