Listen to “SBA Area 5 | Brent Owens | Episode 16” on Spreaker.
Summary: Brent Owens discusses trends in purchasing on Air Force bases, regional training for small business and contracting officers, the role of DSBS in market research and the SBA’s All Small Business Mentor-Protégé program.
Guest Bio: Based at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, Brent Owens is a SBA Procurement Center Representative supporting agencies spread across three states. In Montana, he supports the Indian Health Services and the Bureau of Reclamation in Billings, Malmstrom Air Force Base (Great Falls) and the Department of Interior. In Utah, he’s responsible for Hill Air Force Base, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Army’s Dugway Proving Grounds, Tooele Army Depot, and Utah’s Army National Guard in Draper. In Wyoming, Brent supports F.E. Warren Air Force Base, the National Park Service in Mammoth, the Grand Teton National Park, the Forest Service in Cody, and Wyoming’s National Guard in Cheyenne. He also brings 25 years prior experience as a contracting officer with the Air Force.
In this interview from July 2018, Brent Owens discusses:
- Small Business District and PTAC training opportunities , industry days and pre-solicitation events
- PCR training for contracting officers regarding specific types of acquisitions to be utilized, and the ‘pecking order’ process in market research and acquisition strategy which must include socioeconomic category considerations
- the application of the ‘Rule of 2’, the reasonable expectation that there are two or more responsible small businesses that can meet the requirements
- why businesses must proactively respond to Sources Sought and RFIs, to assure competition is restricted to small businesses rather than wide open to large businesses
- how persistence, performance and reputation are key to future acquisitions
- how contracting officers rely on DSBS for market research, looking for specific NAICS codes, geographic specifications, keywords and robust capability descriptions
- how small businesses can partner with large businesses to grow and possibly form joint ventures through the SBA’s All Small Business Mentor-Protégé program
- how small businesses really need to get to know local small business specialists at each contracting activity, network and participate in SBA training events
- how the largest contracting activity for Utah, Wyoming, and Montana pertains to Hill Air Force Base
- acquisition trends on large Air Force bases, including aircraft parts, spare parts, aircraft maintenance, ancillary services and products
- the similarity of large bases to cities with similar needs for engineering services, architect, engineering-type requirements, new construction, alteration and repair of existing construction
- trends in strategic contracting and category management, NetCents, the GSA OASIS contract for professional services and engineering services, IDIQs, SABER contracts