Ted
Glum, Director, DMEA, (R) welcomes Keynote Speaker Eugene Tattini,
Lt. General, USAF, Ret., Deputy Director, JPL, at the conference. |
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High-Tech / Low-Tech Government Opportunities
Conference for Business
February 4, 2004
Lt. General Eugene Tattini, USAF (Ret), Deputy
Director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provided the keynote
address to a group of over 130 small business owners and government
representatives at the 5th annual High-Tech / Low-Tech Government
Opportunities Conference, held February 4, 2004, at McClellan
Park. General Tattini discussed the NASA/JPL team's Mars Expedition
Rover Mission including Spirit and Opportunity, the twin robot
geologists, which landed on Mars January 3 and January 24, looking
for geologic evidence of water.
So what does Spirit and Opportunity have to do with small businesses?
Well, in addition to the names Spirit and Opportunity
that capture the American small business culture, JPL used small
businesses for all aspects of its mission. General Tattini, along
with JPL's Business Manager, Tom May, advised the attendees that
more than one third of JPL's contract dollars are awarded to small
Business owners every year.
During his presentation, General Tattini gave
the following advice for small businesses that might want to respond
to a proposal from JPL or anyone else.
How Best to Prepare Your Proposal Response:
• Review proposal instructions
carefully.
• Identify minimum, mandatory
requirements in the proposal.
• If you cannot meet the minimums,
don't bid.
• Identify areas that offer
you a competitive advantage.
• Verify that you can meet the
delivery schedule.
• Understand the evaluation
factors and their relative importance: Technical, Management,
Cost or price, Financial capability, Past performance
• Format the proposal to match
the proposal instructions.
• Respond to every instruction
and requirement.
• Support your assertions. To
be successful, you must have:
• Best cost/price, or
• Best value with a reasonable
price.
How to lose a competition:
• Fail to understand what the customer wants.
• Take exception to requirement, or fail to comply with the
requirements.
• Fail to provide all requested information.
• Fail to substantiate your assertions.
• Put responses where evaluators can't find them.
• Unrealistic schedules, pricing or technological advances.
• Deliver proposal late.
The attendees also heard presentations from
small business owners who had "learned the ropes" to
be able to obtain government contracts. Small business owners
who briefed included Caroline Drakeley, President and CEO Info
Pros; Gary Herbold, President AmerIT; Dennis Aubrey, President,
Woods Hole Group; and Lynn Meland, President of EM-Assist, Inc.
Government presenters included the Microelectronics Activity's
Director of Contracting, Kellie Valdez, and Todd Norton, Small
and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SADBU) Director. Steve
Buss, Northrop Grumman Corporation, represented large defense
prime contractors.
The group also heard presentations about McClellan
Park small business opportunities, the McClellan Technology Incubator
(MTI) and the UC Davis McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center (MNRC).
The conference participants then had an opportunity to tour the
Defense Microelectronics Activity Laboratory, MTI or the MNRC.
Those who wanted more details about how they could better prepare
to be competitive in the government marketplace met one-on-one
with DMEA and The FTC business counselors.
The McClellan Technology Incubator presentation
was digitally recorded and is available on the web via on-demand
streaming video. Click
here to see this demonstration of web video streaming
provided by Southwest Communications Services and their
partners.
Thanks to all of our speakers for making the 5th annual Government
Opportunities Conference such a great success!
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