Each year the Aeronautical Center hosts an annual Small Business Industry Day, an event tailored to having the federal government partner or do business with small, minority owned disadvantaged businesses. This year, the virtual event is planned for Tuesday, July 26 from 8:30-12:30 CST.

The federal government is one of the largest purchasers of goods in the world, buying items like software and funding building construction, to financial and asset management. In spite of this, less than 10% of federal agencies’ total eligible contracting dollars typically go to small, disadvantaged businesses (SBD).

The virtual event is limiting introductory meetings to 10 minutes per vendor. The event runs for 4 hours (8:30am-12:30pm) CST with scheduled breaks.

All Aeronautical Center organizations are encouraged to participate. To date, these are the organizations that have registered: FAA Academy, Acquisition Services & Franchise Acquisitions Division, the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Enterprise Services Center, Office of Information Technology, the FAA Logistics Center, FAA Regional Acquisitions Division, DOT’s Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Acquisition Policy & Oversight, and the Small Business Development (SBD) Program. The SBD category under federal law means Black-owned, Latino-owned, as well as other minority-owned businesses qualify. Approximately 20% of all small businesses are women owned, yet less than 5% of federal contracting dollars go to women-owned small businesses.

This year, much emphasis is being given to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. So, if your organization has not participated in the past but you are interested in doing so, please reach out to Geraled.A.Lewis@faa.com or call (405)954-7704. It is important that all Aeronautical Center program and tenant organizations be represented at this year’s Small and Disadvantaged Business Outreach and Networking Event.

At the June 1st centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, President Biden revealed a new goal of increasing the share of contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses by 50% by the year 2025. This is an unprecedented target, translating to an additional $100 billion to SBDs over 5 years. A vision for the President’s Management Agenda states, “By creating more opportunities for all types of business and under-served entrepreneurs to compete for Federal contracts, the Federal marketplace can serve as a platform to create a more equitable economy.”