The Department of Defense and Its Use of Small Businesses

📖 The Scoop

This briefing was produced as part of a larger project on "Analyzing Department of Defense (DoD) Contracting Practices and Policies to Support Small and Disadvantaged Businesses and DoD Transformation" for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SADBU). SADBU requested that the RAND Corporation examine DoD data on small business procurement spending and compare them to data on the prevalence of small businesses in the economy. The goal was to establish an empirical foundation for thinking about DoD's small and disadvantaged business contracting practices and policies. The briefing contains the results of RAND's analysis of federal procurement spending data and Economic Census data on industry and firm size in the economy. The analysis suggests industries that DoD should consider in its efforts to raise small business purchasing. RAND suggests that DoD focus on the industries in which it spends more than half its funds because they are large enough that additional outreach efforts could affect DoD's "bottom line," its ability to meet its small business spending goal. These industries include Engineering Services, Aircraft Engine and Parts Manufacturing, Ship Building and Repair, and Search and Navigation Equipment Manufacturing. Other possible industries include Petroleum Refineries, Professional Services, Ammunition Manufacturing, and Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing.

Genre: Business & Economics / Small Business (fancy, right?)