Vermillion River Valley - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/54941486238/in/dateposted-public/

Although by far the most powerful country in the world, the U.S. is suffering from a lack of long term vision. The individual citizen is as much at fault for this condition as the politician or the military industrial complex. From our relationships with each other and with other countries, from corporate board rooms to Wall Street stock run ups, we must use long term strategic vision in lieu of pursuing short term gains. ______________________________________________________

The budgets for many federal agencies are shrinking. Decision makers are being forced to seek suppliers who can fulfill needs at the lowest price and still provide value with strong performance. Strategic planning is necessary for small veteran-owned enterprises in planning for the future, given these realities. _________________________________________________________________________________ With the budget ax falling hard, the smaller enterprise will have opportunity to per

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE With two decades in volunteer small business consulting, I appreciate the many individuals who have contacted me for advice. You have come from several venues – through the Micro Mentor and SCORE Foundations, LinkedIn and other social media sites. It has been a pleasure serving small business. _________________________________________________________________________________ My work with you has kept me active in retirement, in touch with my profession

“DEFENSE SCOOP” By Mikayla Easley “Artificial intelligence startup Luminary Cloud has developed a physics-based AI model for Northrop Grumman that will allow the defense contractor to more quickly design and build new spacecraft.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “The new partnership gives engineers access to a purpose-built tool known as Physics AI that can generate high-fidelity simulations of spacecraft subsystems in seconds

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “To effectively market a federal government services contract a small business must sell on the basis of having a business system as well as technical performance infrastructure ready to run the job when a contract proposal is submitted. Parallel thinking is required to plan for government project technical effort against a template of necessary business process infrastructure, driven by introducing Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) into the c

“BREAKING DEFENSE” By Jon Chung and Dan Berkenstock “If the goal is delivering new capabilities at the speed of relevance, then SBIR — and programs like it — must be aligned with the private-sector forces driving the next wave of national defense innovation.” _________________________________________________________________________________ ” What is the purpose of the $35 billion the Department of Defense has invested in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) over th

“SMALLTOFEDS”By Ken Larson “When a government contracting specific market target has been identified and a proposal has been submitted, pre-award surveys and fact finding by the buying agency or the prime contractor often follow. With adequate preparation and understanding of what the processes involve, the small enterprise can succeed in passing government agency or prime contractor site surveys and fact finding.” _____________________________________________________________

Vermillion River Valley- Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/54926993546/in/dateposted-public/

“BREAKING DEFENSE” By By John Ferrari “The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 , best known for reforming the combatant commands, also restructured defense acquisition. This created the system that we have today, breaking three things in the process.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “It’s often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. In this particular case,

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Lisa Veith “As we look toward the future of federal contracting, it’s becoming clear that large government contractors will want to continue and increase their partnerships with current small businesses as well as new small business entrants to the market. Maximizing participation and performance in government contracting for small business helps to create new jobs, expands entrepreneurship, and brings forth untapped innovation.” _________________

“ SMALLTOFEDS By Ken Larson “ Billing under federal government contracts can cause difficulty for small businesses because they often do not recognize that setting up complete contract identification information on the government billing form is vital to smooth invoice processing. “ ________________________________________________________________________________ “A major feature not recognized by businesses new to government contracting is the relationship between inspection

“NATIONAL SECURITY JOURNAL” By Brent M. Eastwood “A trillion here and a trillion there. Pretty soon, you are talking about…a big problem. That is the projected defense budget cost in the coming years—a cool one trillion—and perhaps even more.“ __________________________________________________________________________________________ “In 2022, the defense budget was still only 3 percent of GDP . During the Cold War, it was much higher. So, comparing the level of spending to

“FEDERAL NEWS NETWORK” By Ji Won Kim “Since the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative inception, the DoJ pursued and settled several cybersecurity fraud cases against organizations across a wide range of industries, often resulting in multi-million dollar resolutions.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “As the sea of cybersecurity laws and regulations expands and the enforcers remain on high alert, the False Claims Act (FCA) presents

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “The principal differences between free lancing and small business contracting from the perspective of the market realities that drive success in the venue. “ _______________________________________________________________________________ “Talented free lancers often wish to grow independently as individuals in the government contracting market and face difficulties in doing so. Many have service and product development skills of value to federal a

VETERANS DAY – 11 NOVEMBER 2025 To those who died serving USAECAV Countrywide https://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2013/11/12-names-on-wall-in-washington-dc.html

Vietnam War Wall of Faces On Veterans Day, our active duty military soldiers are the best in the world to defend us if war occurs. They cannot defend against the financial influence and political weight of the largest military industrial complex in world history. Managing that threat is the voters job. What I have learned in two combat tours and 36 years in the weapons systems business is that someone different than I may not have the same value system as I possess, but b

“THE HILL” “Washington mans the big alliances, guards against pirates, fills peacekeeping missions, confronts emerging powers, garrisons defeated states, rebuilds failed societies, hunts down insurgents, promotes development and spreads democracy. U.S. must set priorities and focus on those tasks which are essential.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “In its early years, the American republic possessed only a small standing mili

Vermillion River Valley - Hastings, Minnesota https://www.flickr.com/photos/odysseyof_armaments/54911360656/in/dateposted-public/

“FEDERAL TIMES” By Terry Hill “Veteran-owned businesses are a vital part of the U.S. economy, making up approximately 6% of all businesses, employing nearly four million workers and contributing over $177 billion in annual payroll to the U.S. economy . Despite this impact, many face unique business challenges, particularly when it comes to accessing the capital needed to grow. For veterans looking to start or grow a business, the right capital setup is key to unlocking your