The BDO GovCon Week Ahead - July 2020

July 20, 2020

Personal Protective Equipment in Short Supply Again: Premier, A 4,000-member hospital improvement company, recently noted their acute healthcare community uses 25 million N-95 masks per year. However, COVID-19 has required the use of 300 million in the first half of 2020. Extrapolate that significant, concurrent increase across U.S. private and public hospitals, as well as federal, state, and local purchases, and it is obvious why demand continues to outstrip supply. ProPublica research specifies more than $18 billion of federal funding has been committed by the federal government to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) purchases over a series of more than 8,000 contracts and 4,500 vendors so far in 2020. How can PPE manufacturers and/or government suppliers deliver on this impending second wave of demand? 

1. Secure your supply chain and source as much U.S.-made material and finished goods as possible
2. Leverage the past performance and contracting vehicles of existing federal suppliers via a teaming or reseller agreement if your company is unknown to the government
3. Continue to be vigilant about your full supply chain – a quick buck dubiously earned could negatively affect your ability to earn different government work in the future

Defense Health Agency’s $14.8 Billion Dollar Maintenance Backlog: Architects, engineers, construction companies, and facilities management firms have a little over a year to prepare for the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) assumption of responsibility for more than 600 active duty hospitals and clinics in FY22. These facilities come with a backlog of $14.8 billion in maintenance and modernization projects ranging from gutting and replacing boiler and chiller systems to moving examination room oxygen nozzles for more ergonomic use.  A Defense Department Investigator General (DoDIG) report released on July 10, 2020, presented these details and more and should serve as a business development pipeline research tool for the aforementioned trades likely to be called on for similar repairs.

Small Business Innovation and Research Grants at NASA: Small business is considered the heart of American ingenuity and our economic growth engine. Unfortunately, many radical, unique, and potentially transformative ideas never see the light of day because the inventor will say, “I don’t have the time or capital to bring that idea to fruition.” Thus, the government created the Small Business Innovation & Research (SBIR) grant program to offer non-dilutive seed funding to those seeking to explore their concepts and eventually initiate a go-to-market strategy. On average, 5,000 small businesses receive over $2.5 billion annually according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). For more specific examples of ideas funded by government dollars, you can review this recent press release which details the 409 companies NASA funded with $51 million in June 2020. Companies will receive up to $125,000 for SBIR Phase 1 grants, as well as the ability to say to investors and potential teaming partners, “NASA believes in my idea – how about you?”