WEBVTT 00:01.279 --> 00:03.335 You're the Director of the Office of 00:03.335 --> 00:05.501 Small Business Programs . Tell me what 00:05.501 --> 00:07.446 that office does . Yes . So my job 00:07.446 --> 00:09.390 essentially is to be the principal 00:09.390 --> 00:11.446 advocate for small businesses in the 00:11.446 --> 00:13.112 Department of Defense . Small 00:13.112 --> 00:15.335 businesses make up the vast majority of 00:15.335 --> 00:17.335 our industrial base that provide us 00:17.335 --> 00:19.501 with products and services and we do a 00:19.604 --> 00:21.715 lot of business with them . So my job 00:21.715 --> 00:23.715 is to make sure that we're creating 00:23.715 --> 00:25.882 good opportunities for small companies 00:25.882 --> 00:28.104 to do business with us and we're giving 00:28.104 --> 00:30.326 them equal opportunities to compete for 00:30.326 --> 00:30.264 federal government contracts . So I 00:30.274 --> 00:32.496 heard you just got back from the Mentor 00:32.496 --> 00:34.595 Protege summit , which I believe was 00:34.604 --> 00:37.244 the first one since 2018 . What does 00:37.255 --> 00:39.033 that summit do ? So it's really 00:39.034 --> 00:41.090 exciting . This was the first mentor 00:41.090 --> 00:43.256 protege summit that the department has 00:43.256 --> 00:45.312 done in five years . And the protege 00:45.312 --> 00:47.423 program is a really important program 00:47.423 --> 00:49.645 to support our small businesses because 00:49.645 --> 00:51.756 it is a small , it's a small business 00:51.756 --> 00:53.867 developmental assistance program . So 00:53.867 --> 00:56.034 in this program , small companies pair 00:56.034 --> 00:57.867 with more successful experienced 00:57.867 --> 00:59.812 companies and they learn how to do 00:59.812 --> 01:01.923 business with the department and they 01:01.923 --> 01:04.145 get support from these more experienced 01:04.145 --> 01:06.034 companies on how to develop their 01:06.034 --> 01:07.701 capabilities , how to get the 01:07.701 --> 01:09.923 certifications they need , how to scale 01:09.923 --> 01:12.090 manufactur ability and things that are 01:12.090 --> 01:14.201 really important for them in order to 01:14.201 --> 01:16.312 become either prime or subcontractors 01:16.312 --> 01:18.423 with us . How does the mentor protege 01:18.423 --> 01:20.590 program ? How does it help bring small 01:20.590 --> 01:20.309 businesses into working with the 01:20.319 --> 01:22.375 defense industrial ? Well , the most 01:22.375 --> 01:24.319 important thing is that the vendor 01:24.319 --> 01:26.375 protege program helps bring in small 01:26.375 --> 01:28.041 businesses from socioeconomic 01:28.041 --> 01:29.875 categories . For example , small 01:29.875 --> 01:32.041 disadvantaged businesses , women owned 01:32.041 --> 01:34.263 businesses , service , disabled veteran 01:34.263 --> 01:36.486 owned , small businesses , and hubs own 01:36.486 --> 01:38.763 small businesses and also new entrants . 01:38.763 --> 01:40.541 So we're really reaching out to 01:40.541 --> 01:42.430 underserved communities that have 01:42.430 --> 01:44.541 talent that have capabilities . We're 01:44.541 --> 01:46.708 reaching out to companies that are new 01:46.708 --> 01:48.930 to the defense industrial base , new to 01:48.930 --> 01:48.800 federal government contracting and 01:48.809 --> 01:51.142 we're bringing them in and we're saying , 01:51.142 --> 01:53.309 hey , come do business with us because 01:53.309 --> 01:53.099 we want your ideas , we want your 01:53.110 --> 01:55.221 talents , we want your capabilities . 