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28–252 2018

ENGAGING ENERGY: SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES 

AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

ENERGY, AND TRADE 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JANUARY 18, 2018 

Small Business Committee Document Number 115–052 

Available via the GPO Website: www.fdsys.gov 

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER


Congress.#13
(II) 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

DAVE BRAT, Virginia 

AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

STEVE KNIGHT, California 

TRENT KELLY, Mississippi 

ROD BLUM, Iowa 

JAMES COMER, Kentucky 

JENNIFFER GONZA ́ LEZ-COLO ́ N, Puerto Rico 

BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas 

RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina 

JOHN CURTIS, Utah 

NYDIA VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member 

DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania 

STEPHANIE MURPHY, Florida 

AL LAWSON, JR., Florida 

YVETTE CLARK, New York 

JUDY CHU, California 

ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

VACANT 

KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Majority Staff Director 

JAN OLIVER, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ADAM MINEHARDT, Staff Director 

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(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Hon. Rod Blum ......................................................................................................... 1 

Hon. Brad Schneider ............................................................................................... 2 

WITNESS 

Mr. Charles R. Smith, Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business 

Utilization, United States Department of Energy, Washington, DC ............... 3 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statement: 

Mr. Charles R. Smith, Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, United States Department of Energy, Washington, 

DC .................................................................................................................. 16 

Questions for the Record: 

None. 

Answers for the Record: 

None. 

Additional Material for the Record: 

None. 

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER

(1) 

ENGAGING ENERGY: SMALL BUSINESS 

RESOURCES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF 

ENERGY 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, ENERGY, AND TRADE, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Rod Blum [chairman of 

the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Chabot, Blum, Comer, Schneider, and 

Lawson. 

Chairman BLUM. Good morning. I call this hearing to order. 

Thank you for joining us at today’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, 

Energy, and Trade hearing. 

The Department of Energy, or DOE, is tasked with ensuring 

America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science 

and technology solutions. This mission extends beyond solely the 

work of the Department to both the energy industry and the multitude of businesses that work with the DOE to fulfill this task. 

Small businesses are integral to the success of the DOE mission 

and the energy industry. However, the high costs and high technology required in the energy field often leave small businesses 

struggling to compete with large corporations. 

The issue is of key importance to me since the energy industry 

is booming in Iowa. My home State excels in production of renewable energy such as ethanol and wind-based renewables. Iowa’s energy production accounted for roughly 54,000 jobs and added $5 billion to the State’s GDP in 2016. As a small business owner myself, 

I understand the challenges that small firms working in a competitive and expensive field face, and I know these small businesses 

can make an astounding impact on energy if given the opportunity. 

Today’s hearing will address the ways in which the Department 

of Energy is working to minimize the barriers that often exclude 

small businesses from succeeding in the energy field and highlight 

the resources the agency offers to small businesses looking to participate in the Federal contracting process. We will hear from the 

Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization—that is a mouthful—or OSDBU, about the various 

programs and opportunities the agency offers in an effort to provide small businesses with the resources they need to compete and 

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2 

succeed in the energy industry. I look forward to hearing from our 

witness today and having a productive conversation on this issue. 

I yield to the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade, Mr. Schneider, for his opening statement. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Smith, 

welcome to the Committee. 

Since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, U.S. energy policy has 

been aimed at assuring a secure supply of energy, keeping energy 

costs low enough to meet the needs of a growing economy and protecting the environment while producing and consuming that energy. Technological advances, consumption changes in the modern 

economy, and continued interest in renewable energy have driven 

changes in energy investment. This investment serves as a catalyst 

to the Federal marketplace, giving small businesses more opportunities to compete through Department of Energy solicitations to 

help create a cleaner, renewable future. Each year the Federal Government procures more than $400 billion in goods and services from businesses around the country. 

Through the vehicle of government contracts, in order to ensure 

that small businesses receive their fair share of Federal contracting 

opportunities, the Small Business Act sets forth a governmentwide 

23 percent goal of Federal contracts that should be awarded to 

small businesses. 

In order to help increase the participation of small businesses in 

the Federal procurement marketplace, Offices of Small Business 

and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, or OSDBUs, have been 

created throughout the Federal Government. It should be noted 

that the DOE did not meet its 10.2 percent prime small business 

goal for fiscal year 2016 and has struggled in the past to provide 

optimal contracting dollars to small businesses. Needless to say, a 

concerted effort is critical to DOE fully participating in the Federal 

policy to engage and hire small businesses. I look forward to hearing more from Director Smith on his plans to reverse this trend 

permanently given his optimistic written testimony. 

OSDBUs promote small business inclusion within an individual 

agency’s mandate, and also ensure that small firms are treated 

fairly and equitably in the contracting process. In this capacity, 

OSDBUs serve as one of the primary advocates for small firms and 

offer them information and guidance on contracting opportunities, 

both prime and subcontracting. Additionally, they work with the 

Small Business Administration and other agency officials to determine the small business goals for their agency. 

As evident by their unique positioning, OSDBUs enhance the 

ability of small businesses to compete more successfully for Federal 

Government contracts and serve a vital role in the procurement 

process. Within the recent growth and Federal contract spending, 

small firms should be receiving opportunities commensurate with 

this increase. 

The DOE OSDBU goal is to provide maximum practicable opportunities in the Department’s acquisition to all small business concerns. It is the known policy of the DOE to provide timely information to the public regarding DOE’s forecast of future prime contracting opportunities and subcontracting opportunities which are 

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3 

available via the Department’s major site and facilities management contractors. 

The OSDBU creates its annual Small Business Forum and Expo 

to connect small businesses with various DOE offices and programs 

to enhance DOE’s overall mission of ensuring America’s security 

and prosperity. As an additional resource, the Energy Department 

runs a mentor-prote ́ge ́ program designed to encourage DOE prime 

contractors to assist small disadvantaged businesses certified by 

the Small Business Administration. Through mentor-prote ́ge ́ programs, small businesses are able to receive a broad array of business development assistance through various methods, including 

training, obtaining certificates, and in some cases receiving loans 

or noncompetitive subcontract awards. These benefits not only help 

protege firms contract with the government, but also assist them 

in building up their capacity. Doing so enables them to successfully 

compete in the marketplace at the conclusion of the mentor-prote ́ge ́

agreement. It is vital that the DOE participate in the Federal marketplace to the maximum extent practicable so they have access to 

those individuals who are able to combat the dangers of climate 

change that are before us already. 

