On July 25, 2024, the National Women’s Business Council hosted the Reimagining Access Roundtable: Transforming Government Funding Practices. This gathering brought together business owners, policymakers, and advocates to discuss streamlining processes and creating equitable access to federal funding opportunities.

Roundtable Recap

Moderators

• Samantha Abrams
• Jenny Poon

Panelists

• Nauman Ansari, Small Business Administration
• Tammy Halevy, Reimagine Main Street
• Elle Patout, National Association of Women Business Owners
• Eliana Zavala, Office of Management and Budget
• Paul Martin, General Services Administration
• Courtney Fairchild, Global Solutions/WIPP

Introduction

NWBC Chair Sima Ladjevardian shared welcoming remarks and summarized the Council’s history and mission.

Program

To set the stage for the conversation, Council Member Abrams shared an example of a federal solicitation recently disseminated by NWBC. The contract was set aside for Women-Owned Small Businesses, but the document requesting bids was, at a glance, long and relatively complex.

Q:

The Biden-Harris Administration has emphasized the importance of improving the quality of interactions between the government and its constituents. How have parallel efforts to advance customer service principles and to reform rules like Uniform Cost Principles for grantmaking informed your work to improve underrepresented small business owners’ experiences in seeking federal contracts?

A:

• The Biden Administration is working toward a goal of 15% of contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses.
• Its strategy is to identify and promote innovative best procurement practices.
• More specific tools and levers to accomplish goals – faster awards, better communication, and more participation:
  • Changes to increase multiple award contracts (27% of all federal contracts) to small businesses
  • Small group discussions with contracting community to determine changes to process that can help small businesses
  • Improvements to Acquisition Gateway forecast tool to get early info to small businesses
  • Community partnerships, e.g. with associations of WOSBs, to promote doing business with federal agencies and to conduct matchmaking

Q:

What are the most successful initiatives or pilot programs implemented by the SBA or other agencies to streamline procurements, and what measurable impacts have been observed? As you think about measuring results, could you tell us whether agencies have compared results of revised solicitations to traditional ones to identify changes in the number and nature of bidding companies and the success rates of certified small and disadvantaged firms?

A:

• Culture of confidence in small business capacity is important.
• Early communication gives companies more time for preparation: forecasting, publication of draft solicitations and Requests for Information with request for industry input/capability statements.
• Minimize work for bidders via down selects: a process of asking first for summaries or short descriptions in response to a solicitation and narrowing the list of potential vendors asked to submit a full proposal to those that are the best candidates to fulfill the need.

Q:

How can agencies ensure fair and equitable treatment of all competitors while providing more responsive and accessible information about solicitations, and without significantly increasing administrative burden?

A:

• Agency liaisons, small business specialists, and others are advocates for historically underrepresented businesses and for leveling the playing field between firms with more and fewer resources.
• Knowledge management portal gives contract officers creative tools to improve outreach and resulting outcomes – these tools ensure wider participation in the process.
• GSA Schedules program is an ideal entryway into selling to the government.
• Startup Springboard makes it easier for companies less than 2 years old/with less than 2 years of experience to compete for multiple-award contracts (MACs).
  • Similar pool for 8(a) companies to will MACs.

Q:

What are the toughest pain points for small companies with limited capacity and government sales experience when seeking federal contracts and grants? Is it finding the best opportunities, responding to accelerated timelines, compiling complex narratives and documentation, substantiating capability without a federal track record, or something else?

A:

• Experienced business owners describe government contracting as burdensome.
• Most frequent barriers include:
  • Absence of relationships with contracting officers
  • Bandwidth to respond to complex solicitations
  • Demonstrating capability without past track record
• Risk of spending up front without certainty of winning business gives women pause, in particular. The cost of winning government business is elevated – we can bring it down by increasing communication, transparency, and advanced notice from government to potential offerors. GSA does a great job in this respect.
• Finding the best opportunities is tough because no two agencies do things the same way: Acquisition Gateway push is a great solution to get agencies working from the same playbook.
• Apex Accelerators, Women’s Business Centers, and other public resources aren’t necessarily well-known. Pooled grant- and proposal-writing resources for small businesses could help.
  • There are well over 100 WBCs today with a presence in every state; they serve businesses at every stage. They’re worth knowing, as are MDBA business centers. These services are free.

