“SCORE Southeast Minnesota” By Dean L. Swanson “Success requires consistent planning, grit, and strategic execution. You also need to recognize resources that can help you amplify your growth with continuous business planning and evolution for survival.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “A new CEO and reader of this column emailed me and said, “How can I grow my business and assure its survival? I started my new business severa

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“DEFENSE OPINION” By Frank Larkin “At issue is the as-yet-incomplete adoption by the Department of Veterans Affairs of a new electronic health records (EHR) system for the 170 VA medical centers and 1,193 outpatient sites across the nation that serve approximately nine million veterans“ _______________________________________________________________________________ “Roll out of the new EHR system has lagged, both due to the ripple effects of developmental problems that have s

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Certain costs cannot be allowed in prices, cost reimbursements or settlements under contracts with the US Government. The government is unwilling to pay for these costs as direct charges to federal government contracts or through indirect expense pools applied to federal government contracts.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “A company is not prohibited from incurring unallowable costs, but they can

“FEDERAL TIMES” By Melissa Rayworth “For entrepreneurs, it’s part of the central mythology: You launch your own business because you want to be your own boss. To thrive as a business owner, it helps to have an independent streak and be comfortable going it alone. But when small and mid-sized companies begin pursuing government contracts, it can help — immensely — if they strategically collaborate with other businesses.” ________________________________________________________

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios “AXIOS” By Colin Demarest “Conflicts abroad and defense-contract competitions at home illuminate in real time the future of America’s war machine. Today’s closely watched fights are shaping those of tomorrow, and the pace of battlefield innovation is only accelerating.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “WHY IT MATTERS Cheap, abundant drones are devastating far more expensive systems in East

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “An effective competitor profile is a key tool in performing risk analysis and making related trade off judgments in the final submission of your bid or proposal.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “Even though small businesses enjoy set aside opportunities in government competition, the majority of set-aside procurement bids are populated with several competitors. Early market research, industry teamin

“In this new era, where federal agencies are seeing a massive shift in decision-makers, it’s more critical than ever for executives—CEOs, COOs, VPs, and others in the C-suite—to lead by example and establish a powerful presence on LinkedIn.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “LinkedIn is the lynchpin for engaging with the GovCon market. It’s where new influencers and decision-makers vet companies, assess areas of expertise, and ga

“DEFENSE NEWS” By Linus Höller “Global military spending reached a new record of almost $2.9 trillion in 2025 − the 11th consecutive year of growth according to new data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The main engine of growth was Europe, where expenditure surged 14% to $864 billion − the highest level SIPRI has ever recorded for the continent.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “Global militar

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“WAR ON THE ROCKS” By Rebecca Burgess “The broken veteran narrative, unintentionally fueled by the tone of veteran legislation, certainly contributes to the real difficulties today’s veterans face in transitioning into civilian life. The unexplored historical relationship between public perception, legislation, and veteran identity suggests that reframing veteran legislation and strengthening civilian identity may be the Joint Action Plan today’s veterans need to thrive after

“SMALLTOFEDS” BY Ken Larson “Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) – Rules of the Game and Developing Your Game Plan” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Small businesses consistently encounter FAR and CAS requirements upon entering or growing into federal government contracting. The purpose of these standards is to supply uniform regulatory guidance to all companies doing business with the go

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” – By Mike Lisagor Adapted from the book: How to Win in the Government Market (co-authored with Mark Amtower) “There are plenty of pitfalls and possible mistakes when you form partnerships.There is no such thing as a risk-free proposition as a subcontractor. But here are eleven guidelines that can increase your chances of picking the winning prime contractor.” _________________________________________________________________________________ While establ

“NATIONAL DEFENSE MAGAZINE” By Michael Seeds “Congressional small business leaders came to an agreement in March with the passage of S.3971, the “Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act.” The bill reauthorizes the two programs through Sept. 30, 2031, and includes several proposals to build on previous reauthorizations.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “When the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, contractors acro

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Contractual relationships established directly with the US government or under subcontracts and purchase orders under government contracts with other companies must contain provisions for the protection of intellectual property and proprietary data.“ ________________________________________________________________________________ “RIGHTS IN TECHNICAL DATA AND SOFTWARE The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFAR) contains the most widely used

“NATIONAL DEFENSE MAGAZINE” By Stew Magnuson, Editor In Chief “Where officials from the Air Force, Navy and Army intend to spend what they called a “historic and once in a generation” $1.5 trillion budget so they will not have to make compromises between modernization and readiness. They can have it all.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “The Defense Department in 2025 did not hold a big rollout for the fiscal year 2026 budget re

“DEFENSE ONE” By Peter W. Singer “The math of current battlefields remains literally orders of magnitude beyond what our budget plans to spend, our industry plans to build, our acquisitions system is able to contract, and thus what our military will deploy.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “At the lowest point of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln characterized the core factor between victory and defeat as finding a general who un

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PLEASE CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE “TASK AND PURPOSE” By Haley Britzky “As of 2018, less than 10% of adults in the U.S. were veterans, according to a 2021 report from the Pew Research Center. The number of living veterans is only going to decrease, the same report said; by 2046, “there will be around 12.5 million veterans. While the population dwindles, veterans continue to play an outsized role in innumerable facets of American society, from pop culture to politics. And perhaps

“PROJECT SPECTRUM” “ Project Spectrum is platform that provides NO COST cyber security education, training programs, tool reviews and self-assessments for small businesses. It was designed to make it easier for small business to do business with the government.” ____________________________________________________________________________ “In fiscal year 2023, Congress required DoD by 2027 “to establish a new program where we actually do commercial tool demonstrations for smal