DVIDS – News – NAVWAR Cultivates Small Business Relationships at Navy Gold Coast 2023

Representatives from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) and its Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) attended this year’s Department of the Navy (DON) Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event, July 26 to 28 in San Diego, Calif.

Hosted by the San Diego chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) in partnership with the DON OSBP, Gold Coast is the premier Navy procurement conference in the country. It provides a forum to educate, guide and assist large and small businesses in support of the DON and Department of Defense (DOD).

The theme of this year’s Gold Coast was “Sharpening our Nation’s Warfighting Edge through Small Business Speed, Agility, and Transformational Innovations.” Hundreds of small businesses from across the world set up booths to advertise their products and attended panels to learn about the government contracting process.

NAVWAR Commander Rear Adm. Doug Small was a keynote speaker, presenting on “Accelerating Innovation: Transforming Small Business Contributions to Naval Information Warfare Systems.” He spoke on the importance of small business in achieving NAVWAR’s mission and highlighted the top five small business executions from FY22: engineering services, computer related services, research and development in the physical/engineering/life sciences, wireless communications technology manufacturing and computer system design services. Out of the FY22 budget of $9.7 billion, $6.5 billion was eligible for small businesses. $2 billion were spent on small business contracts.

“The nimbleness and innovation of small business is critical to keeping us up to speed,” said Small. “We are invested in networking with as many small businesses as we can, especially at events like these, so we can see what’s out there and how we can continue to innovate alongside you all.”

He emphasized that both he personally and the OSBP representatives are passionate about connecting people to the right resources to ensure their success. “It’s my job as the NAVWAR commander to facilitate those connections. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly and I can get you to the right person,” he said. “Our OSBP wants to help you navigate the contracting process and translate the government terms for companies in the commercial sector.”

At the NAVWAR booth on the conference floor, OBSP Director Kimberly Reidy was available to answer any questions from attendees. “This is my first year as director of OSBP, and I’m excited to get to know all the small businesses in attendance and get the message out about NAVWAR,” she said. “I’m interested to hear about barriers that small businesses currently face, so we can help them avoid those pitfalls and succeed.”

Mark Compton, command information security officer at NAVWAR, also spoke on a panel hosted by the California Advanced Defense Ecosystems & National Consortia Effort (CADENCE) titled “Workforce, Supply Chain, Tech Challenges, Oh My!” The panel addressed topics like investing in their workforce, staying competitive to win government contracts and utilizing state money to fund training opportunities.

“Cyber-attacks from our adversaries have been increasing as of late,” said Compton. “By working with small businesses that are enhancing their capabilities through upskilling, we’re making sure we have the best of the best at our disposal to increase cyber resilience.”

As part of NAVWAR’s continuing dedication to working with small businesses, Program Executive Office (PEO) Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) hosted their second annual Small Business Fair, July 25, where 45 small business owners were in attendance and network with NAVWAR representatives.

The NAVWAR OSBP also hosted their first-ever Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Challenge, accepting project submissions from across the NAVWAR enterprise (including PEOs) aligned with the Strategic Vector that they believed HUBZone companies could execute. The Strategic Vector outlines NAVWAR’s goals to continue improving their information warfare capabilities by fostering a world-class workforce, ensuring information readiness and leading naval digitalization. The winning project submission was chosen based on Strategic Vector impact, innovative use of a HUBZone company and budget plan feasibility. A request for proposal (RFP) based on the winning submission was sent out to a specific HUBZone, with proposals now under evaluation. Up to $500,000 from the FY23 budget will be awarded to the winning HUBZone company. The OSBP is currently planning next year’s challenge.

“Through the HUBZone Challenge, NAVWAR is directly investing in small businesses and seeing what they’re capable of,” said Small in his Gold Coast speech. “We’re making sure there’s a financial advantage for HUBZone companies to engage with NAVWAR and decreasing that barrier to entry.”

Showing support for small businesses, NAVWAR awarded eleven small businesses each $100 million for development and integration of new software solutions to emerging PEO C4I requirements on July 27. The companies are: Dark Wolf Solutions, Geo4S Technologies, ISPA Technology, Moebius Solutions, Objective Function Systems, ODME Solutions, Opal Soft, Raft, TapHere! Technology, TDI Technologies and The Marlin Alliance.

Through attending Gold Coast and hosting the Small Business Fair and the HUBZone Challenge, NAVWAR remains dedicated to working with small businesses across the nation to ensure that they are delivering the top products to the warfighter. By leveraging the agility and innovation of small businesses, NAVWAR can continue to be the world’s preeminent information warfare provider from seabed to space.

About NAVWAR:

NAVWAR identifies, develops, delivers and sustains information warfighting capabilities and services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions operating in warfighting domains from seabed to space and through cyberspace. NAVWAR consists of more than 11,000 civilian, active duty and reserve professionals located around the world.