Small Business

NCI’s Commitment to Small Businesses
NCI understands the needs of the small business community, the impact they have on the American economy, and the value they bring to our Government. As a graduate of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) program, NCI has a strong commitment to helping small businesses succeed. NCI believes that the help we provide our small business teammates and the interaction we have with them enhance our own growth. Our commitment to helping small businesses is evidenced in our participation in both formal and informal Mentor-Protégé programs and the results achieved through our support.

We also support the Government’s need to reach its small business goals. NCI meets and has exceeded our aggressive small business goals under some of our GWAC contracts. To reach our small business commitment on one example contract, 70 percent of NCI’s teammates are small businesses, ensuring Government access to quality small businesses over the life of the contract.

In assembling teams for new opportunities, we consciously seek out both large and small business partners. NCI’s teams are balanced between large and small businesses in terms of team members. We assess potential teaming partners from a wide variety of perspectives, going beyond just size, status, and technical skills. We also consider their geographic presence and experience, past performance in the Government environment, as well as in the commercial sector, their corporate quality culture and internal quality processes, and their unique skills and experience. Our small business partners bring niche skills and experience, provide depth of capability and capacity, and enhance the value and responsiveness of the total NCI Team. It is our small business partners who have some of the most impressive and unique capabilities and performance. Many of the small businesses are leaders in their field. They exemplify the depth of technical expertise of our small business teammates. Therefore, NCI supports SBA’s Small Business Program with the following socioeconomic status:

• Small Businesses
• Small Disadvantaged Businesses
• Women-Owned Businesses
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses
• Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
• Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones)
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MIs)

In selecting teammates, we use the following tools and methods to minimize risk to the Government and to ourselves:

• Use existing NCI Resource Partnering Program. NCI’s Resource Partnering Program includes more than 200 large and small businesses that NCI has teamed with on its current IDIQ and single-award contracts.
• Use performance evaluations of teammates on existing contracts. NCI conducts monthly Independent Program Reviews of operating contracts, where small business components of operations are reviewed.