A panel tasked with streamlining the defense acquisition system is considering recommendations to improve how the Pentagon deals with small businesses, including a proposal to triple the amount of research funding federal agencies must reserve for such companies. The "Section 809 Panel" received draft recommendations on small businesses during its Aug. 22 meeting. The recommendations were presented by Dave Drabkin, a commissioner on the panel leading a team examining barriers to entry across the Defense Department marketplace. Drabkin, a former senior procurement executive at the General Services Administration who also held various positions in the Pentagon acquisition office, said his team is initially focused on developing a report on small businesses. The team is exploring how to "re-focus" DOD on working with small businesses from a strategic standpoint, with the idea that these companies support the warfighters by delivering lethality and technical dominance, Drabkin said in an Aug. 24 interview.
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