NETL's Small Business Corner

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. Through its world-class scientists, engineers 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, advancing environmental justice and revitalizing the economies of disadvantaged communities. Leveraging the power of workforce inclusivity and diversity, highly skilled innovators at NETL’s research laboratories in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania conduct a broad range of research activities that support DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.

NETL lends its expertise toward achieving a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050 while catalyzing economic revitalization, creating good-paying jobs and supporting workers in energy communities, especially hard-hit coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities, across the country. One of the most rewarding aspects of NETL’s research is that our innovations and our technologies have the potential to improve people’s lives in meaningful ways.

To execute and support the DOE’s Small Business First policy, NETL has focused efforts to maximize procurement opportunities for small businesses while advancing both DOE and Laboratory missions. The below provides information and resource support on NETL’s small business program to help the small business community identity opportunities to do business with DOE and NETL.

NETL Goals vs Achievements Historical Summary:

	Small Business Goal	Small Business Actual
FY2022	36%	28.26%
FY2021	41%	50.21%
FY2020	40%	51.4%
FY2019	37.3%	49.7%
FY2018	37%	54.2%

Acquisition Opportunities

NETL is committed to supporting DOE’s Small Business First Policy by providing maximum practicable acquisition opportunities to small business socio-economic categories as follows: Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB); Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Businesses; 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Businesses; and Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB).

Small Business Set-Asides

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) establishes small business procurement goals for every federal agency. In FY2021, the SBA federal-wide prime small business goal was 23% of procurement dollars. NETL established an overall small business goal at 36% in FY2022 based on anticipated procurement spend. The chart above recognizes NETL’s strong small business procurement achievements over the past 5 fiscal years.

Subcontracting Opportunities

Subcontracting opportunities are available with support contractors that work at NETL facilities. When the prime contractor is a large business, the contract exceeds $750,000, and subcontracting opportunities exist, the contractor must have a subcontracting plan with established goals for subcontracting to small businesses. The plan is not required if the prime contractor is a small business. However, they are encouraged to provide opportunities to other small businesses. For more information on NETL’s site support contracts visit our Site Support Electronic Reading Room.

Small Business Goals

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) establishes small business procurement goals for every federal agency. In FY2021, the SBA federal-wide prime small business goal was 23% of procurement dollars. NETL established an overall small business goal at 36% in FY2022 based on anticipated procurement spend. The chart below recognizes NETL’s strong small business procurement achievements over the past 5 fiscal years.

Solicitations

Award values exceeding $10,000 require vendors to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to issuance. NETL encourages vendors to monitor public Government portals, such as, www.SAM.gov, www.FedConnect.net, www.ebuy.gsa.gov, www.sewp.nasa.gov and www.netl.doe.gov/business/site-support for information on upcoming and potential NETL opportunities. NETL, as well as many other Government agencies, utilizes these websites/portals to post requests for information (RFIs) and solicitation notices.

Forecast Of Opportunities

NETL posts information about upcoming requirements and solicitations on NETL’s Site Support Electronic Reading Room at netl.doe.gov/business/site-support. DOE’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s (OSDBU) website provides easy access to the DOE laboratory system’s forecasted requirements, which can be found at www.energy.gov/osdbu/acquisition-forecast.
DOE OSDBU’s website, www.energy.gov/osdbu, is devoted to helping small businesses and provides information on activities such as training and conference opportunities. The OSDBU website is a valuable source of information for the small business community.

Events

May 1-7, 2022 National Small Business Week
May 11, 2022 DOE OSDBU, FECM, and NETL Free Virtual Small Business Forum