Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
When it comes to contracts with the Department of Defense, many are served by companies such as Bechtel, Boeing and Northrop Grumman. But there are smaller projects among $680 billion a year the department puts out for bid.
On Sept. 16, the Clearwater Economic Development Association (CEDA) of Lewiston won a $2.5 million “Small Business Teaming Pilot Program” grant, as one of 11 chosen from 300 applicants nationwide.
CEDA applied for the grant to support the American Manufacturer Network, a private, non-profit consortium of manufacturers from Idaho and Washington.
The AMN, under the leadership of the Northwest Intermountain Manufacturing Association (NIMA) and CEDA, was started to help deal with the obstacles which prevent small manufacturers from getting access to government contracts.
“I wish it was simpler, but it’s not,” said Christine Frei, Executive Director of CEDA.
Mainly, the AMN and CEDA help do the legwork for small operations who do not have the time or experience to apply for these bids.
“We’re forming teams of manufacturers to respond to bids, and we’ve formed teams of experts to help them respond to the bids,” asked Frei.
Often, small projects for the Department of Defense get no bids at all, because they are too small for a large company and too large for small ones to apply for.
This is where the new grant will aim to make a difference.
The Small Business Teaming Pilot Program is a brand new effort nationwide. Its rationale is to recognize that the United States has fallen in the number of manufacturing workers in recent years.
While there are less manufacturers in America today, if companies combine their efforts, more can be done.
“Why not use United States manufacturers to produce the products and services needed by the government?” said Frei.
As of now, there are 53 manufacturers in the CEDA database set up to do government bidding.
In order to qualify, a company needs three things, beginning with a basic Dunn & Bradstreet business identification number. Second, they need to be C.C.R. certified – Central Contracting Registration.
In this process, they are assigned a Cage Code – Commercial and Government Entity Code. The third and final element is an NAICS code – North American Industry Classification System.
This simply identifies a company by the products it makes or provides.
All three – Dunn & Bradstreet, Cage Code and NAICS Code – are free to obtain
From there, a company is eligible to get help from CEDA in going after bids.
CEDA expects to be fully operational for this by Jan. 1.
One of the members of the teams to help local manufacturers respond to bids is NIMA, based in Lewiston, next to the CEDA office. Its job is to help identify opportunities, aid in the bid process, quality control, packaging, shipping and collections.
The bids are found on large websites run by the federal government. Hundreds are posted every day.
“We don’t advocate selling to the government as a way to do full-time business,” said Dave Bonfield, Executive Director of NIMA. “Just to bolster your existing business,”
The opportunities out there are vast.
“You name it, what society buys, so does the government,” said Bonfield.
Common fields of manufacturing and opportunity in southeast Washington and Idaho include metal fabrication, wood fabrication, sewing and scientific instruments.
Any company that would like to participate in the program just needs to call CEDA.
“This is one of, if not the most, exciting project I’ve worked on in 10 years,” said Frei. “It could be a change agent for our region.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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