The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is recognizing outstanding entrepreneurs and small businesses during National Small Businesses Week, May 1-7. To mark the occasion NETL is highlighting the efforts of its own robust Small Business Program to enhance small business companies across the country.   

The SBA’s Office of Advocacy reports that over 99% of all firms in the United States are small businesses. Small businesses are the lifeblood that keeps the American economy functioning. Small businesses drive innovation, create jobs, and play an important role in supporting their local communities.

Small businesses thrive at NETL, providing the Lab with a significant amount of goods and services in support of NETL’s research efforts. In fact, during fiscal year (FY) 2021 NETL procured $179,056,780.33 with small businesses, which equates to approximately 50.21% of its procurement dollars—an amount that exceeds the SBA’s federal government-wide small business goal of 23%. 

In FY2021, NETL’s top procured North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes were for, but not limited to, Research & Development in the Physical, Engineering, & Life Sciences (541715), Engineering Services (541330), Facilities Support Services (561210), Support Activities for Oil & Gas Operations (213112) and Commercial & Institutional Building Construction (236220) in support of research and operations at NETL’s three lab site locations in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

NETL is committed to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business First Policy by providing maximum practicable acquisition opportunities to small business socio-economic categories such as Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Historically Underutilized Business Zone Small Businesses, 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Businesses and Women-Owned Small Businesses.

The Lab welcomes the opportunity to learn more about companies that fall within the SBA’s small business socio-economic sub-categories that can help NETL meet our site support requirement needs. Small businesses are encouraged to market their capabilities to NETL through a one-page capabilities statement and to participate in procurement trainings offered by the SBA. 

NETL posts information about upcoming and potential procurement opportunities on government portals such as www.SAM.gov, www.FedConnect.net, www.ebuy.gsa.gov, and www.sewp.nasa.gov, as well as NETL’s Site Support Electronic Reading Room at https://netl.doe.gov/business/site-support.  

NETL recently launched its “Small Business Corner” found at https://netl.doe.gov/small-business, which contains current statistics, information, and resources for the small business community. DOE’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s (OSDBU) is devoted to helping small businesses and provides information on events such as training and conference opportunities.

The OSDBU website www.energy.gov/osdbu is a valuable source of information for the small business community, and provides easy access to the DOE laboratory system’s forecasted requirements, which can be found at www.energy.gov/osdbu/acquisition-forecast. For more information on SBA’s contracting programs, visit https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting.

In support of National Small Business Week, NETL is co-hosting a free virtual small business forum with the DOE’s OSDBU and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 11am ET. For more details and registration information visit https://www.energy.gov/osdbu/upcoming-events-calendar.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.