Today’s hearing will provide the background and ideas needed to 

understand the current state of our investment in small businesses 

participating in the energy economy and determine whether additional investments are needed to safeguard our aging infrastructure while at the same time bolster small businesses. 

I again thank Director Smith for being here and look forward to 

gaining more insight as to how we can make Energy Department 

offices more effective in meeting the mission to provide small businesses with acquisition opportunities. 

Thank you, and I yield back. 

Chairman BLUM. Thank you, Mr. Schneider. 

If Committee members have an opening statement prepared, I 

would ask that they be submitted for the record. 

I would like to take a moment to explain the timing lights for 

you. You will have 5 minutes to deliver your testimony. The light 

starts out as green. When you have 1 minute remaining the light 

turns to yellow, and at the end of the 5 minutes, guess what? It 

turns to red. And we ask that you try to adhere to that time limit. 

Our first and only witness today is Mr. Charlie Smith. Mr. Smith 

serves as the director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

Business Utilization at the United States Department of Energy. 

Before his time with the DOE, Director Smith worked in various 

public and private sector roles, including as the director of New 

Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the 

executive director at JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, Director Smith 

served 5 years as an officer in the United States Navy, and we 

thank you for that service, both then and now, and for joining us 

today, Director Smith. The floor is yours. 

STATEMENT OF CHARLES R. SMITH, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 

SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS UTILIZATION 

Mr. SMITH. Chairman Blum, Ranking Member Schneider, and 

members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to 

testify here today on behalf of the Department of Energy on DOE’s 

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4 

small business initiatives. I am the Director of the Department of 

Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, 

more succinctly referred to as the DOE OSDBU. I began work in 

this role in September 2017, and have since been working to improve the agency’s small business goal achievement through collaboration with the Small Business Administration and DOE’s contracting activities. 

The Department of Energy awards billions of dollars to small 

businesses annually, and has met the prime and subcontracting 

small business goals established by the SBA since 2015. Moving 

forward my focus will be to continue meeting DOE’s small business 

prime and subcontracting goals while improving the agency’s engagement and performance in the four established socioeconomic 

subcategories. 

My brief testimony today will touch upon three topics. First, an 

overview of the DOE Management and Operating, M&O, business 

model. Second, current DOE OSDBU initiatives promoting small 

business engagement. And finally, examples of other DOE programs that aid small businesses. 

The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 created the 

Department of Energy, and continued the management and operating laboratory structure created for the Manhattan Project. This 

business model, unique in the Federal Government, continues 

today, utilizing the private sector through a network of independently managed laboratories to meet the agency’s missions. DOE’s 

unique laboratory structure created the need for a new small business-goaling approach because the small business administration 

relies on the Federal Procurement Data System, FPDS, to assess 

prime small business activity. However, since M&O’s subcontracting accounts for 85 percent of agency spend, the FPDS calculations alone have historically underrepresented DOE’s engagement 

with small businesses. To address this underrepresentation, the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 authorized DOE to count 

first-tier M&O subcontracts awarded to small businesses towards 

its small business prime goals. These subcontracts were reported to 

the Small Business Administration through a data collection process named Management and Operating Subcontract Reporting Capability, MOSRC. For fiscal year 2017, MOSRC combined with 

FPDS, shows that DOE contributed over $3 billion to small businesses. 

The DOE OSDBU provides a broad range of resources to small 

businesses, such as posting an updated forecast of contracting opportunities. This posting is commonly referred to as the Headquarters Acquisition Forecast, and serves as a business development tool to help small businesses respond to agency needs. Small 

businesses seeking the full range of DOE needs are guided to research both the Headquarters Acquisition Forecast and the DOE 

M&O contractors’ additional separate acquisition forecasts, which 

lists upcoming requirements unique to the respective facilities. 

The Department of Energy also hosts an annual Small Business 

Forum and Expo where small businesses can connect with DOE 

buyers, receive business development counseling, exchange best 

practices, and be introduced to various DOE small business initiatives. This year, the 3-day event will be in Houston from May 22nd 

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER

5 

through the 24th, and is expected to draw over a thousand 

attendees. 

In 2017, in an effort to improve service-disabled veteran-owned 

small business subcategory performance, DOE hosted its first outreach event specifically targeted to veteran-owned small businesses 

and SDVOSBs. Over 200 attendees attended in a full day of training and matchmaking with DOE program elements. 

In fiscal year 2018, DOE OSDBU is planning additional forums 

to specifically advocate for HUBZone small businesses. These 

events will be held in HUBZones near DOE sites, and will provide 

businesses with business development training and matchmaking 

sessions to connect new businesses with DOE buyers. 

The Department’s OSDBU office also has a Mentor-Prote ́ge ́ Program for prime contractors to provide business development opportunities to small businesses. DOE OSDBU has a concerted effort 

underway to double the agency’s 28 mentor-prote ́ge ́ agreements by 

the end of fiscal year 2019. 

The Department’s OSDBU office actively seeks to participate in 

other outreach events to grow our network of small business partners. In fiscal year 2017, the DOE OSDBU office participated in 32 

outreach events for over 10,000 total attendees, spanning all small 

business socio economic categories. 

Other agency small business initiatives include the Small Business Vouchers program, which enables small businesses to tap into 

national laboratory intellectual and technical assets to overcome 

various commercialization challenges. Since March 2016, the Department’s Small Business voucher program has awarded vouchers 

to 114 businesses in 31 States, worth a total of $22 million. 

DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear is another 

voucher program that provides vouchers to small businesses involved in the application to advance nuclear technologies. Additionally, the agency’s small business innovation research and small 

business technology transfer programs spur technological innovation through DOE grants to small businesses. In fiscal year 2017, 

the programs awarded $242 million to small businesses. 

In conclusion, I share and appreciate the Committee’s effort to 

ensure Federal Government engagement with small businesses. I 

welcome any questions and look forward to working with you, Mr. 

