{"id":23904,"date":"2019-07-17T15:06:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/17\/gao-army-futures-command-should-step-up-small-business-engagement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:09:47","slug":"gao-army-futures-command-should-step-up-small-business-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/07\/17\/gao-army-futures-command-should-step-up-small-business-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"GAO: Army Futures Command should step up small business engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 In U.S. Army Futures Command\u2019s race to field next-generation equipment, it needs to better engage small businesses<\/a> vital to the defense-industrial base<\/a>, the U.S. Government Accountability Office<\/a> said in a report published<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Austin, Texas-based command, activated last August<\/a> and expected to reach an initial operational capability this summer, is a marquee initiative for the Army, meant to fix its struggles to keep major modernization programs on track. But the GAO probe could supply fuel for critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the major modernization initiative ramped up over the last year, Future\u2019s Command has taken some positive steps, but GAO said it should do more, like coordinate with existing organizations like the Army Office of Small Business Programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile Army Futures Command is still finalizing how it will operate, it is already engaging with small business in various ways. However, the command could better manage these efforts,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, saw the report as confirmation that funding shifts associated with the command are harming small businesses critical to the Defense Department\u2019s research, development and innovation programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough the Army claims that Army Futures Command is engaging small businesses, this report makes it clear that small businesses have been an afterthought and worse, small businesses are being harmed by this restructuring effort,\u201d said Cardin, D-Md., who requested the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardin has raised concerns that the Army had not sufficiently studied the impact on small businesses as it realigned $1 billion in science and technology funding toward its six modernization priorities. The Army plans to spend an added $7.5 billion on these priorities over the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t