USAID's top small business contractors for 2015

In fiscal 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development awarded 18 percent of U.S. transactions to small businesses, exceeding its target of 14 percent, according to the agency. This was the fifth year in a row USAID surpassed its small business utilization target. For the third year in a row, USAID earned at least an A grade on the federal government’s small business scorecard which measures how well federal agencies reach their small business contracting and subcontracting goals. The USAID Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is responsible for monitoring USAID's implementation and execution of small business programs. OSDBU generally defines a small business as “independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on government contracts.” But like other U.S. government agencies, USAID defers to the U.S. Small Business Administration to establish which firms meet the small business classification. In order to make these determinations, SBA sets small business standards by industry and service offering. These standards are typically applied either in terms of the average number of employees a firm claims over the past 12 months or the company’s average annual receipts over the past three years. So for instance, companies offering management consulting services, human resources consulting services, marketing consulting services and logistics consulting services must not exceed $15 million in average annual receipts over the past three years in order to be classified as a small business. A farm equipment and machinery manufacturer, or electronic computer manufacturer on the other hand, must have under 1,250 employees in order for it to register and bid as a small business. While USAID small business procurement targets have been criticized for not being ambitious enough, especially when compared to the 23 percent goal for prime contracting with U.S. small businesses across the federal government, there has been steady improvement in engaging small businesses. In fiscal 2009, USAID received a score of F on the SBA small business scorecard and improved only to a C in 2010. A 2012 audit advised the agency to plug loopholes in federal acquisition regulations that were keeping it from fully utilizing purchases for small business. Since 2009, the overall value of USAID small business contracts have spiked from $90 million to over $343 million. Similar to previous years, the vast majority of small business contracts were procured from Washington and awarded to U.S.-owned and based small businesses. However, USAID reported more mission-based procurements in 2015 with at least five small contractors working in Syria, Afghanistan, Liberia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Kenya and West Africa. Other country missions with significant small business contracting activity include Indonesia, Guatemala, Ukraine, Vietnam and Ethiopia. Based on prime contract obligation data from USAspending.gov, Devex ranks USAID’s top 20 small business contractors worldwide for fiscal 2015.* The top 20 enterprises are all U.S. firms and comprise more than 60 percent of the small business procurement. Camris International Inc. and Dexis Interactive were both awarded over 10 percent of the total funds to small business in fiscal 2015. The largest procurement was valued at $52.9 million in total for technical assistance in support of the Global Health Support Initiative II and was awarded to Camris International Inc. 1. Camris International Inc. Headquarters: 6931 Arlington Rd Ste 575, Bethesda Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $52,964,663.70 Services provided: Radiology services and technical assistance for Global Health Support Initiative II 2. Dexis Interactive Headquarters: 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue Nw 850, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $48,658,930.43 Services provided: Program management and support for the Global Health Program Cycle Improvement Project; Information collection analysis and monitoring for Syria 3. International Business Initiatives Corp. Headquarters: 2101 Wilson Blvd Ste 1110, Arlington, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $20,859,046.07 Services provided: Program management and support for USAID/Liberia projects; Professional support for the Liberia Administrative and Systems Strengthening Program to manage electoral processes 4. International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. Headquarters: 8614 Westwood Center Dr Ste 400, Vienna, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $17,311,526.78 Services provided: Logistics support to provide monitoring and evaluation services in Syria; Third party monitoring in Somalia and Yemen; Technical evaluation for M&E system in Bangladesh; Implementation support for health services Evaluation in Kenya; Baseline study of Somali Youth Learners Initiative and various services 5. International Development Group LLC Headquarters: 1100 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 950, Arlington, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $13,646,237.32 Services provided: Professional support for Bangladesh assessment of Bangladeshi diaspora; Program support for Ukraine’s WTO engagement 6. Jefferson Consulting Group, LLC Headquarters: 1401 K St Nw Ste 900, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $11,982,731.00 Services provided: Technical operation for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa 7. Octo Consulting Group, Inc. Headquarters: 1600 International Dr 5th Fl, Mclean, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $11,615,212.21 Services provided: IT strategy and architecture, computer systems design services 8. Amex International Incorporated Headquarters: 1615 L Street Nw #340, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $11,496,520.87 Services provided: Program management/support, EW monitoring and evaluation of programs 9. Social Solutions International, Inc. Headquarters: 8070 Georgia Ave Ste 201, Silver Spring, Md Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $10,418,646.44 Services provided: Program evaluation/review/development and other professional services 10. Insight Systems Corp. Headquarters: 2003/ 1655 North Fort Myer Dr Ste 700, Arlington, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $10,393,596.60 Services provided: Training/curriculum development and other professional services 11. Remote Medicine Inc. Headquarters: 4259 23rd Ave W Ste 200, Seattle, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $10,025,000.00 Services provided: Medical and surgical instruments, equipment, and supplies and other medical services 12. Apprio, Inc. Headquarters: 425 3rd St. Sw Ste 890, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $8,082,759.00 Services provided: Program evaluation/review/development and other professional services 13. Terremark Federal Group, Inc. Headquarters: 460 Springpark Pl Ste 1000, Herndon, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $6,931,074.33 Services provided: ADP teleprocessing, timesharing, telecom and transmission Services 14. Stratcomm, Inc. Headquarters: 24 Prime Park Way Ste 103, Natick, MA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $6,544,751.79 Services provided: Printing, duplicating, and bookbinding equipment and other administrative support services 15. The Kaizen Company, LLC Headquarters: 1604 7th St Nw Ste B, WA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $6,541,753.60 Services provided: Program management and support and other professional services 16. Cloudburst Consulting Group, Inc. Headquarters: 8100 Corporate Dr Ste 320, Landover, MD Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $6,482,024.00 Services provided: Engineering and technical services, policy review/development services, program management and support and other services for various projects 17. Training Resources Group Inc. Headquarters: 4401 Wilson Blvd Ste 200, Arlington, VA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $6,030,360.22 Services provided: Engineering and technical services, education services, program management and support, training/curriculum development and other professional services 18. Terratherm, Inc. Headquarters: 151 Suffolk Ln, Gardner, MA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $5,000,000.00 Services provided: Engineering and technical services 19. Environmental Incentives, LLC Headquarters: 3351 Lake Tahoe Blvd Ste 2, South Lake Tahoe, CA Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $4,892,791.00 Services provided: Engineering and technical services 20. Novad Management Consulting, LLC Headquarters: 3309 Old Largo Rd Ste 100, Upper Marlboro, Maryland Total obligated USAID contract funding (FY 2015): $4,887,224.20 Services provided: Program Management/Support and other Professional Services * Update, October 5, 2016: This article and chart have updated to remove Vega — which is a nonprofit rather than small business — from the list. The updated list now includes Novad Management Consulting. Check out more practical business and development advice online, and subscribe to Money Matters to receive the latest contract award and shortlist announcements, and procurement and fundraising news.