Chairman, and the Subcommittee to further any efforts towards 

that goal. 

Chairman BLUM. Thank you, Mr. Smith. 

I would now like to recognize the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. 

Comer, for 5 minutes of questioning. And before you start, I would 

also like to recognize the Chairman of our Committee as a whole, 

Chairman Chabot. Thank you for being here today. 

Mr. Comer, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. COMER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome to the 

Committee. 

My first question, you mentioned in your testimony that 85 percent of Department spending is done through the management and 

operating or M&O contractors to the DOE laboratories. Do the 

prime contractors offered to these DOE M&O contractors in any 

way differ from those offered directly from the agency? 

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER

6 

Mr. SMITH. I appreciate the question. You were asking if the 

contracts the agency has with the M&O operators differ from our 

headquarters? 

Mr. COMER. Yes. 

Mr. SMITH. I would not feel comfortable answering that. 

Mr. COMER. Okay. 

Mr. SMITH. I do not know the answer is what I should tell you. 

Mr. COMER. Okay. The next question. Many small businesses 

are hindered by excessive regulation, obviously. What does the 

process look like for small businesses to apply for an exemption to 

the Energy Conservation Standards program? 

Mr. SMITH. It is my understanding, Congressman, that to apply 

for that exemption a small business would contact the Department’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EERE, office, 

which administers those exemptions. The OSDBU office, in our 

mission to advocate on behalf of all small businesses that want to 

engage with the Department would be to refer any such inquiry to 

EERE. 

Mr. COMER. Okay. In the event a small business reaches out to 

your office with concerns about undue restrictions on contracting 

competition, how does the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization advocate on behalf of the small business? What 

does the process look like? 

Mr. SMITH. I thank you for that question, Congressman. As you 

are likely aware, I am sure you are aware, that is section 15(k)(17) 

of the Small Business Act. A recent GAO audit noted that was a 

deficiency in an audit they conducted prior to my arrival at the 

agency. We have worked hard over the past few months to correct 

that deficiency, and now there is a process in place. And if I could 

briefly describe that for you, it involves, we have placed on our site 

a mailbox that allows a small business to make a direct inquiry. 

That mailbox is monitored daily. Upon receiving such a notification, it is our office’s job to communicate to the contracting officer, 

let them be aware of the situation and ask them for a response to 

the notice, and to also notify the competition advocate. We then 

communicate that to the small business, and also communicate 

that there are other avenues for them to pursue that. It is a written policy that is now in place. We have the mailbox available and 

these are things that we did not have before. And, I would just like 

to add, it was convenient that at the time we instituted this at the 

end of last year, we received such a complaint and I was pleased 

to say that the contracting officer and the competition advocate 

amended a request for proposal to the satisfaction of the contracting officer and the small business concern. 

Mr. COMER. I have a major DOE site in my district in Paducah, 

Kentucky, the Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and I get asked this question a lot, what is DOE’s definition of a small business? What classifies as a small business versus a big business? 

Mr. SMITH. Well, it depends. It is the Small Business Administration and various NAICS codes will determine which is a small 

business. But I would certainly encourage any business that has 

that question to reach out to the office. 

Mr. COMER. And I believe, Mr. Chairman, it is somewhere 

around $30 million. Does that sound right, $30 million in sales? 

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Would that be? But regardless, one of the complaints that I get 

from my small business vendors and contractors is once you get a 

dollar past the minimum definition, then you are competing 

against multibillion dollar publicly traded companies. So a lot of 

small businesses that contract with not just the DOE but the entire 

Federal Government suggest that maybe we should look at having 

different, you know, a second level. Because once you get past that 

first level, you are suddenly competing against multinational global 

companies that are hard to compete with if you are still between 

a small and a midsize business. 

So that is just one of the things that I think maybe we should 

look at in the Committee, Mr. Chairman in the future. But thank 

you for your testimony and I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BLUM. Thank you, Mr. Comer. 

Ranking Member Schneider is now recognized for as long as he 

would like. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you. And again, Mr. Smith, thank you 

for your testimony this morning. 

I will start my questions. The mission statement for the Department of Energy talks about protecting our security and prosperity 

around energy, environment, and nuclear challenges, but concludes 

through transformative science and technology solutions. And small 

businesses at the cutting edge of innovation and entrepreneurship 

are often critical to that. 

So my first question is you are relatively new to this position. 

Have you found at all, could you describe the culture within DOE 

and how it values or emphasizes entrepreneurship and innovation? 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Congressman. And yes, I am new. I 

have been in the position 5-1/2 months. And your question was my 

question upon arriving there, and I will say that the Department 

is very aware that its small businesses are on the cutting edge of 

technology and innovation. And I would point to the SBIR/STTR 

programs that are prominent premier programs in the Department, 

as an example of the agency’s efforts to seek out and assist small 

businesses on the cutting edge of research and development. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. So one of the things I looked at, to promote 

opportunities the agency is required to assign small business technical advisers. My understanding is that has been a challenge. Two 

questions around that. The second question actually is how are you 

trying to expand that and address the challenge? But given that 

constraint, how have the Expos provided an opportunity to reach 

out and attract small businesses? 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Congressman. I will address the SBTA 

issue. It has been a challenge, but it has been a challenge primarily 

because we have taken it seriously. There are a number of requirements for an SBTA, namely that I, as the OSDBU director, would 

have supervisory authority, that the SBTA would be located in the 

contracting office, and that their primary responsibility would be to 

assist the Small Business Administration’s Procurement Center 

representative. And general counsel, the OSDBU office, our Office 

of Acquisition Management, and Human Capital have worked in 

concert to finally put this together. It was in December that I 

signed the letters of assignment to our two non-NNSA SBTAs. The 

two NNSA SBTAs, small business technical advisers, they had 

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8 

been assigned in, I believe, November, and the position descriptions 

for those SBTAs are being finalized this week, actually. So, it has 

been a challenge, but I believe it has been worked out in a most 

thorough fashion, and I look forward to getting a review from either the SBA or GAO to confirm that for me and for the agency. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Okay, I do not want to give up on the Expos, 

but, again, I think the two pieces. In a culture that promotes and 

celebrates entrepreneurship, the SBTAs should be a champion of 

that and hopefully a desirable position that people are seeking. But 

absent that, you do the annual Expo. How many companies will 

typically come? You said over a thousand? 

