If you knew that you, your brothers and sisters had access to $190 million would you do whatever it takes to get it? What if I said I could help you get it. Would you believe me? Maybe or Maybe not.
What if I said I can help grow your business by increasing your revenue significantly more than what it has ever been (your response may be, “Yeah, I heard that before.”); but what if I was serious and it didn’t require you to spend additional money other than what you already spend on the normal course of doing business. Would you do whatever it takes to achieve those results?
How about I take you on a journey to discover the possibilities on increase revenue streams and you decide whether you are in or out. Wait! Who am I talking to, and what am I talking about? I am talking to companies interested in or currently doing business with the federal government. I am also talking to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions.
The next question is who am I? I’m glad you ask Hello my name is FRUSTRATED! I graduated from an HBCU 22 years ago with a degree in contract acquisition management, got a job the day of graduation, and I have been in government contracts ever since. I have seen change after change with federal subcontracting goals for HBCUs/MIs, and I can honestly say that neither the contractor nor the university comes out on the winning side. So, let’s talk about it, or should I say, I decided to blog about it.
First let me run down the facts before I bestow my opinion.
Public Law 99-661, National Defense Act 1987 Section 1207 established a 5% Goal for Small Disadvantage Businesses (SDB), HBCUs and Minority Institutions (MIs) (10 USC 2301). It stated that “Department of Defense is striving to increase HBCU/MI funding in the following areas: contracting and subcontracting opportunities in procurement, research, development, test and evaluation, military construction, and operations and maintenance.
NOT! This statutory goal was not met and then the goal was removed. Say What? Now my colleagues would say show them the statistics, and although I think I am talking to an intelligent audience that either already knows I’m telling the truth or that can look it up themselves, I will place a link below for others:
Yes, this is a chart from 2012; what you don’t realize is that the goal was removed based on a case in 2009, Rothe Development Corporation vs DOD. The interesting thing is this case had nothing to do with an HBCU/MI. But because HBCUs/MIs were classified as small disadvantaged businesses, we kind of got eaten up by the shark. HELLLOOOO. We are not a business; we are an educational institution. Why not have a separate goal for us? Oh, I forgot, you did. But no one seemed to care. Check out this link: https://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/statistics/goals.htm
Now on to what I believe can be a comeback kid story. NASA still has a goal for HBCUs/MIs, as a matter of fact the agency reaffirmed this goal in August 2017. Good for NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/pn17-14.htm
This goal was originally established in 2001. Although the goal is only one percent, President Trump has proposed a $19.1-billion budget, which means there is essentially $190 million that my brothers and sisters can share among the HBCUs. That’s good news!
The bad news is this goal has never ever been met. Sigh.
Now here is where I bestow my opinion. So, if I were a government contractor -let me be more specific: a prime contractor, or potentially wanting to be a prime contractor (meaning I have a contract directly with the government) - I would pursue more NASA contracts that have HBCU subcontracting goals incorporated in the request for proposal. I would team with an HBCU and commence to proposing like crazy. This is not the lottery. Your chances of winning is better than you think, given the lay of the land right now. This is your chance to do whatever it takes to meet that goal and increase revenue for your organization.
So now that I laid that all out. The final question is what does it take? I’m glad you asked. I’ll tell you next time.
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