New director brings years of experience

  • Published
  • By Stefan Bocchino
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. --  The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center recently hired a new director of small business programs. Scott Cook brings 33 years of experience in federal government contracting.

Cook has worked for federal agencies, such as the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the Agriculture and Energy departments, all in Washington, D.C. He explained why he now lives and works in the Land of Enchantment.

"The reason we came to New Mexico is that two of our children went to college in Santa Fe, and when we came to visit, we fell in love with the place," said Cook. "I looked around and found this position and here we are. We're thrilled to be here," he said.

According to Cook, the main priority of the Small Business Office is to increase small businesses' participation in government contracts, as mandated by the Small Business Act of 1953.

"The percentages have been dropping for the last couple of years, for a number of reasons," said Cook. "Small businesses that we've relied on for years have graduated to become large businesses, and grown out of the program. We have to bring in new blood and find new ways to involve small businesses. The main thrust is to maintain and improve our small business participation."

Businesses in America are classified by size, using the North American Industrial Classification System. There are many NAICS codes, depending on the type of business. Many businesses do more than one thing and could be considered a small business in one area and a large business in another, according to Cook.

"The government has always felt that it should use the money it spends as a tool to bring in small businesses," said Cook. "This helps improve their lot and eventually moves them from a small business to a large business, in effect graduating them and making them more successful. This helps them hire more people, giving a boost to the economy. Something like 23 percent of federal government dollars go to small businesses."

To keep in contact with local businesses, the SBO has outreach programs and attends meetings with local business groups and chambers of commerce.

"We go to various meetings here in town to let businesses know what's going on at Kirtland Air Force Base," said Cook. "We let the businesses know what contracts are up for bid."

Another part of Cook's job is to review all contracts in excess of $10,000.

"After reviewing the requests, my job is to convince the contracting office that we should use small businesses as much as possible," said Cook. "My job is to be a liaison between the contracting office and local small businesses, and bring them together. We get a lot of good work from small businesses. They tend to be quicker, more innovative and more flexible. They can adapt to new conditions a lot better."

There are quarterly meetings between the small business offices on Kirtland AFB and a liaison from the Small Business Administration in Albuquerque.

"We have quarterly conferences where we bring in people to tell them how to do business with the government," said Cook. "The meetings are getting bigger every time. Last time, there were 400 people at the conference. We also go to local meetings and conferences to pitch what the Air Force is doing and what we are looking for."

For more information about the Air Force small business programs, visit www.airforcesmallbiz.org or call 846-8515.