Mr. SMITH. A thousand attendees. At last year’s Expo we had, 

I believe, 741 business representatives, I should say, maybe less 

businesses than that. There might have been multiple members 

from a business. The others are internal stakeholders, our program 

managers from the various sites. So last year the total attendance 

was in the neighborhood of the high 800s. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Okay. And typically, this year is Houston. 

Where has it been in past years? 

Mr. SMITH. Last year it was in Kansas City. It has been in Atlanta. I believe it was in Phoenix one of these recent—— 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. So it moves around the country quite a bit. 

How do you measure the success, the outcome, the ability of these 

Expos to generate—what we want is more contracts for small businesses, more small businesses saying this is an area I want to 

come into, more innovation that will give us the solutions we need 

for our future. 

Mr. SMITH. We measure that to a degree. I am not confident we 

measure it maybe as well as we can. We do have post-Expo Forum 

and Expo surveys to those who participated. We do ask if they have 

been introduced to acquisition opportunities. But as you can imagine, a survey that comes out 6 months after a Forum and Expo 

may be too short a time period; that maybe there needs to be a 

later reconnect. But there has been an effort to some degree to determine the efficacy of the event and the utility of the event. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Well, obviously, on this Committee, the Small 

Business Committee, we all have an interest in promoting small 

business growth and development. As Americans, we have a profound interest in our energy future, energy security, and having 

that entrepreneurship, having those small companies, startup companies find a way to develop new ideas and take those new ideas 

from concept to commercialization is crucial. Having access to these 

markets obviously is important to them. 

And I think if I can emphasize the point about a $30 million 

company, a startup is different than a $10 million company; $10 

million is different than $30; $30 is different than $100. The more 

we can do to help these companies grow, create American jobs, the 

better it is, I think, for our economy and our future. 

With that, I yield back. 

Chairman BLUM. Thank you, Mr. Schneider. 

Mr. Smith, you are new to this position. I think you said 5-1/2 

months, is that correct? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BLUM. Can you give me just briefly your background? 

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Mr. SMITH. Sure. When I left the Navy after college—I spent 5 

years in the Navy—from there I went and served in New Jersey 

government and political positions. I was a deputy commissioner of 

banking and insurance. I was a director of intergovernmental affairs for Governor Christie Whitman. I most recently served in 

Governor Christie’s administration as a director at the Department 

of Labor. In between that last position I served 13 years in the investment banking business. Small business is where it started out. 

For a couple years we formed a joint venture with Bear Stearns. 

Bear Stearns, as we all know, was subsequently—— 

Chairman BLUM. You were working focused on small businesses 

then? 

Mr. SMITH. At that time I was focused on actually securing 

business from city and county governments, most specifically in the 

purchase of delinquent property taxes for the investment bank. 

There was a lot of headline risk associated with that type of business. And consequently, JPMorgan shut the business down. So that 

was—— 

Chairman BLUM. How big is your department right now? How 

many people? 

Mr. SMITH. Eleven full-time employees including myself. 

Chairman BLUM. And you report to who? 

Mr. SMITH. I report to the deputy secretary. 

Chairman BLUM. Okay. And do you know how many employees 

are in DOE total? 

Mr. SMITH. We have about 105,000. I believe there are 12,000 

government employees and 90,000 contracted employees. 

Chairman BLUM. Wow. It takes my breath away. You have 11 

employees. Do you feel you have an effective voice? I know 5-1/2 

months is not a long time. I mean, are you being heard or have 

they got you in an office down next to the furnace in the basement, 

so to speak? 

Mr. SMITH. No. No, Mr. Chairman. We are being heard, certainly. There is a strong commitment to small business, because I 

think DOE has recognized, through its M&O business model, the 

great innovation in energy, no pun intended, that small businesses 

bring to our endeavors. Our budget, our office budget is $3 million, 

but for 11 full-time employees, we have 90 small business program 

managers that, while they do not answer to me directly, we work 

closely with. They are all committed to expanding the engagement 

with small businesses. They are all extraordinarily knowledgeable 

in their respective areas of expertise at these labs and at these 

sites. 

Chairman BLUM. How many deputy secretaries are there in 

DOE? 

Mr. SMITH. There is one deputy secretary, sir. 

Chairman BLUM. And you report to that person, correct? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

Chairman BLUM. Okay. Thanks for giving me your background. 

I still have a small company and I have owned small companies 

my entire business career. There are companies out there that 

charge six figures to small companies to help them navigate the 

maze that is the Federal Government and the bidding process, and 

the approval process is beyond belief, at least it was. And our comSBREP-219A with DISTILLER

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pany, a software development company, was trying to get involved 

in international trade. We wanted to sell more outside the United 

States. Now, I, as a small business owner, should spend $100,000 

or more to become approved by the Federal Government to be an 

approved vendor to maybe get involved in a bid or letting? To me 

that is a barrier to entry. And very few small businesses, and I 

mean small businesses, less than $30 million, $50 million, they are 

going to shell out 100 grand for a maybe. Why should it be that 

way? Why should this be so difficult? 

And I get it. DOE and other agencies are like, well, you do not 

want to deal with a company that is here today, gone tomorrow. 

You have to do some checking. I understand that. But really, I 

should have to spend $100,000 where I could be hiring more employees, investing in my company, to navigate this? I mean, would 

you agree with that statement? Or just comment on that, would 

you please? And then what are you going to do to try to make that 

go away for the DOE? 

Mr. SMITH. Well, I appreciate that concern, Chairman. And I 

would agree that it is not right that a company would need to 

spend such an extraordinary amount of money in order to do business with the Federal Government. I will say this, that our office, 

our Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Office, and the 

other 24 Federal offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, we offer a lot of the counseling, the direction, the instruction in how to interact or best interact with the Small Business Administration. I think between the OSDBU offices and the Small 

Business Administration, and maybe we need to make small businesses more aware of the services we provide, but—— 

Chairman BLUM. The small businesses that do business with 

DOE or are trying to do business, do they have to be approved? An 

approved vendor? Is there an approval process? I am not talking 

about submitting a bid or trying to get a piece of the business. I 

am talking about I know on the trade side back when we did this 

10 years ago, it was like you had to be approved first, which I understand part of that. Do you have to be approved to do business 

with the DOE? And if you do, how lengthy is that process? How 

complicated is that process? How many inches of pages is that 

process? 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, approved, per se, I do not believe 

there is an approval process. I believe there may be requirements. 

