VIDEO: Hirono Convenes Readiness Subcommittee Hearing on Strengthening Partnerships Between DOD and Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, convened a Subcommittee hearing to examine the relationship between the Department of Defense (DOD) and small businesses, and what more DOD can do to increase the number of small businesses they contract with. In the hearing, the Subcommittee heard from leadership representing the small business program departments of the DOD, Army, Navy, and Air Force.

“As Chair of this Subcommittee, I’m focused on ensuring that our Servicemembers and the larger military community have the support they need to defend our nation,” said Senator Hirono during the hearing. “We all recognize the critical role that small businesses play in our economy, and especially in our defense industrial base ecosystem. Small businesses play a vital role in spurring the kind of innovation necessary for our military to remain competitive and meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.”

Over the last decade, the number of small businesses participating in the defense industrial base has declined by over 40 percent. During her opening remarks, Senator Hirono highlighted the importance of strengthening partnerships between small businesses and the DOD, as well as addressing the significant drop in the number of small businesses doing work with the DOD.

“In Hawaii, we know firsthand the importance of small businesses to the success of our Armed Forces, and vice versa,” continued Senator Hirono. “Businesses like RevaComm, a software company based in Honolulu, demonstrate the importance of this relationship between DOD and small businesses. Since 2019, this company has doubled its revenue, created 120 jobs, and expanded its presence to more than 25 states. Its success would not have been possible without support from the DOD, which included $59 million in grants from the Air Force.”

A transcript of Senator Hirono’s full opening remarks is below and a link to download video is available here.

As Chair of this Subcommittee, I’m focused on ensuring that our Servicemembers and the larger military community have the support they need to defend our nation. That means modernizing our military infrastructure to meet the needs of the twenty-first century, and preparing the Services to meet the challenges posed by climate change. It also means ensuring our defense industrial base is ready and able to meet future demands, which is why today’s hearing is so important.

I thank the witnesses for your willingness to share your insights with the subcommittee, and for your work to support and strengthen our military. Collectively, you all bring many decades of experience supporting small businesses. That expertise is critical as we consider ways our committee can help you, as well as our Servicemembers, in carrying out our shared mission of ensuring our national security.

I hope you will also be able to highlight the vital work small businesses, as well as approaches your organizations have taken, to help successfully transition products into the hands of our Servicemembers. We also welcome your insight into how we can best help transition companies beyond their small business status. We all recognize the critical role that small businesses play in our economy, and especially in our defense industrial base ecosystem. Small businesses play a vital role in spurring the kind of innovation necessary for our military to remain competitive and meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

As noted by the recently released DOD Small Business Strategy, in Fiscal Year 2021, small businesses numerically made up 73 percent of all companies that did business with the DOD. Additionally, small businesses comprised 77 percent of the research and development companies that did business with the DOD. And as I mentioned, especially in a time when being creative and innovative is important, this is a really important number—77 percent. However, in the past decade, the number of small businesses participating in the defense industrial base declined by over 40 percent. That is a significant drop in the number of small businesses doing work with the DOD. That is a puzzling and disconcerting trend, and I hope that our witnesses will be able to shed some light on what you see as the dynamics causing this trend, as well as some of the actions the Department can take to improve the situation.

This trend begs a number of questions related to our approach to small businesses, including: How good are our data and metrics in tracking the success or failure of these small businesses in the defense industrial base, especially as they try to contribute to larger competitiveness goals of the Departments? Do we have the means to support these businesses while they are small, and also to help them transition to grow into medium and large businesses? How could we improve the strategic approach to using and fostering our small business to contribute to national security missions?

In Hawaii, we know firsthand the importance of small businesses to the success of our Armed Forces, and vice versa. Businesses like RevaComm, a software company based in Honolulu, demonstrate the importance of this relationship between DOD and small businesses. Since 2019, this company has doubled its revenue, created 120 jobs, and expanded its presence to more than 25 states. Its success would not have been possible without support from the DOD, which included $59 million in grants from the Air Force.

Thank you, again, to our witnesses.  I look forward to your testimonies.  

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, Senator Hirono is focused on overseeing the safe closure of Red Hill, rebuilding and modernizing military infrastructure in Hawaii and around the country, strengthening U.S. relationships with partners and allies, and advancing DOD’s work to combat climate change.  

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