小企业战略（英）

1Small Business Strategy23Small Business StrategyJANUARY 2023The estimated cost of this report or study for the Department of Defense is approximately $285,000 in Fiscal Years 2022 - 2023. This includes $50,000 in expenses and $235,000 in DoD labor.Generated on 2022Nov04 RefID: 0-1A6277B 4Message from the SecretarySmall businesses occupy a central position in the American economy and way of life. They account for over ninety-nine percent of all employer firms and generate over forty-four percent of our Nation’s economic activity. Small businesses keep our military forces combat ready with critical parts, cutting edge technology, and top-notch services, and fortify our Defense supply chains in times of crisis. Small businesses help ensure that our military has the very best capabilities to keep us safe. Some of the most innovative minds in the country come from smaller companies, and in an era of strategic competition small businesses are one of our greatest tools.Despite their significance to the defense mission, the Department of Defense has yet to utilize the full potential of small businesses. Although the Department has met its small business prime-contracting goals for the past eight years and has increased spending on small business prime contracting, participation of small business in the defense industrial base has declined by over forty percent in the past decade. Small businesses comprise more than seventy percent of the companies that do business with the Department. If the Department does not work to reverse the decline of small business contracting, then the industrial base that equips our military will weaken. Unfortunately, small businesses encounter many challenges in working with the Department. A complex web of entry points and intricate regulations, as well as a trend of fewer opportunities, are pushing firms away from us at a time when we need them urgently. The Department is determined to reduce these barriers. If we do not take action, we risk losing mission critical domestic capabilities, stifling competition and innovation, and potentially weakening our supply chains. This Small Business Strategy outlines a Department-wide plan to harness the power of America’s small, innovative, and agile companies and grow their contributions to the defense mission. These initiatives will streamline efforts across DoD in order to make it easier for small businesses to work with DoD, align small business activities to sustain and expand the Department’s diverse and modernized capabilities, and reduce barriers for small businesses to help reverse the declining trend in small business suppliers. Small businesses provide our most creative entrepreneurs and most driven workers, and it is imperative that we extend them an open hand. Through implementing this strategy, we will ensure that small businesses continue to serve as indispensable partners in the mission to protect our national security.Lloyd J. Austin IIISecretary of Defense5Executive