Chairman BLUM. Could you check that if you are not sure, and 

you are new so I will give you a pass on that, but could—— 

Mr. SMITH. I would be happy to check that, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BLUM.—you check that and get that back to me personally? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. 

Chairman BLUM. If you have to be approved and what that 

process is? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. Will do. 

Chairman BLUM. You are not aware of it, though? 

Mr. SMITH. I am not aware of that. I am willing to gather that 

specific projects will have specific requirements necessary for businesses to compete in them, but as far as an agency-wide approval, 

I am not aware. 

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Chairman BLUM. I will reserve the balance of my time. And I 

will now yield to—I call him coach, but will yield to Mr. Lawson 

for 5 minutes. 

Mr. LAWSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Smith, sometimes when you come in a little tardy you might have asked the 

question. So I had a question for you and you can just tell me, you 

know, whereas if you have said something about it. 

One provision under the Small Business Act includes a requirement to respond to notifications and solicitations unduly restrict 

the ability of small businesses to compete for contracts. And so 

what I was concerned about, the initiatives that you have begun 

to help mitigate, any restricted contract practices in agents. And I 

think you referred to some of it a few minutes ago, but it would 

give you another chance to respond to it so I would have a little 

bit better knowledge. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Congressman. I said earlier that the 

GAO report had noted as a deficiency the agency’s 15(k)(17) undue 

restriction facilitating those for small business concerns. I believe 

we have adequately addressed that. It is what I consider an accomplishment in my short tenure, so far, at the agency. But, as of a 

couple months ago, we now have on our website a dedicated mailbox for small businesses to communicate directly with us regarding 

any concerns they have that a contracting opportunity may be unduly restrictive. We monitor that mailbox daily. 

We did receive an undue restriction notice that was submitted to 

us by a small business concern. We forwarded that small business 

concern to the contracting officer and to the competition advocate, 

and within 48 hours they had amended the request for proposal 

both to their satisfaction, because it became a better request for 

proposal, and to the small business’ concerns satisfaction that they 

had been heard and responded to in an manner that they deemed 

helpful. 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. And this is always the $10 million question. What can Congress do to support small business and DOE in 

helping DOE carry out the small business contracting goal? 

Mr. SMITH. In DOE, where we have been successful has been 

at the top line. We have been successful at hitting the overall small 

business prime and subcontracting goals. Where we have struggled, 

and many agencies have struggled, has been in the socioeconomic 

subcategories, specifically HUBZones and service-disabled veteranowned small businesses. The HUBZone frustration amongst my colleagues, as I have come to realize in other agencies, has been kind 

of the movement of the zones; the fact that when a business becomes successful in a HUBZone and people begin to receive greater 

compensation and move out of the HUBZone, and some of the difficulties in maintaining kind of an accurate business community 

that we can identify with and engage with that satisfies Congress’ 

desire to assist these underutilized businesses and our desire to engage them. I think if we could find some stability in finding a way 

to make that, one, serve the purpose of the legislation, and two, 

maintain some stability, that would be extraordinarily helpful. 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. And before my time runs out here, how 

does DOE define small disadvantaged businesses? 

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Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Congressman. DOE, these businesses 

are defined for us by the Small Business Administration, and the 

four socioeconomic categories of women-owned small businesses; 

service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses; historically underutilized businesses, HUBZones; and the 8(a), the disadvantaged 

businesses. And those are the definitions that we use in the Department of Energy. 

Mr. LAWSON. Mr. Chairman, if I may for one second, are those 

businesses given preferential treatment? 

Mr. SMITH. Could you elaborate, Congressman? 

Mr. LAWSON. What I mean by that, once you have them in the 

system, do your staff take those businesses and say we kind of 

need to work with these businesses because they are now in the 

system that we have? Should we try to make sure that we do some 

contracting work with them because of the category that they are 

in? 

Mr. SMITH. The short answer to that is yes, we do. We work to 

advocate set-asides for those categories. In fact, there is an initiative that I intend to undertake here in the short term, in the form 

of a sample letter to our 90 or so small business program managers 

to ask that their program elements pledge to do two set-asides for 

HUBZones and service-disabled veterans and women-owned small 

businesses in order to retain their focus, if you will, on providing 

that preference. 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Chairman BLUM. Thank you, Mr. Lawson. That is a good line 

of questioning. And toward that end, the subcategories, you know, 

service-disabled and women-owned businesses and minority-owned 

businesses, is there a plan in place? You said we are missing the 

numbers. We are hitting at the top line for small business, but we 

are missing the numbers in the subcategories. Is there a plan in 

place or not today? 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have established three 

priorities for fiscal year 2017, and they are in order, one, improve 

socioeconomic subcategory performance; two, make it easier for 

small businesses to do business with our agency; and three, to improve our office’s relationship, working relationship with our internal stakeholders, our small business program offices, and our contracting offices. 

And directly to the plan of socioeconomic improvement, the initiatives underneath that would be the set-aside, the request for two 

set-asides in the socioeconomic subcategories to each of our program elements, an initiative where I mentioned in the testimony, 

last year we had our first annual Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned 

Small Business Day. It was specifically dedicated to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, so that we could give them 

a day to interact with our program elements who were there to 

offer them opportunities and matchmaking sessions. 

What we are going to do with the HUBZones, our intention is to 

visit three HUBZones this year. At the moment we are looking at 

one near—we are seeking one near—I am going to say it wrong, 

excuse me—we are seeking one between Morgantown and Pittsburgh, where we have a lab and we have a facility. 

Chairman BLUM. So there is—— 

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Mr. SMITH. There is a plan. 

Chairman BLUM. There is a plan for the subcategories—— 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

Chairman BLUM.—Mr. Lawson was asking about? Can you provide that plan to this Committee? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. 

