USACE participates in the Society of American Military Engineers Small Business Conference

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Published Dec. 2, 2013

For the 4th year in a row, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) exceeded its small business goal. The tremendous success in contracting with small businesses is significantly attributable to transparent communication and training offered to small businesses  across the Nation.

USACE maintains an open door for meetings/counseling/training small business firms throughout the year.  In addition, USACE leaders participate in an annual small business conference designed to give the small business industry an opportunity to engage one-on-one with over 100 USACE leaders to discuss the fiscal year acquisition program and procurement forecast. 

The November 19-21 event was hosted by the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) in Kansas City Mo., and facilitated exchanges on scientific, technical and professional issues.  The industry engagement (Army engineer-to-industry engineer) results in innovative solutions for DoD technical and resource challenges for military construction, water resource management, critical civil works projects, geospatial technology, and renewable energy. 

The Small Business Conference break-out training sessions serve to remove barriers and offer transparency for small businesses maneuvering the sometimes difficult process of doing business with the government.  Hundreds of capable small business owners (successful in commercial contracting) often avoid competing for federal contract opportunities, because they lack the training and information necessary to submit competitive proposals in accordance with federal laws and regulations.  Training all interested small firms how to do business with USACE increases price competition, improves the quality of small business proposals in response to solicitations, and builds the industrial base of small firms ready to respond to our Nation’s military and engineering needs.

Several Commanders were recognized for excellence is Small Business achievements, to include the District Commands (see below) with record breaking achievements in contract awards to Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

Top Ten USACE SDVOSB Offices by Dollar Amount
(1) Louisville District: $76.90M
(2) Los Angeles District: $59.26M
(3) New Orleans District: $53.82M
(4) New York District: $41.93M
(5) Kansas City District: $41.80M
(6) Seattle District: $38.42M
(7) Omaha District: $35.27M
(8) Huntsville Engineering and Support Center: $32.66M
(9) Ft. Worth District: $32.32M
(10) Norfolk District: $31.34M 

Top Ten USACE SDVOSB OFFICES by Percentage
(1) Rock Island District: 29.1%
(2) Los Angeles District: 19.2%
(3) St. Louis District: 13.1%
(4) ERDC: 12.9%
(5) Norfolk District: 12.8%
(6) Memphis District: 12.4%
(7) Seattle District: 11.9%
(8) Louisville District: 11.8%
(9) San Francisco District: 10.8% 
(10) Kansas City District: 10.7%