NFIB

Role of Small Business Expands at Defense Department
05/20/2002

The role of small business at the Department of Defense has grown tremendously during the last two years, following the Air Force's Flexible Acquisition and Sustainment Tool (FAST) contract which encouraged small business participation in contracts for the federal agency.

Designed to ensure the Air Force maintains its weapon supplies during military conflicts, the FAST contract allows small business to pre-qualify with large corporations for goods and services. Small businesses this year accounted for 77 percent of the $48.2 billion of contracts awarded, up from 29 percent of 14.4 billion one year earlier.

"This one Air Force contract is a great example of what can happen when small businesses are allowed to compete equally with large corporations," said House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-Ill.). "We still have a long way to go in battling wasteful contract bundling practices, but a trend is definitely building toward full and open competition between small businesses and large corporations."