Chairman BLUM. And it already exists you are saying? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. 

Chairman BLUM. Okay. So in the next 60 days you can provide 

us that plan and I will distribute it to the Ranking Member and 

Mr. Lawson and the other members, as well as you are going to 

provide us do companies have to be approved to even bid on business, and what is that approval process. And I am a little bit disappointed you do not know that after 5-1/2 months, if they have 

to be approved and what the process is, because I think that is a 

real barrier to entry, having to go through that process. At least 

what our small company had to do, it was onerous. It was unbelievable. And expensive. And most companies say, no, I cannot afford 

it. You have to get lawyers involved. Come on. They should not be, 

especially when we are talking about small business. I think you 

would agree. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate and agree with that, 

and I apologize to the Committee for not having an answer for you 

on that. 

Chairman BLUM. Another question is small business, I know 

there are games that can be played out there and I have heard 

them throughout the years with small businesses and getting categorized certain ways by doing certain funny things. I assume a 

small business cannot be a subsidiary of a big business. You know, 

they set up this new small business and they go, hey, we are now 

a small business and we are going to go out and get a chunk of 

dough in addition to the other chunk of dough we are getting from 

the Department of Energy because now we are a small business, 

but they are not really because the ownership mirrors the ownership of the big corporation. I know you are new in the job. Are you 

aware of that game and, hopefully, that cannot be played at DOE? 

Do you know? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I am new at the job and, yes, 

I am aware of that game. And I am not aware specifically, but I 

do know this concern is investigated to address specifically that 

type of situation you described. I would be happy to get back to you 

with the particulars on how that is done. 

Chairman BLUM. Women-owned business, minority-owned business, service-disabled businesses, these are great goals. And I hope 

your plan does not say we are going to do these things. I hope it 

says here is a number we want to hit. Here is how we measure 

this. I am a business guy, so far too often in government we do not 

measure things. And we just say, well, we are going to do X, Y, and 

Z. And as Einstein said, if X, Y, and Z is what we did today and 

we are going to do X, Y, and Z tomorrow and expect different results, that is insane. So I like to measure. You know, what is it 

today? Mr. Lawson’s questions were good on that point. What are 

we at today? And I hope your plan says, and here is the goal. Now, 

granted, you may not hit it. We get that. Nobody is perfect, but it 

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14 

is nice to say here is where we are at today; here is how we are 

measuring this, especially on these subcategories. Any thoughts 

there? 

Mr. SMITH. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And having spent 

many years in the investment banking world, I understand the 

need for measurement of performance. And in this initial period of 

my time at DOE, I am looking for baseline numbers. So the short 

answer to your question is yes, but there is some research that 

needs to be involved to see if we are indeed moving more businesses, the numbers as far as how much does the Forum and Expo 

contribute ultimately to the number of small businesses that are 

being engaged by the Department, et cetera. But we do have initiatives in place. There are some metrics, but I will be candid with 

you. There has not been a well-enough established baseline to give 

definitive metrics. 

Chairman BLUM. Well, I am happy to hear, and thank you for 

your candid answer. Candid is good. I am happy you are from the 

private sector, and I think the incentives in government, and you 

probably would agree with this, to me as a private sector guy, 

sometimes seem upside down totally. And so I think if you can 

bring some private sector thinking into your job that would be a 

good thing overall. 

And please let this Committee know if you feel like you are not 

being paid attention to sufficiently in the Department. I think it 

was Mr. Lawson asked about, what can we do as a government to 

help you out? It is our job to make sure they listen to you. So I 

am serious. If you get some great ideas and you feel like they are 

not being listened to, let us know, let me know, and we will go to 

bat for you. 

Do any of the members have any further questions? 

Mr. LAWSON. Mr. Chairman, I do not have a question, but I 

just want to say there is a big push I know since I have been here, 

and I am new, to really do something about getting veterans not 

only into the agricultural business, but into business in general 

that are coming out of the military. And so that is going to be a 

significant push by all members, you know, especially in our areas. 

And so I know that even though they are very disciplined, but 

there are some areas where they might fall down a little bit when 

you talk to the staff because they have never been into this before. 

They spent 4 years in the military or something of this nature, but 

I just wanted to bring it out that there is going to probably be a 

lot more concern about are we really working with our vets simply 

because, I mean, all over America they are saying we have got to 

do some more for our veterans. 

Chairman BLUM. Would you like to comment on that? 

Mr. SMITH. Well, I would like to say, Congressman, I could not 

agree with you more. I have been heartened in my short time to 

notice the Small Business Administration’s focus, or at least attention, to this very issue. And I am confident with your eye on this, 

I think we will address what I agree is an appropriate concern. As 

a former Service member myself, I full well knew the feeling when 

I left, how do I do this? What do I do now? And there is extraordinary talent in that group of people. So I appreciate your concern 

on it. 

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Chairman BLUM. Seeing no further questions, I would like to 

thank our witness, Director Smith, for being here today. I appreciate and acknowledge, I think we all do, 5 months on the job you 

are not going to have every answer. It is not easy. We appreciate 

your testimony and we also appreciate the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s continued efforts to provide 

small businesses in the energy sector the resources they need to 

compete. Hopefully, through continued efforts on behalf of the Department and the OSDBU, the processes and programs in place to 

assist small businesses will continue to become more effective and 

truly allow small businesses the opportunity to grow and scale in 

such a very important sector of the United States economy. As 

chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade, 

I look forward to continuing to work with you and the Department 

of Energy to achieve this goal. 

Now, I ask the unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative days to submit statements and supporting materials for the 

record. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

We are now adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:34 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Testimony and Statement for the Record of 

Charles R. Smith, Director, Department of Energy, 

Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization 

Before the 

United States House of Representatives 

Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy 

and Trade 

January 18, 2018 

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17 

Chairman Blum, my name is Charlie Smith and I am the Director of the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) appointed in September 

2017. I also serve as a council member to the Office of Small and 

Disadvantaged Business Utilization Council and committee member with the Small Business Procurement Advisory Committee. I 

have been working in this capacity with a focus on small businesses to move the needle on this Department’s goal achievement 

through collaboration with the Small Business Administration 

(SBA) and DOE’s contracting activities. 

