The Defense Contract Management Agency is working on ways to help small businesses increase their participation in the government contracting market and gain an education on the sector prior to their entry, DCMA’s director told the Potomac Officers Club Thursday.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Wendy Masiello told a GovCon and government executive audience in Falls Church, Va. that removal of some bureaucratic processes and cost control tools are part of efforts to give smaller businesses access to contracting work with the Defense Department.
The agency is also participating in the Pentagon’s third Better Buying Power iteration by learning about overhead costs related to internal research-and-development programs, one of the major items of emphasis in BBP 3.0.
“DCMA comes in because some of those costs are embedded in internal R&D and we need to understand what those are, ” she said.
“We’re involved in not judging, but validating.”
Masiello acted as the keynote speaker at the POC’s “Federal Procurement & Acquisitions Event” in Falls Church, Va. for public and private sector leaders to discuss the military and intelligence community’s current contracting environments and how businesses can work with agencies to make the acquisition process work for both sides.
Also at the event, Potomac Officers Club and parent Executive Mosaic Founder Jim Garrettson presented Masiello with her induction into the 2016 edition of the Wash100, Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of the GovCon industry’s most influential voices.
The Wash100 contains executives at the U.S. and world’s largest government contractors, as well as leaders at their public sector customers that shape the events and discussions around the GovCon industry.
“I’m honored to be recognized as part of the Wash100, as I know that it reflects well the dedication of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s global workforce. I see a lot of familiar names on the list, people who I have a great deal of respect for, and it’s a privilege to be counted among them, ” Masiello said upon her induction.
“DCMA is in a unique position to bridge the gap between the government — in this case the Department of Defense — and commercial business. We do so through the most formal of documents, the contract, but it’s the relationships that our people have developed, over decades in some cases, that cement our success.
“These relationships drive efficiency, quality, innovation, cost savings and a host of other indicators that equal a strong national defense presence, procured in a fiscally responsible way.”
