Mary Spencer, USACE, Talks About Opportunities for Small Businesses

A seasoned veteran provides insight to doing business with USACE. By Mike Sabellico, Business Consultant, Orange County SBDC.

This month’s edition of Contract Central features an article on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and specifically their Los Angeles District Small Business Specialist, Ms. Mary Spencer, for the USACE Small Business Program. Mary has over 40 years of small business experience working for the federal Government having worked with the SBA for 33 years in various capacities and for the USACE for the last seven years in the Los Angeles District Office. The Small Business Program for the USACE is an integrated network of Small Business Advisors providing support to 57 sites in the United States. There are over 60 Small Business Advisors serving within the Corps and they directly support the Corps’ Division Commanders, District Commanders, Centers Directors, and the National Contracting Organizations’ 1200 plus Contracting Professionals. The Small Business Advisors are an integral part of the procurement process and work collectively with Contracting Officers as they plan and execute contracts. The Small Business leaders represent the Corps in all small business matters and provide world class support to ensure successful execution of the Corps’ mission. The Los Angeles District Office mission is to provide world class engineering solutions and project management services that respond to the needs of the nation, the environment, and the public including: Planning, designing, building and operating water resources, and other civil works projects (Navigation, Flood Risk Management, Ecosystem Restoration, Disaster Response, etc.) Designing and managing the construction of military facilities for the Army and Air Force (Military Construction) Providing design and construction management support for other federal agencies (Interagency and International Services) The goals below show the percentages of prime contracts for small businesses established by the Los Angeles District for Fiscal Year 2013:           Small Business.....................................46.00% (statutory goal is 23%)           Small Disadvantage ..............................20.00% (statutory goal is 5%)           HUBZone SB........................................12.00% (statutory goal is 3%)           Woman-Owned SB.................................9.00% (statutory goal is 5%)           Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned SB.......8.00% (statutory goal is 3%) USACE South Pacific Division encompasses four Districts: Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco. I recently spoke with Mary on the phone and asked her some questions regarding small business and the USACE. OCSBDC: How do you like working for the USACE and how would you describe the current atmosphere for small businesses who want to work with the USACE? Mary: I really enjoy working for the USACE. It’s a wonderful organization who really cares about Small Business while ensuring tax dollars are spent wisely and efficiently. The unique nature of our business enables small business to compete very successfully for work with us both on large and small scale projects. We have lots of construction based projects for our customers that are in the $150-$500K range, which is the perfect way to build experience working with the ACOE as a small business without the huge bonding requirements associated with some of our larger projects. OCSBDC: What is the best way for a small business to track upcoming opportunities for your agency? Mary: The best way is to go to our website and click on the link for Federal Business Opportunities and search under keyword/solicitations # W912PL. This will return all opportunities with the USACE and then you can further filter the list according to your company’s NAICS codes. OCSBDC: What is the best way for companies to market their products or services to the USACE? Mary: First and foremost, they have to understand how the USACE works. Most of the projects we have are not directly for the USACE, but for one of our “customers.” Each individual customer determines their own needs and then presents us with their need and the USACE makes it happen with our contracting expertise. The best way for companies to learn about how we operate is to schedule a one-on-one meeting with myself or another Small Business Specialist, attend the annual LA District Open house, or any of the various outreach events we participate in, like the upcoming OC SBDC 8(a) meeting on 14 February 2013. OCSBDC: What are some of the common mistakes you’ve seen small businesses make when working with the USACE? Mary: There are three big mistakes that I’ve seen small businesses make over and over again. #1. Insufficient Bonding - This is a significant issue since the banking meltdown for many small businesses as the required bonding for certain federal jobs is a hard and fast requirement. Many large primes used to cover their subs bonding requirements in the past, but that is no longer the case and it’s more difficult to get higher bonding levels as a small business. #2. Performance - Once awarded the contract you NEED to perform on that contract. The worst thing a small business can do is to win a contract and then not be able to perform the work. The company will likely lose money on that contract and then it will be nearly impossible to get another contract. #3. Not paying their sub contractors - Once you get a contract as a small business, cash flow becomes a concern, but it’s not an excuse to delay payment to your sub contractors. Small businesses need to realize that small sub contractors also have cash flow and payroll issues and delaying rightful payment is not good for the project as a whole and certainly not good for the small primes’ reputation in the Industry. OCSBDC: Any last comments for our readers? Mary: Use the outstanding resources available to small businesses like the agency SBLO’s and the Orange County SBDC consultants who have incredible experience and knowledge available to qualified small businesses at no cost! Also, please come to the OC SBDC and Santa Ana SBA Office Business best practice seminar and matchmaking on February 14th at the SBDC. Sign up at www.ocsbdc.com Last Word: Mary Spencer is an exceptional advocate of small business in a variety of facets and I wanted to thank her for taking the time to conduct this interview. We have several Orange County SBDC clients who have achieved incredible success both from a contract awarded and jobs created perspective working closely with Mary and supporting the USACE on a variety of projects.