DOE awards billions of dollars to small businesses every year 

and has successfully met the prime small business goals established by SBA since 2015. My focus during my time with this Department is to not only continue to meet our prime contracting and 

subcontracting goals, but also the subcategory goals like Womanowned, HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran and 8(a) disadvantaged owned businesses. 

In my testimony, I will provide DOE resources available to small 

businesses as well as outline our business model and discuss the 

multi-lab focus on small busine4ss engagement. I will cover these 

topics in the following order: 

• First, an understanding of our business model 

• Second, how that business model plays into the labs that 

are foundational to the function of this Department 

• Finally, what resources those labs and the Department as 

a whole provide to small businesses to help them contract with 

our Department 

Department of Energy Business Model 

The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 created the 

cabinet-level US Department of Energy, combining defense responsibilities that included the design, construction, and testing of nuclear weapons dating from the Manhattan Project effort to build 

the atomic bomb; and a loosely-knit amalgamation of energy-related programs previously scattered throughout the Federal government. Neither the scientific expertise responsible for the physics 

underlying the development of the weapons nor the manufacturing 

and engineering expertise that produced the weapons had existed 

within the Federal government. The government thus acted as federal project manager, relying on scientists from academia and the 

engineering and construction skills of industry. 

This approach, unique in the federal government, has continued 

at the Department, effectively tapping into private sector expertise 

through the network of independent government-owned, contractoroperated (GOCO) laboratories that meet the Department’s evolving 

missions through the benefit of America’s innovative and responsive business sector. 

These laboratories are run by management and operating contracts (M&O), a term used to describe the contracts that are central to the DOE’s business model. 

SBREP-219A with DISTILLER

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DOE relies upon the M&O contractors for the performance of the 

substantial part of the Department’s mission—approximately 85 

percent of DOE’s obligations flow to the M&O contractors. That reliance on the private sector’s expertise allows DOE’s federal staffing to be a fraction of what would otherwise be necessary to conduct its diverse missions. 

M&O contracts have received special regulatory treatment in the 

Government. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), at Subpart 

17.6, recognizes and codifies the special identity that M&O contracts have with an authorizing Department. The FAR coverage 

recognizes and authorizes Department acquisition regulations that 

deal with the special nature of M&O contracts. 

As of December 30, 2017 DOE has achieved 8.64% of the 10.2% 

prime small business goal target. In the subcategories, we have 

achieved 3.08% of the 5.0% goal for Small Disadvantaged; 2.07% of 

the 5.0% goal for Woman Owned Small Businesses; 0.38% of the 

3.0% goal for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses; 

and .34% of the 3.0% goal for HUBZone. DOE is projected to meet 

the 10.2% goaling achievement but unclear of the grade we will 

achieve due to the new scoring process being implemented by the 

Small Business Administration. 

The DOE Labs and Small Business 

Most of the Department labs are operated by M&O contractors. 

These contracts are reported through a data collection process 

called Management and Operating Subcontract Reporting Capability (MOSRC). The awards the M&Os make are considered subcontracting, however, because they are treated as an extension of 

DOE, their awards are counted as primes. The data collection of 

these subcontract awards being counted as prime awards is tracked 

through MOSRC. 

The core objective of having established MOSRC is to collect and 

provide the data in a manner acceptable to SBA that would enable 

DOE to receive full credit toward achievement of DOE small business prime contracting goals for its 1st-Tier M&O subcontracts. 

In measuring the engagement of federal agencies with small 

businesses, SBA relies on the Federal Procurement Data SystemNext Generation (FPDS-NG) to record all federal obligations flowing into prime contracts. As DOE’s procurement model is that of 

a subcontracting Department, DOE believes the FPDS-NG calculations alone under-represents the Department’s engagement with 

small businesses through their M&O’s subcontractors, which account for approximately 85 percent of Department spending. 

This data-gathering approach enables DOE to more accurately 

portray the Department’s ongoing commitment to working with 

small businesses. This capability is essential in achieving recognition for DOE’s unique business model that leverages the resources 

of our M&O contractors to accomplish DOE’s mission, creating the 

largest flow, upwards of $2 billion annually, of appropriated funds 

to small businesses of all the civilian agencies. 

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To this end, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, Title 

III, Section 318 authorized DOE to count 1st-Tier subcontracts 

awarded by its M&O contractors to small businesses toward accomplishment of its annual small business goals. DOE’s M&O contractors have independent, diverse business systems that they use to 

manage subcontracting activities. Managed by the external resource of DOE OSDBU, MOSRC centrally collects and reports the 

1st-Tier small business activity of DOE’s M&O contractors to SBA 

and the general public. 

DOE resources and regulatory support for small businesses 

There are several resources and regulatory support functions provided to small businesses. Some have been established for a while 

and some are new. We listen to the customer and continue to expand resources based on the communication and demand for process improvement. 

We ‘‘advertise’’ small manufacturer’s exemption in each 

applicable consumer products energy conservation standards rule. Under the energy conservation standards program, the 

Secretary may determine via an exemption application if a small 

manufacturer (businesses with less than $8M in annual revenue) 

may be exempt from all or part of any energy conservation standard for up to two years. Although there have been a few exemption 

applications recently, we believe this exemption is important to 

highlight as a resource for small businesses constrained from entering a certain covered product market. 

We point out any small business impacts to SBA Office of 

Advocacy during the EO 12866 interagency review process. 

OSDBU works with the SBA Office of Advocacy to share proposed 

or final regulatory language with small businesses for their input. 

We recurrently post an updated forecast of contracting 

opportunities. Making forecasts available to identify upcoming 

Department requirements was established by Public Law 100-656, 

the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988, 

amending the Small Business Act to emphasize acquisition planning. The law requires agencies to compile and make available projections of contracting opportunities that small, minority, veteranowned, and women-owned businesses may be able to perform. 

These rosters of planned service and supply requirements of the 

Department serve as a business development tool, guiding small 

businesses to adjust their capabilities to better meet evolving needs 

of the Department. Acquisition forecasts also serve small businesses in their use as an internal acquisition planning resource— 

as requirements are initially posted, stakeholders can contact the 

Department’s Small Business Program Managers, to discuss their 

capabilities to perform the listed need. This engagement, in the 

early stages of acquisition planning helps procurement personnel 

shape the acquisition into a more small business friendly format. 

