Partnering with Small Businesses for Big Impact
About Sessions
The primary role of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is to promote and develop strategies for small business participation in the DHS contracting program while adhering to federal small business regulations and ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion in the procurement process.
Things to Know
Scheduled participants from DHS may include representatives from DHS Headquarters/Office of Procurement Operations (HQ OPO), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a representative from our Small Business Innovative Research Program (SBIR) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In addition to sessions featuring meetings with DHS SBS, firms will also be able to schedule appointments with DHS large business prime contractors to discuss subcontracting opportunities, mentor-protégé relationships, teaming, and other potential topics of mutual interest.
The VOS sessions are very popular with the small business community and fill up very quickly. Your firm must create a profile prior to being able to schedule for a VOS session. This profile can be created at any time.
Scheduling information for each VOS session is indicated for each of the session dates below.
- Registration is open at: https://mbmapp.com/event/largebusinessvome/
- Registration does not guarantee an appointment. Each component small
business specialist will decide which Small Business meet their needs and will confirm acceptance of the meeting request. - Meetings are being matched by the North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS). Small businesses should update their profile to include their NAICS and provide their capabilities statements. - Small Businesses can register for this event until close of business, 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, 2022.
- A tutorial is available as a guide to participants in creating a profile and scheduling meetings.
- For technical issues, contact: info@mybusinessmatches.com
- For other inquiries, contact: osdbu.vos@hq.dhs.gov
Monthly Research
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Forecast of Contract Opportunities includes projections of all anticipated contract actions above $250,000 that small businesses may be able to perform under direct contracts with DHS or perform part of the effort through subcontract arrangements with the Department’s large business prime contractors.
APFS SAM.govUpcoming VOS
Due to the on-set of COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), will conduct virtual Vendor Outreach Sessions (VOS) until further notice. Vendors who wish to participate must provide a valid email address in their profile in MBM that can be used with the various virtual tools (i.e. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.). The preferred virtual tool for DHS is MS teams. At a minimum, vendors should have access to MS Teams. The prime contractors use a wider selection of virtual tool options. Once your firm receives confirmation of an appointment from the scheduling site, you will receive a follow-up email with the virtual meeting invitation. See the following link for the FY 2022 VOS schedule https://www.dhs.gov/publication/small-business. Please be advised that if connectivity issues occur using the virtual tools, the session will be conducted telephonically. If you have any questions regarding these virtual VOS events, send them to the VOS mailbox at OSDBU.VOS@hq.dhs.gov.
Countdown
Appointment Scheduling
If you do not schedule any appointments you will not be allowed to attend the VOS session
See TutorialPolicies
Cancellation Policy
In the event the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issues the Federal Government a delayed opening of 2 hours (or more) or closed in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, the virtual VOS existing appointments will be re-scheduled in accordance with the availability of the Small Business Specialist. In the case of in-house sessions, the VOS will be cancelled. On the morning of the event, please visit www.opm.gov for more information.
Attendance Policy
The VOS is a DHS best practice and a well sought-after industry event. To increase opportunities for more vendors to attend the sessions, DHS will limit vendor attendance to no more than 3 sessions per fiscal year. The scheduling site will automatically suspend a vendor’s ability to register for future sessions once the company has completed its third session.
No Show Policy
The DHS VOS has a wide-reaching interest to the vendor community. Vendors who do not attend their scheduled session take away from another company’s opportunity to attend the session. Therefore, DHS will suspend vendor access to scheduling appointments after two no shows. Based on a firms no-show status, the company will not be able to attend two consecutive vendor outreach sessions that they would previously be eligible to attend.
Vendors must provide the proper cancellation notice either via the My Business Matches (MBM) scheduling site or at OSDBU.VOS@hq.dhs.gov within 24hrs of the VOS, otherwise they are considered a no show. If the vendor cancels via MBM, an automatic email notification of the date and time of the cancellation is sent to the VOS program manager.