It happens all the time with federal government contracting. With the changing of the guard comes adjustments or overhauls to spend plans. So, when it comes to border plans, the DoD and DHS have both outlined plans for the funds previously diverted from other line items. On April 30, the DoD announced the cancellation of border work with diverted funds, and they are now using the $2.2 billion in FY2021 for 66 projects in 11 states, three territories, and 16 countries. Demobilizing contractors, fixing environmental damage from pervious construction, and military facility improvements are all part of the plans for the detoured funding. DHS says that it plans to use their remaining funds to “prioritize the remaining border barrier funds to address and remediate urgent life, safety, and environmental issues resulting from the previous administration’s border wall construction.” While some urgent and discreet border projects are in the plans for DHS, they plan on terminating any contracts that were funded by Treasury Forfeiture Fund and return the funds to the TFF. Additionally, DHS plans to conduct environmental assessments. They also expect that the cost of cleanup or picking up where the DoD left off with projects they are no longer involved in will require them to absorb significant costs going forward. It’s the nature of the beast in contracting but it doesn’t make it any easier to ramp up in hiring for contracts that can change before all option years have an opportunity to get exercised.
Layoffs Impacting the Cleared Industry
| Progenity |
Progenity, a biotechnology company based in San Diego is closing their genetic testing lab in Ann Arbor and handing out permanent layoffs for 110 employees. This move on August 6 effectively shuts down one component of the laboratory, and additionally, Progenity and its affiliate, Avero, are facing overall workforce reduction of 374 employees, reducing the organization by over half. Last summer, Progenity reached a $49 million settlement with the U.S. government over fraudulent billing accusations. |
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Hiring impacting the Cleared Industry
| Citadel Defense | Citadel Defense is a signal intelligence and electronic warfare technology company, and they are moving into a new corporate campus in San Diego as demand for their industry-pioneering Titan counter drone solutions tripled for the third straight year.
“To support an increasing number of government contract awards, Citadel is moving to our high-tech Innovation Center in Mission Valley in August after the build-out is completed,” explained Christopher Williams, CEO of Citadel Defense. Citadel’s footprint in the San Diego, CA region will double over the next twelve months to 60K square feet of office and production space. The new space will include a customer training center, increased production capacity, a UAS development garage, unmanned integrated solutions floor, and AI-Center of Excellence. The improved facilities and expanded manufacturing capacity will match Citadel’s responsiveness to customer’s needs and the rapidly evolving unmanned systems market as military and government customers entrust Citadel Defense as the Prime Contractor for new contracts. Citadel is aggressively hiring for positions that expand the company’s business partnerships, program management, software development, industrial design, hardware engineering, integration services, and AI and machine learning capabilities. Williams shared, “In addition to the state-of-the-art engineering facility, there will also be a fitness center, outdoor options for collaboration, space for UAS flight testing, and an open modern layout that also offers employees privacy. Citadel is continuing to invest in areas that prioritize our customers, employees, and their families.” |
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Cleared Employer at Work: CACI
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Opportunity to Watch
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that non-profit organizations and private sector firms are now eligible to compete for funding of up to $500,000 to deliver federal procurement training to veteran and service-disabled veteran entrepreneurs. The application period runs through July 12, 2021.
Up to two awardees will use the $500,000 in total funding to participate in the Veteran Federal Procurement Entrepreneurship Training Program with grants from SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development. Awards will be made for a base project period of 12 months, with three option periods of 12 months each. These funds will be used to cover the costs of educating veterans and service-disabled veterans who intend to pursue, or are already engaged in, federal procurement.
“With the U.S. Government being the single largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, there is a tremendous opportunity for our veteran small business community to tap into government contracting,” said Larry Stubblefield, Associate Administrator for the SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development. “Through our Veteran Federal Procurement Entrepreneurship Training Program, we will continue to provide grants that train and empower veterans and service-disabled veterans as they enter and expand in the federal marketplace.”
