On Thursday, July 18th, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (CST), the FAA’s Small Business Development Program Office (AAP-20) is hosting the 10th Annual Small and Disadvantaged Business Outreach/Industry Day event at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC). The event will be held in the Headquarters Building Auditorium and Conference Center (HQ. Rm. 148A/B), including the Einstein Cafeteria.
| 7:30 am | Welcome Remarks from the Deputy Director of the MMAC |
| 8:00 am-9:15 am | Program and Requirements Briefings |
| 9:30 am-12:30 pm | One-On-One Matchmaking Sessions |
The Match-making event allows Small and Disadvantaged business representatives to schedule brief one-on-one meetings with Procurement Officials from across the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) program and tenant organizations. Several MMAC Program Managers and Procurement Officials will participate in the event, which is likely to attract 250 to 300 Small Business visitors.
The federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services worldwide, making purchases in areas ranging from software and building construction to financial and asset management. This makes its procurement a powerful tool to advance equity and build wealth in underserved communities. Unfortunately, less than 10% of federal agencies’ total eligible contracting dollars go to small, disadvantaged businesses.
In 2021, the Biden Administration announced a goal to increase the share of contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses (SBD) by 50% by the year 2025. This is an unprecedented target, projected to translate to an additional $100 billion for SDBs over five years.
Federal agencies have been asked to increase their goals so that government-wide spending results in at least 11% of contracting dollars being awarded to small, disadvantaged businesses (up from the current statutory goal of 5 percent). This is the first step toward meeting the President’s goal of ensuring that 15% of federal contracts go to small, disadvantaged businesses by FY 2025.