DOE has its legislated Headquarters Acquisition Forecast publically available, updated on a recurring basis. Small businesses 

seeking the full range of Department needs are also guided to research the 17 DOE M&O contractors’ additional, separate acquisiSBREP-219A with DISTILLER

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tions forecasts, which list upcoming requirements unique to their 

respective facilities. 

We provide business forms on our website, email, phone 

access so that companies can let us know when they feel 

that there has been an undue restriction on competition. 

When small businesses seek redress for alleged action or inaction 

of the Department, DOE OSDBU is charged with fielding such concerns. A challenge to the direct intervention and resolution of such 

issues is steered by the privity of contract held between the contracting officer and the contractor. As advocate for the small business in this case, DOE OSDBU guides and recommends, but does 

not direct a contractual action to take place, on behalf of the impacted small business. 

Our organization hosts an annual Small Business Forum 

& Expo. Each year, OSDBU hosts DOE’s Small Business Forum 

& Expo, a multi-day conference that connects small business 

attendees with DOE offices, power administrations, prime contractors and subcontractors. The Forum & Expo offers a comprehensive 

roster of educational workshops, where attendees can learn about 

subjects such as how to respond to a sources sought notice, how to 

obtain grant funding, and more. Attendees have the option to participate in matchmaking exercises, in which small businesses are 

allotted one-on-one time with a DOE specialist to ask questions 

most pertinent to them. 

In 2017 we hosted our first Veterans Conference to emphasize 

the Department’s commitment to Veteran-Owned Small Businesses 

(VOSBs) and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses 

(SDVOSBs). OSDBU is dedicated to assisting veterans who are interested in partnering with DOE. Over 200 business representatives and DOE acquisition staff participated in a full day of business development training, counseling, and matchmaking. OSDBU 

looks forward to future iterations of this annual event. To ensure 

DOE’s ongoing support of VOSBs and SDVOSBs, I have assigned 

a veteran on my staff to serve as Veterans Liaison. 

Over the last few years we have co-sponsored the 

ChallengeHER Forum. This event emphasizes the Department’s 

commitment to Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). OSDBU 

is co-hosting this year’s event in partnership with Women Impacting Public Policy, a nationally active WOSB advocacy organization. 

The event will take place in Miami, FL and promote DOE contracting opportunities for women. 

In FY18 we are planning a HUBZone Forum to target this 

small business category. The road trip across the country will 

provide business development training, further advertise upcoming 

contracting opportunities, and connect new businesses with DOE 

buyers at our network of laboratories. 

We also have an established Mentor-Prote ́ge ́ Program 

(MPP) to encourage seasoned contractors to provide business development and sub-contracting opportunities to 

small businesses interested in partnering with the Department. It is distinct from SBA’s MPP, by being an agreement, not 

a contract-based business arrangement, enabling more flexibility of 

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participation by small businesses. OSDU has a concerted effort underway to increase the Department’s 28 MPP agreements in FY18. 

In FY17 DOE OSDBU had 28 participants in the program accomplishing about $10M in subcontracting. 

Our office actively seeks to participate in outreach events to continuously grow DOE’s network of capable small businesses. We not 

only host and attend events but specifically partner with other 

OSDBU offices and share our resources for the benefit of the government as a whole. In FY17, OSDBU attended 32 events, spanning all small business socio-economic categories. Over 10,000 total 

attendees were present at these events. 

The Department is very involved in engaging small businesses, and we look forward to including additional obligations to small businesses that are not currently included in 

SBA’s goaling process and utilizing future goaling processes 

through our enhanced partnership with the SBA. Some of 

these include: 

The Small Business Vouchers program (SBV) is in DOE’s 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This 

program is leveraging the world-class resources of the national labs 

with the SBV program. Through the program, eligible small businesses can tap into the reserve of national laboratory intellectual 

and technical assets to overcome critical technology and commercialization challenges. The program fosters a strong partnership between the labs and clean tech small businesses, benefiting both. 

While small businesses receive access to state-of-the-art facilities 

and experts, the national labs broaden their service to private-sector technological development, supporting small business development, job creation and American competitiveness. Since March, 

2016, the SBV program has awarded vouchers to 114 businesses 

worth a total of $22 million. 

The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs (SBIR/STTR) are operated through DOE’s Office of Science, spurring technological innovation by investing in capable American small businesses. SBIR/ 

STTR encourages participation by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, mirroring the Department’s overall 

goal to involve these firms in DOE’s missions. In FY16, SBIR/STTR 

awarded $216 million to small businesses to explore technological 

innovation and to perform R&D. In FY17, the programs awarded 

$242 million for those same purposes. 

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is operated by DOE’s EERE office. FEMP helps federal agencies meet energy-related goals by facilitating streamlined partnerships with 

small energy service companies. FEMP also hosts an annual in-person training event titled Energy Exchange, which provides professional skill-building, training, and networking opportunities. In addition, FEMP offers small businesses a robust online training program free of charge. 

The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear 

(GAIN) program is operated by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy to 

provide the nuclear community with access to technical, regulatory, 

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and financial support. GAIN hosts workshops discussing regulatory 

review processes, licensing processes, industry consensus standards 

and Quality Assurance Program development. As part of its mission, GAIN looks to involve the American small business community in the innovation and application of advanced nuclear technologies. To achieve this goal, GAIN has implemented a small business vouchers program. In FY16, eight small businesses received 

vouchers totaling $2 million. 

In conclusion, I would like to state that our organization is sensitive to the need for oversight of fair business practices that open 

doors for small businesses to access Federal contracting. I am personally focused, as a veteran myself, to help service disabled veterans re-engage the workforce through our Department’s search for 

entrepreneurs, as they bring knowledge, skills, dedication and a 

strong work ethic to the agency. I appreciate Congress supporting 

the 25 federal OSDBU offices that help our Federal contracting 

workforce assist capable small and disadvantaged businesses in 

performing these contracts. I welcome any questions and look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman and this Subcommittee, 

to further any efforts that aim toward that goal. 

Æ 

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