FORT EUSTIS, Virginia, (July 24, 2020) -- More than 140 representatives from small and large businesses participated in an Advance Planning Briefing for Industry outreach event to learn about contract opportunities from three contracting offices of the Mission and Installation Contracting Command.
The MICC offices at Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; teamed with the MICC Office of Small Business Programs, the Kansas Procurement Assistance Technical Center, the Small Business Administration Government Contracting Area IV Office, and Unison to conduct a combined MICC office virtual APBI.
“The MICC-Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth and Fort Leonard Wood team contracted for more than $231 million in goods and services with area businesses last year, and $132 million of that was with local small businesses. Small businesses are the Army’s readiness and modernization partners,” said Mark Massie, the director of the MICC OSBP, during opening remarks to business representatives.
In her closing statements, Amy Ulisse, an assistant director of the MICC-Fort Eustis OSBP, Virginia, thanked the more than 140 participants who took part in the event and encouraged feedback from the attendees to ensure future MICC APBIs are successful in providing industry the information they need to be competitive.
“Your success helps us meet our ultimate goal of ensuring Army readiness by developing a viable, robust industrial base,” Ulisse said.
The event was held virtually through Microsoft Teams and included presentations on services provided by the PTAC, SBA programs and services available for small businesses, overview of the Unison Reverse Auction tool, and a forecast of upcoming contracting opportunities from the three MICC offices. The virtual event also included a presentation by Eric Claud, a small business professional who provides remote support to MICC-Fort Leonard Wood. He provided industry with an overview of the MICC small business office’s role and the various ways he can assist a small business in the federal arena.
This was also the MICC’s first combined APBI event for the three offices. Michael Dixon, the director of MICC-Fort Leavenworth, took industry’s feedback from last year’s event and wanted to provide a region-wide perspective with the hopes to help small businesses meet the needs of their specific niche. Feedback for the event was positive, and the MICC will continue to improve communications during this new normal.
“Small business partners are integral to the success of achieving Army readiness, and small business engagements are essential to conveying forecasted requirements while also strengthening business relationships,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bartruff, the director of MICC-Fort Riley and commander of the 923rd Contracting Battalion. “This year’s virtual APBI engagement allowed us to maintain contact and open communication with our small business partners under the unique challenges and restrictions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is commonly acknowledged that small businesses are innovative and adaptive to the Army’s needs, our small business partners demonstrated, yet again, that they are in-step with the
Army so that the warfighters have the best supplies and services at their disposal regardless of the environment.”
MICC-Fort Riley is a subordinate office to the 418th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas. In fiscal 2019, MICC-Fort Riley executed more than 500 contract actions valued at $37 million to include more than $25 million to small businesses.
MICC-Fort Leavenworth and MICC-Fort Leonard Wood are subordinate offices to the Field Directorate Office-Fort Eustis. In fiscal 2019, MICC-Fort Leavenworth executed more than 800 contract actions valued at $67 million to include more than $40 million to small businesses. MICC-Fort Leonard Wood executed more than 1,500 contract actions valued at $231 million to include more than $67 million to small businesses.
About the MICC:
Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, facilitate training in the preparation of more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
Mission and Installation Contracting Command
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