Q:

Can you help us understand the work it will take to implement changes to federal purchasing practices by sharing the number of people or offices involved in procurement decisions, and how you coordinate with all stakeholders at SBA? Put that in context: how does SBA’s contracting operation compare in size to other agencies?

A:

• Federal agencies vary widely in size and purchasing power. Example: Coast Guard has ~1200 contracting officers; SBA has a team of about 35.
• Entities like OMB have convened councils of OSDBU offices and other practitioners within government to work through how to implement changes and improvements.
• OMB wants to empower agencies to use labs and experiments – to manage rather than avoid risk. Broad support and promotion are bringing about increasing evolution in how we work.

Q:

What’s the best way for federal managers to communicate about innovations in procurement accessibility and to encourage the engagement of small and disadvantaged firms that have declined to compete for federal contracts in the past? Could you also address what outreach, and marketing should look like for both officials with broad mandates like our friends here from GSA and OMB, and for specific agency and contracting managers who work with subsets of the contractor universe?

A:

• Coordinating improvements across agencies is critical.
• Government should hold systematic engagements with trusted intermediaries: resource partners, associations, NAWBO, WIPP, Chambers, etc. It should sustain the Navigators model. SBA is doing a good job of this with respect to the women’s business community.
• Communicating through certifying bodies – WBENC, NMSDC, NGLCC – is very effective.
• OMB partners with industry associations to present announcements and hold regular engagements.

Q:

What ideas haven’t we discussed? What other processes and protocols to reduce contractor burden deserve consideration? For example, could agencies hold information about bidders’ past performance and capabilities on file after initial submission, and consult their existing records if and when companies bid on multiple contracts for which the same company-specific information is relevant?

A:

• We can use existing tools. More opportunities like MACs create sales at scale in exchange for minimum burden on offerors.
  • Can we create MAC pools for WOSBs and other certified businesses in addition to 8(a) companies?
• We should demystify the process and explain ourselves in plain terms. We should ensure systemically that women are set up for success with background understanding of what government is looking for.
  • Events and systematic engagements, and more person-to-person interaction, can help to get more information to more potential offerors.

Q:

Can AI help small businesses make up for deficits in capacity and experience?

A:

• It can help but MUST be used with caution. The federal government is cautious too and may take steps like requiring disclosure of the use of AI to prepare solicitation response.
• There likely are limits to what it can do for business owners interested in being contractors.

Q:

Thinking about the sample solicitation we shared here, and others you’re familiar with:

What information would you put in the first line of a solicitation to quickly and effectively help potential bidders identify the most appropriate opportunities?

A:

• NAICS code
• What’s needed? Where’s the Statement of Work?
• Metrics – how will proposals be judged?
• Good keywords for those who use SAM.gov to search
• NOT terms and conditions – this can come later, depending on the platform
• Solicitation could be shorter if a project uses GSA’s schedules

Q:

How should we handle communication about legal requirements and restrictions?

A:

• Contractors should seek help wherever possible. MDBA Centers and other resource partners may be able to help.
  • Example of importance: government ownership of items may be standard in contracts, but companies may want to modify or negotiate over this language.

Q:

Given that the federal government requires companies to have pre-registered with SAM.gov and obtained a Unique Entity ID, and potentially to obtain advance business certification, what strategies can federal agencies adopt to ease time pressures on small businesses?

A:

• Advance work takes at least 2 weeks to a month.
• Agencies have an escalation process and may be able to help if you’re experiencing delays in obtaining pre-requisites to be a contractor.
• Start recertification at least 2 months in advance. Leave yourself time.

Closing

Council Member Samantha Abrams provided closing thoughts, highlighting that government is working hard to improve and do more work with small businesses. She asked audience members to continue to engage with NWBC to help it develop independent policy recommendations to serve women business owners. She thanked panelists, attendees, and stakeholders.