As part of its continuing efforts to incorporate small businesses into its mission of supporting the warfighter, team members from Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst recently traveled to Atlantic City for ProcurementCon, an event bringing together government entities and current and potential business partners.  

In recent years, Lakehurst has worked hard to meet and surpass its goals of awarding contracts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to small businesses. However, Dawn Chartier, the director of Lakehurst's Office of Small Business Programs (OSBSP), said events like the one in Atlantic City and the annual Small Business Roundtable are vital to both the military and local businesses to keep that relationship strong.  

"Small businesses are a vital part of our economy. They contribute with jobs, innovation, and agility, and are a diverse marketplace. They are critical to NAVAIR, NAWCAD Lakehurst, and the DoD to ensure we meet our mission,” Chartier said. “Small business participation in government contracting can help reduce costs and schedules since they are more agile to work with than most large businesses." 

Lakehurst's work with small businesses breaks their partners into several categories, including those owned by veterans or women, those in Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zones, or Small Disadvantaged Businesses, defined as those with 51% or more owned and controlled by people or groups who are socially and economically disadvantaged.  

However, Chartier noted that the category the business falls into mainly affects the assistance programs they're eligible for to complete the work, rather than the work they do to fulfill the contract. One example, according to Chartier, is the HUBZone category, which includes businesses in areas with few other companies. For those businesses that qualify for this designation, the money from the government and the contract can help bring work, money, and jobs to these areas, providing a boost to the companies and the local economies.  

“Overall, NAWCAD Lakehurst’s overall achievements with small businesses has surpassed 60% for the last several years,” Chartier said. “The Procurement Department and OSBPT have been discussing ways to boost our efforts in categories we miss and are always open to suggestions on how to improve what we achieve in those areas. It comes down to the workload we receive and which small businesses are capable of meeting those requirements.”  

Events like ProcurementCON are an opportunity for small businesses to learn how they can work with Lakehurst and also a chance for the businesses to network and learn how they can work together to fill gaps in their capabilities.  

“The Small Business Innovative Research program is an excellent way to get new technologies created. However, some small businesses that can do the research and development portion of the effort need more manufacturing capability. By networking at these types of events, they can find other small businesses who have the manufacturing capability they lack (and vice versa),” Chartier said.  

Looking ahead to Fiscal Year 2025, Chartier expects an increase in Small Business target goals, meaning she and her team will be looking for partners to help them meet those goals.  

“As our numbers show, we support small businesses, and there are plenty of opportunities for small business at NAWCAD Lakehurst,” Chartier said. “We encourage small businesses to get in touch with us to discuss their capabilities and how those capabilities can help us with our mission.”  

More information about the small business program can be found on the OBSP website or by email at [email protected].