[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 113 (Monday, June 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33657-33659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14144]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Notification of a Public Meeting and Mailbox on the Presidential 
Memorandum on Federal Small Business Contracting

AGENCY: Small Business Administration, Department of Commerce, Office 
of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On April 26, 2010, President Obama established an Interagency 
Task Force to develop proposals and recommendations for enhancing the 
use of small businesses in Federal contracting, including businesses 
owned by women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged 
individuals, and service-disabled veterans of our Armed Forces. The 
Memorandum establishing the Task Force is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-interagency-task-force-federal-contracting-opportunities-sm.
    In furtherance of the President's Memorandum, the Small Business 
Administration (SBA), the Department of Commerce (DOC), and the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB), who serve as co-chairs of the Task 
Force, invite interested parties from both the public and private 
sectors to offer their views on the challenges small businesses face in 
pursuing federal contracts, on best practices for overcoming these 
challenges and increasing small business participation in the Federal 
marketplace. Comments are especially encouraged on: (1) Removing 
barriers to small business participation; (2) using innovative 
strategies and technologies to increase opportunities for small 
business contractors; and (3) identifying successful agency and private 
sector outreach practices for matching small businesses with 
contracting and subcontracting opportunities.

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    Interested parties may offer oral comments at a public meeting to 
be held on June 28, 2010. Parties are also encouraged to provide 
written comments directly to [email protected] by June 30. 
Please put ``Comment'' in the subject line of the e-mail.

Public Meeting

    Dates and Address: A public meeting will be conducted on June 28, 
2010 at 1 p.m. e.t. and ending no later than 4 p.m. e.t. The meeting 
will be held in the auditorium of the Department of Commerce. The 
auditorium is located off the main lobby of the Department of Commerce 
building at 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    Procedures for the public meeting: The public is asked to pre-
register by 5 p.m. e.t. on June 21, 2010, due to security and seating 
limitations. Registration is on a first-come first-served basis and 
space is limited. To pre-register, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your name, organization or small 
business that you represent, along with contact information and the 
topics that you are interested in (see topics below). Please put 
``Registration'' in the subject line of the e-mail. Registration on 
June 28, 2010 at the meeting location will begin at 12 p.m. e.t. on 
June 28, 2010 and the meeting will start at 1 p.m. e.t.
    Public Comments: The purpose of the meeting is to encourage public 
comment on the issues highlighted in the President's Memorandum and 
related matters of interest to the small business community. A list of 
topics and questions are provided at the end of this notice. Parties 
wishing to make oral or written comment are especially encouraged to 
provide comment on these issues for the Task Force's consideration.
    Agenda: An agenda will be posted at http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/gc/index.html by no later than June 16, 2010 with 
additional details on the structure of the meeting. The meeting may 
include plenary sessions and/or break-out sessions that focus on 
individual topics, such as those described at the end of this notice. 
Therefore, parties may be asked to focus their oral comments on the 
topic of greatest interest to them.
    Written Comments to Small Business Task Force Mailbox: In lieu of, 
or in addition to, participating in the public meeting, interested 
parties may submit written comments to [email protected] 
by June 30, 2010. Please put ``comment'' in the subject line. Because 
the Task Force must prepare recommendations before the end of August, 
interested parties wishing to have their comments considered in 
connection with this process must submit their comments by 5 p.m. e.t. 
on June 30, 2010. Comments received after this date, but before the 
Task Force completes its work, will be considered in follow-up 
implementation efforts, as appropriate.
    Meeting Accommodations: The public meeting will be physically 
accessible to people with disabilities. Request for sign language 
interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to [email protected] by June 21, 2010. Please put 
``Accommodations'' in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of the subject 
matter related to the memorandum: e-mail [email protected]. Please put ``Question'' in the subject line.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The President's April 26, 2010 Memorandum 
emphasizes the Administration's commitment to tapping the talents and 
skills of small businesses, the engine of our Nation's economy, and 
ensuring that they have a fair chance to participate in Federal 
contracting opportunities. The Memorandum establishes an interagency 
Small Business Task Force to identify best demonstrated practices for 
removing barriers to such participation and taking greater and better 
advantage of the creativity, innovation, and technical expertise of the 
small business community, including firms owned and controlled by 
women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, 
service-disabled veterans of our Armed Forces, and firms located in 
Historically Underutilized Business Zones. Section 3 of the Memorandum 
charges the Task Force with developing proposals and recommendations 
for, in primary part:
    (i) Using innovative strategies, such as teaming, to increase 
opportunities for small business contractors and utilizing and 
expanding mentorship programs, such as the 8(a) mentor-
prot[eacute]g[eacute] program;
    (ii) removing barriers to participation by small businesses in the 
Federal marketplace by unbundling large projects, improving training of 
Federal acquisition officials with respect to strategies for increasing 
small business contracting opportunities, and utilizing new 
technologies to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Federal 
program managers, acquisition officials, and the Directors of Offices 
of Small Business Programs and Offices of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization or equivalent, their managers, and procurement 
center representatives in identifying and providing access to these 
opportunities; and
    (iii) expanding outreach strategies to match small businesses, 
including firms owned and controlled by women, minorities, socially and 
economically disadvantaged individuals, and service-disabled veterans 
of our Armed Forces, and firms located in Historically Underutilized 
Business Zones with contracting and subcontracting opportunities.
    The Task Force welcomes public comments on challenges and 
opportunities related to small business contracting and seeks public 
input, in particular, on the issues and questions described below:
    Teaming, mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] programs, and subcontracting. 
What steps can be taken to increase interest in and participation 
through use of: (a) Teaming arrangements (e.g., additional guidelines 
for structuring teams and planning acquisitions to encourage their use, 
clarification of affiliation rules) and (b) mentor-
prot[eacute]g[eacute] programs (e.g., government-wide guidelines). How 
can subcontracting practices, such as tracking and evaluation of 
subcontracting plans, be improved? How can prime contractors be more 
effectively held responsible for their subcontracting plans?
    Set-asides and bundling. What aspects, if any, of the rules 
governing set-asides should be changed? What further guidance might be 
helpful? What strategies best mitigate the effects of contract 
bundling? Are there specific examples that might be shared as success 
stories or models for agencies to follow in mitigating contract 
bundling?
    Training, outreach, and technology. What types of training would 
improve small businesses' ability to participate in the Federal 
marketplace and what are the best ways to deliver this training to the 
small business community? What Federal organizations do the best job in 
their small business outreach strategies? What specific practices do 
they employ that are most helpful? What technology systems and 
applications are most helpful to small businesses in finding 
contracting opportunities? What improvements can be made to existing 
technologies and what new applications might be considered to make 
doing business with the Federal government easier and more attractive?
    Workforce training: What is the best way to train individuals in 
the procurement process? How can we

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ensure they have the skills needed to serve small businesses?

Joseph Jordan,
Associate Administrator, Small Business Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-14144 Filed 6-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P