§ 644.
(k)
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization; Director
There is hereby established in each Federal agency having procurement powers an office to be known as the “Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization”. The management of each such office shall be vested in an officer or employee of such agency, with experience serving in any combination of the following roles: program manager, deputy program manager, or assistant program manager for Federal acquisition program; chief engineer, systems engineer, assistant engineer, or product support manager for Federal acquisition program; Federal contracting officer; small business technical advisor; contracts administrator for Federal Government contracts; attorney specializing in Federal procurement law; small business liaison officer; officer or employee who managed Federal Government contracts for a small business; or individual whose primary responsibilities were for the functions and duties of section 637, 644, 657a, 657f, or 657q of this title. Such officer or employee—
(1)
shall be known as the “Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization” for such agency;
(2)
shall be appointed by the head of such agency to a position that is a Senior Executive Service position (as such term is defined under
section 3132(a) of title 5), except that, for any agency in which the positions of Chief Acquisition Officer and senior procurement executive (as such terms are defined under
section 657q(a) of this title) are not Senior Executive Service positions, the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization may be appointed to a position compensated at not less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for grade GS–15 of the General Schedule under
section 5332 of title 5 (including comparability payments under
section 5304 of title 5);
(3)
shall be responsible only to (including with respect to performance appraisals), and report directly and exclusively to, the head of such agency or to the deputy of such head, except that the Director for the Office of the Secretary of Defense shall be responsible only to (including with respect to performance appraisals), and report directly and exclusively to, such Secretary or the Secretary’s designee;
(4)
shall be responsible for the implementation and execution of the functions and duties under sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title which relate to such agency;
(5)
shall identify proposed solicitations that involve significant bundling of contract requirements, and work with the agency acquisition officials and the Administration to revise the procurement strategies for such proposed solicitations where appropriate to increase the probability of participation by small businesses as prime contractors, or to facilitate small business participation as subcontractors and suppliers, if a solicitation for a bundled contract is to be issued;
(6)
shall assist small business concerns to obtain payments, required late payment interest penalties, or information regarding payments due to such concerns from an executive agency or a contractor, in conformity with chapter 39 of title 31 or any other protection for contractors or subcontractors (including suppliers) that is included in the Federal Acquisition Regulation or any individual agency supplement to such Government-wide regulation,
4
So in original. The comma probably should be a semicolon.
(7)
shall have supervisory authority over personnel of such agency to the extent that the functions and duties of such personnel relate to functions and duties under sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title;
(8)
shall assign a small business technical adviser to each office to which the Administration has assigned a procurement center representative—
(A)
who shall be a full-time employee of the procuring activity and shall be well qualified, technically trained and familiar with the supplies or services purchased at the activity; and
(B)
whose principal duty shall be to assist the Administration procurement center representative in his duties and functions relating to sections 637, 644, 657a, 657f, and 657q of this title,4
(9)
shall cooperate, and consult on a regular basis, with the Administration with respect to carrying out the functions and duties described in paragraph (4) of this subsection;
(10)
shall make recommendations to contracting officers as to whether a particular contract requirement should be awarded pursuant to subsection (a) or section 637, 644, 657a, or 657f of this title, and the failure of the contracting officer to accept any such recommendations shall be documented and included within the appropriate contract file;
(11)
shall review and advise such agency on any decision to convert an activity performed by a small business concern to an activity performed by a Federal employee;
(12)
shall provide to the Chief Acquisition Officer and senior procurement executive of such agency advice and comments on acquisition strategies, market research, and justifications related to
section 657q of this title;
(13)
may provide training to small business concerns and contract specialists, except that such training may only be provided to the extent that the training does not interfere with the Director carrying out other responsibilities under this subsection;
(14)
shall receive unsolicited proposals and, when appropriate, forward such proposals to personnel of the activity responsible for reviewing such proposals;
(15)
shall carry out exclusively the duties enumerated in this chapter, and shall, while the Director, not hold any other title, position, or responsibility, except as necessary to carry out responsibilities under this subsection;
(16)
shall submit, each fiscal year, to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report describing—
(A)
the training provided by the Director under paragraph (13) in the most recently completed fiscal year;
(B)
the percentage of the budget of the Director used for such training in the most recently completed fiscal year;
(C)
the percentage of the budget of the Director used for travel in the most recently completed fiscal year; and
(D)
any failure of the agency to comply with section 637, 644, 657a, or 657f of this title;
(17)
shall, when notified by a small business concern prior to the award of a contract that the small business concern believes that a solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation unduly restricts the ability of the small business concern to compete for the award—
(A)
submit the notice of the small business concern to the contracting officer and, if necessary, recommend ways in which the solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation may be altered to increase the opportunity for competition;
(C)
ensure that the small business concern is aware of other resources and processes available to address unduly restrictive provisions in a solicitation, request for proposal, or request for quotation, even if such resources and processes are provided by such agency, the Administration, the Comptroller General, or a procurement technical assistance program established under chapter 388 of title 10;
(18)
shall review summary data provided by purchase card issuers of purchases made by the agency greater than the micro-purchase threshold (as defined under
section 1902 of title 41) and less than the simplified acquisition threshold to ensure that the purchases have been made in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and have been properly recorded in the Federal Procurement Data System, if the method of payment is a purchase card issued by the Department of Defense pursuant to
section 4754 of title 10 or by the head of an executive agency pursuant to
section 1909 of title 41;
(19)
shall provide assistance to a small business concern awarded a contract or subcontract under this chapter or under title 10 or title 41 in finding resources for education and training on compliance with contracting regulations (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation) after award of such a contract or subcontract;
(20)
shall review all subcontracting plans required by paragraph (4) or (5) of
section 637(d) of this title to ensure that the plan provides maximum practicable opportunity for small business concerns to participate in the performance of the contract to which the plan applies;
5
So in original. Probably should be followed by “and”.
(21)
shall consult with the appropriate personnel from the relevant Federal agency to assist small business concerns participating in a SBIR or STTR program under
section 638 of this title with researching applicable solicitations for the award of a Federal contract (particularly with the Federal agency that has a funding agreement, as defined under
section 638 of this title, with the concern) to market the research developed by such concern under such SBIR or STTR program.
This subsection shall not apply to the Administration.
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