Recognition of the Protection Logistics Company’s success partnering with American small companies reached new heights Feb. 15 when it was named Company of the Yr on the sold-out Nationwide Small Enterprise Convention in New Orleans.
The respect was introduced by the Nationwide 8(a) Affiliation and Nationwide HUBZone Council. The Small Enterprise Administration’s 8(a) program focuses on socially and economically deprived companies, and the HUBZone program assists these in traditionally underutilized enterprise zones.
“This can be a nice honor and recognition of the collaborative and collective work we’re reaching in strengthening and deepening our trade engagement with the small enterprise neighborhood,” stated Dwight Deneal, DLA’s director of small enterprise packages.
Every day efforts from DLA’s acquisition and data expertise groups helped make the award doable, he added.
The award was primarily based on DLA’s skill to satisfy fiscal yr 2022 small enterprise contracting objectives set by the Protection Division and for its historical past serving to small companies perceive and navigate federal contracting processes to allow them to compete extra successfully for contracts.
DLA exceeded its small enterprise aim for the tenth consecutive yr in fiscal yr 2022 by obligating 39% of its contracts to small companies in opposition to a 35.1% goal. The company additionally exceeded its 3% aim within the traditionally underutilized enterprise zone class for the second consecutive yr at 3.5%.
Fiscal yr 2022 small enterprise contracts at DLA have been price greater than ever at nearly $16 billion, stated Chris Corridor, DLA’s deputy director of small enterprise.
Deneal praised DLA small enterprise specialists’ work connecting small enterprise homeowners with contracts for gadgets like spare elements and different consumables that want routine substitute. Aligning small companies with DLA contracts has develop into a repeatable course of, he added, and the company is engaged on new methods to establish companies able to assembly distinctive or sudden necessities.
DLA’s Small Enterprise Innovation Program, which makes use of small companies to remove gaps in elements for weapons methods, is one instance of how DLA has develop into a mannequin for matching distributors with army wants. Contracts for over 500 nationwide inventory numbered gadgets have been awarded by way of this system.
Small enterprise specialists all through DLA are working to beat the decline within the protection industrial base by growing contracts with underserved enterprise communities along with HUBZones, Deneal added.
The company’s fiscal yr 2023 small enterprise aim is 37.3%.