Federal procurement workshop held at YARS Published April 19, 2016 By Eric White 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Approximately 140 small-business owners and representatives attended a Federal Procurement Workshop held at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, April 18. The event was organized by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan and featured representatives from the Small Business Administration and Mahoning Valley Technical Assistance Center. According to event invitations from Brown’s office, the workshop was intended as a forum where entrepreneurs would be able to learn from experts on the process, qualifications and opportunities to become a federal contractor. The workshop was open to representatives from small businesses, with a focus on those owned by veterans. After introductory remarks from the event hosts, Stephen Coleman, a veteran and president of Northstar Contracting, Inc., shared his business story. Guests then participated in two expert panel forums, one for business financing and one for government contracting featuring representatives from the YARS contracting office. Ryan, as an event coordinator, recognized the economic impact of YARS and expressed his desire to see local small businesses benefit through government contracts. “You’ve got about 100 million dollars that comes through this air base in economic impact,” said Ryan. “And yeah, you think of Boeing and Lockheed Martin and the big industrial defense manufacturers, but they all have suppliers… and we want to help our local companies be able to navigate that complexity.” The panels addressed several of the roadblocks that keep small businesses from pursuing government contracts, whether ignorance on where to find information on available contracts or how to become a pre-approved federal contractor. “Sometimes people get intimidated about doing business with the federal government or doing business with the department of defense,” said Ryan. “And while it can be intimidating, at the same time if you put a little bit of time in, it can yield some pretty good results.” As the fourth largest employer in the Valley, with nearly 1800 employees, operations at YARS require myriad services. Col. James Dignan, commander of the 910th Airlift Wing, has operational control of the installation. “The main thing for our small companies here (is) what we call base operating support,” said Dignan. “We have everything that a small town or city has. If they can compete and be ready to provide those kinds of services…those things that we need and we consume on a daily basis here, and those small businesses can get on the pre-approved list so that they can compete, that’s a great way to start.” Installation modernization and advancement initiatives bring regular construction projects to the base. Funding was recently approved for a new state-of-the art firing range in order to meet the training requirements of Airmen assigned to YARS. Groundbreaking is expected sometime this summer, and Air Force Community Partnerships (AFCP) may allow off base law-enforcement agencies to use the range. “The local firms may or may not be able to compete for an entire project,” said Dignan, “but (they may be able to compete for portions of a project), say for the firing range. Maybe they have a roofing expert here in the valley that can do the type of roof they need. If they can get on the list as a pre-approved government contractor, then that opens up another opportunity for our local businesses.” According to YARS’ economic impact report, the installation spent more than $6 million on construction and more than $5 million on services in fiscal year 2015. The report estimates that nearly 500 local job were created as a result of the installation’s economic impact.