Small business owner wants Congress to protect OSDBU offices
Gettyimages.com/ halbergman
By
Nick Wakeman
One founder and CEO launches a video campaign amidst fear that if cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services spread across government, small businesses like his will lose access to critical resources and opportunities.
The apparent demise of the Department of Health and Human Services' small business office felt personal for Derek Barnby, founder and CEO of a small business that provides training solutions to the government.
When Barnby Solutions started out in 2018, HHS' Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization offered mentorship and the ability to build the kind of past performance needed to win the company's first contract.
Barnby’s fear now is that other small businesses will not get the same chance he had.
Cracking the federal market can be difficult and the OSDBU provides a critical link for small businesses, Barnby said.
After HHS' OSDBU office was reduced to just the executive director earlier this month, Barnby said felt he had to something.
He has created this advocacy video urging people to contact their members of Congress and urge them to protect the OSDBU offices.
Right now, HHS appears to be the only agency that has gutted its small business office. But many across industry fear that other OSDBU offices are under threat from the Department of Government Efficiency amid efforts to root out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
But OSDBU offices are not solely about DEI. As Barnby’s video points out, OSDBUs serve all small businesses.
“I’m one of many who these offices have helped and understand that for other small businesses to succeed, they will need assistance as well,” he said. “Small businesses face an incredible number of challenges, especially when it comes to the federal marketplace.”
Since Barnby uploaded the video Wednesday, it has been reposted on LinkedIn more than 20 times and received more than 300 views on YouTube.
HHS' OSDBU was created by the Small Business Act and as Barnby’s video explains, the small business office has 22 legally mandated functions managed across eight specialized areas.
With the staff cuts at HHS, small businesses could be at risk of losing access to billions in contract opportunities. That risk compounds if cuts spread to other agency OSDBU offices.
“While our Congress works tirelessly to eliminate red tape and improve efficiency, we need them to protect our pathway by saving these OSDBU offices,” the narrator of Barnby’s video states.
Small business participation is necessary as the government works to expand the industrial base.
“There is one linkage that makes this happen and it is really critical, especially for new small businesses, and that linkage is the OSDBU office,” Barnby said on the video.
Barnaby is vice chair of the HUBZone Council, but the organization did not participate in the video’s creation.
“I made it clear to everyone that this video, along with future videos in this campaign, are to come from industry,” he told Washington Technology. “I am just a small business professional doing their part to advocate on behalf of those who feel they can’t, or are unable, to speak out in a public forum.”