01:55.221 --> 01:56.999 So for those companies in those 01:56.999 --> 01:59.332 communities and in those constituencies , 01:59.332 --> 02:01.499 it's a really great way to get plugged 02:01.499 --> 02:03.277 in . So there are so many small 02:03.277 --> 02:05.443 businesses across the country . If I'm 02:05.443 --> 02:07.499 a small business owner and I want to 02:07.499 --> 02:09.332 get involved in working with the 02:09.332 --> 02:09.089 department , how do I go about doing 02:09.100 --> 02:11.169 that ? Yes . So the first step is to 02:11.179 --> 02:13.800 visit one of our 96 apex Accelerators . 02:14.020 --> 02:16.131 We have these accelerators across the 02:16.131 --> 02:18.298 country that are really the front door 02:18.298 --> 02:20.464 to industry and we use them to help us 02:20.464 --> 02:22.576 identify companies to train companies 02:22.576 --> 02:24.520 and to really teach them how to do 02:24.520 --> 02:26.631 business with the department and look 02:26.631 --> 02:28.742 for most small businesses . It's hard 02:28.742 --> 02:30.798 to come to Washington . It's hard to 02:30.798 --> 02:30.520 meet with senior leaders . It's hard to 02:30.529 --> 02:33.009 get the access that they need . This is 02:33.020 --> 02:35.020 our way of bringing the Pentagon to 02:35.020 --> 02:37.131 them so they can in their communities 02:37.131 --> 02:39.298 understand what the requirements are , 02:39.298 --> 02:41.242 how to do business with us and get 02:41.242 --> 02:43.409 access to information and leaders from 02:43.409 --> 02:45.520 their local communities . We also set 02:45.520 --> 02:47.576 up a website platform called Project 02:47.576 --> 02:49.798 Spectrum . Right now , there's a really 02:49.798 --> 02:51.964 big concern about cyber security risks 02:51.964 --> 02:53.853 that small companies face foreign 02:53.853 --> 02:55.964 ownership control and influence risks 02:55.964 --> 02:58.131 that companies face . We really wanted 02:58.131 --> 03:00.242 to make it easy for companies . So we 03:00.242 --> 03:02.353 set up Project spectrum as a platform 03:02.353 --> 03:04.576 where they can get the training tools , 03:04.576 --> 03:06.798 tool assessment events and all the self 03:06.798 --> 03:08.853 assessment capabilities they need so 03:08.853 --> 03:11.020 they can understand their risks , they 03:11.020 --> 03:13.131 can mitigate their risks and they can 03:13.131 --> 03:15.242 do it for free at our cost . So we're 03:15.242 --> 03:17.076 really spending a lot of time on 03:17.076 --> 03:18.798 reducing barriers to entry for 03:18.798 --> 03:20.631 companies and that's why it's so 03:20.631 --> 03:22.742 important that companies leverage the 03:22.742 --> 03:24.909 Apex Accelerator Program . They're all 03:24.909 --> 03:27.131 all across the country in every state . 03:27.131 --> 03:26.910 Uh and also project spectrum , which is 03:26.919 --> 03:29.380 a free platform that we've stood up to 03:29.389 --> 03:31.500 help them with their cyber compliance 03:31.500 --> 03:33.667 issues . I heard you just rolled out a 03:33.667 --> 03:35.833 new global business strategy . Can you 03:35.833 --> 03:37.778 tell me more about that or where I 03:37.778 --> 03:39.945 could go find more information on it . 03:39.945 --> 03:39.289 Yeah , we did . In fact , we rolled out 03:39.300 --> 03:41.522 the department's updated small business 03:41.522 --> 03:43.744 strategy , which is really a department 03:43.744 --> 03:45.911 wide initiatives on how we're going to 03:45.911 --> 03:47.967 bring more small businesses in . And 03:47.967 --> 03:47.559 it's actually posted on my office's 03:47.570 --> 03:49.681 website which is business dot defense 03:49.681 --> 03:51.570 dot gov , really easy to find for 03:51.570 --> 03:53.681 industry . Well , thank you for , for 03:53.681 --> 03:55.626 talking to me today . It's been so 03:55.626 --> 03:55.589 interesting learning just exactly what 03:55.600 --> 03:57.489 you do and how we can bring small 03:57.489 --> 03:59.711 businesses into the department . Really 03:59.711 --> 04:00.240 appreciate it . Great , glad to be here .