SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
“SBA Ignite Tour Blazes Across the Country.” Small Business Administration Press Release, June 21, 2017. Retrieved from sba.gov.
Administrator Linda McMahon announced that she will visit more than 60 cities as part of the SBA Ignite Tour, a national outreach campaign aimed to listen, educate, and advocate for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Administrator McMahon visited Las Vegas, Nevada on June 20 and visited Salt Lake City, Utah on June 21, 2017. Additional cities this summer include: Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico, Seattle, Portland, Anchorage, Detroit, and Milwaukee.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING
“Improving Compliance with the Berry Amendment and Buy American Act.” Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Memoranda, June 20, 2017. Retrieved from acq.osd.mil.
The Department of Defense (DOD) released a memorandum in which it provides agency guidance to Executive Order 13788, Buy American and Hire American. The memo states that four previous audits of DOD contracts identified where regulations implementing the Berry Amendment and Buy American Act were neither applied nor properly justified. In light of the noncompliance activity and the recent executive order, the memo announces updates to DOD learning modules for the Berry Amendment and Buy American Act. Further guidance regarding implementation of the executive order is forthcoming.
CAPITOL HILL
“Senate, House Small Business Committees Lead on Strengthening Cybersecurity Defenses.” U.S Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Press Release, June 22, 2017. Retrieved from sbc.senate.gov.
The U.S. Senate and House Small Business Committees introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve cybersecurity resources for small businesses. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Cyber Training Act aims to leverage the existing education programs provided by the SBA. Specifically, the Act would require a portion of SBDC employees to become certified in cyber strategy counseling.
OTHER NEWS
“Four Agencies Try to Reverse Years of Industry-Government Communication TarTar.” Federal News Radio, June 19, 2017. Retrieved from federalnewsradio.com.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is about to hold its fourth Reverse Industry Day on June 28 in Washington, D.C. as part of its Acquisition Innovation in Motion (AIiM) initiative. In an effort for government to better understand what they are asking to buy, Reverse Industry days are becoming more popular among agencies, such as IRS, DOD, and GSA. These industry days are some of the ways government is trying to innovate and improve the acquisition process.
“Pentagon Turns to DAVE for More Efficient Buying.” NextGov, June 20, 2017. Retrieved from nextgov.com.
The DOD relies more frequently on DAVE, the Defense Acquisition Visibility Environment, to aid in acquisition decision making. DAVE is an application programming interface-driven and analytics-fueled acquisition reporting system that provides program managers and senior executives better spending information.