Pentagon officials see ‘troubling’ small business decline since COVID

Source: defensenews.com

WASHINGTON ― Over recent months, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, but that’s not necessarily benefitting the Defense Department’s usual vendors.

In fact, the Pentagon contracting arm is seeing fewer small businesses in its traditional supplier base competing for contracts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the director of the DLA’s Office of Small Business Programs, Dwight Deneal, said Tuesday.

“Our percentages [of small business involvement] are as high as they’ve ever been over the past five years, but we are recognizing that the participation level from our supplier base’s standpoint has steadily declined,” Deneal said at a small business panel at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting, which was being conducted virtually.

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A Federal Coronavirus Vaccine Contract Released At Last, But Redactions Obscure Terms

Source: npr.org

Even as the companies enlisted by the government's Operation Warp Speed project to develop COVID-19 vaccines say they're making quick progress, details of their lucrative federal contracts have been slow to emerge.

But late Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services released its August contract with Moderna. When announcing the deal, HHS said it was worth $1.5 billion and would secure the first 100 million doses of the company's vaccine and the option to buy up to 400 million more.

Overall, there is a lack of disclosure around the terms of the federal contracts with companies involved in the crash program to make COVID-19 vaccines. Most of the contracts haven't been released.

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Government’s recent track record with IDIQ contracts has been spotty

The government’s recent track record with huge IDIQ contracts has been spotty at best. Of course, there’s the JEDI contract which has been bogged down in legal challenges for two years now. Another example: GSA’s cancellation this summer of the Alliant 2 small business contract with no clear replacement in sight. Our next guest says the problems around IDIQs are a sign of the times. Larry Allen is president of Allen Federal Business Partners and he joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to share more.

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