Growing Small Businesses

In episode 14 of GSA Does That!?, host Rob Trubia and GSA's Exodie Roe discuss how GSA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization helps small businesses navigate government contracting. The episode covers vital resources, training, and strategies for entering and thriving in this competitive field.

Want to know more?
Are you looking for more information about the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) Check out the resource below!
https://www.gsa.gov/small-business

"GSA Does That!?" is the U.S. General Services Administration's first agency-wide podcast, offering listeners an inside look into how GSA and its partners benefit the American people. Hosted by Rob Trubia, the podcast features interviews with GSA leaders, experts, partners, and customers, covering topics such as federal real estate, acquisitions, and technology. The title reflects many's surprise at the scope of GSA's impact. At the same time, the artwork pays homage to President Harry S. Truman, who established GSA in 1949 to improve government efficiency and save taxpayer money. Whether you're a policy wonk or just curious about government operations, you can join the listener community.

For more information about the show visit, gsa.gov/podcast.

Transcript

00:00:06:14 - 00:00:31:11

Rob Trubia

Welcome to GSA Does That, the podcast that uncovers the stories behind the federal agency delivering effective and efficient government. I'm your host Rob Trubia. And today we're discussing something that's vital for small businesses across the nation: how GSA helps small and disadvantaged businesses work with the federal government. If you're a small business owner looking to expand your horizons, you don't want to miss this episode.

00:00:31:13 - 00:01:03:10

Rob Trubia

Together, we'll explore how GSA is not just opening doors, but actively paving the way for small businesses, including those owned by minorities, women and veterans. GSA wants you to thrive in the competitive world of government procurement. And we'll be discussing more than contracts. We're talking about a lifeline of resources, training and access. This podcast episode is dedicated to providing small businesses, the economic engines of America, the opportunity to access the federal marketplace and hopefully grow their companies.

00:01:03:12 - 00:01:26:12

Rob Trubia

How does this all work? How does a small business even begin to navigate working with the federal government? Have no fear. Joining us today is the man who runs GSA's small and disadvantaged Business Utilization Office. His name is Exodie Rowe, and he'll answer our questions and more. We'll be discussing the basic steps to getting started on future initiatives and everything in between.

00:01:26:14 - 00:01:44:10

Rob Trubia

Are you ready to learn the keys to unlocking massive new growth avenues for your small business? Well, then let's get started. Welcome, Exodie. Before we jump into our conversation about small business, I wondered if you might share a little bit about yourself, where you grew up and the road that took you to your current position here at GSA.

00:01:44:12 - 00:02:10:11

Exodie Roe

Morning, Robert. Thank you for that question. It's an honor to be here to talk to you today. I grew up in Stockton, California, born and raised. That's in the northern part of the state, about an hour away from Sacramento, the state capital of California. So I grew up there. I come from a large family, a lot of family members who have been entrepreneurs who have done some contracting themselves.

00:02:10:13 - 00:02:25:10

Exodie Roe

But Stockton's a great place. It's a very diverse place. One of the most diverse places in the state of California is the 13th largest city in California. And so that's where I grew up. My family is still there. I like to try to go back as much as I can.

00:02:25:15 - 00:02:32:03

Rob Trubia

That's great. Yeah. California is a beautiful state for sure. And it sounds like you've kind of lived small business a little bit growing up.

00:02:32:08 - 00:03:01:03

Exodie Roe

Yes, I did. And I have. And even after college, my first job was working for a member of Congress, Congressman Jerry McNerney who represented Stockton, California, as well, and one of my first kind of professional mentors. His name was Jim O'Neil. He was the district director at the Sacramento SBA, the Small Business Administration. And so me and him used to do a lot of small business trainings together in the Congressional District Office.

00:03:01:03 - 00:03:15:23

Exodie Roe

And he was someone who was probably about 40 years my senior at that point. He was close to retirement, but I learned so much from him about, you know, small business and how SBA works, too, in the district office as well.

00:03:16:02 - 00:03:30:10

Rob Trubia

Sounds like a great lead up to what we're going to talk about small business and GSA, and Exodie I thought it would be good if you could just paint a picture for us on how GSA acts as a bridge between small business and government contracts. What are the key elements of GSA's role?

00:03:30:12 - 00:04:12:10

Exodie Roe

Yeah, no, I appreciate the question and it's very helpful. So OSDBU about the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, it is our job to help GSA maximize our small business goals in our spin. And so we advocate for small businesses. We train small businesses, we host a lot of different online and also in-person trainings throughout the year where they can learn everything from how to do business with GSA to how to navigate SAM, to facilitating matchmaking sessions that we do, where we'll kind of match a prime contractor or a large contractor with a small business.

00:04:12:10 - 00:04:45:06

Exodie Roe

And we try to do it based off of the NAICS codes in there in the relevant industries. So it's almost kind of like they're learning from some of the larger primes as well. And of course, the primes also have certain subcontracting metrics that they have to meet. So sometimes it's a good fit in some cases they may work with that particular small business, but in other cases they're just sharing information on how those small businesses can do business with their companies or other type of companies if they start off in subcontracting.

00:04:45:08 - 00:04:56:04

Exodie Roe

Interesting, note, Robert, most small businesses actually get their start in subcontracting. And so taking advantage of those subcontracting opportunities to do business with the federal government.

00:04:56:06 - 00:05:04:22

Rob Trubia

It sounds like GSA is about leveling the playing field because you're championing small business, you know, and small business. What percentage of the country of the economy is small business? Do you know?

00:05:05:00 - 00:05:40:07

Exodie Roe

A little bit more than half. So, you know, small businesses certainly create most of the jobs in this country. At GSA, if you look at certainly a lot like our mass, for example, a lot of it is small business. So a little bit more than half of the country's economic activity comes from small businesses. And that's why it's so important to maximize that small business spend, because small businesses create a lot of the local jobs that we see in communities all throughout the country.

00:05:40:09 - 00:05:49:06

Rob Trubia

It's a giant chunk, you know, over 50%. So just what does GSA do to level the playing field for small businesses so they can get their fair shot, They can get their piece of the pie?

00:05:49:10 - 00:06:12:01

Exodie Roe

Great question. So, you know, GSA is well positioned like we support and help create more opportunities for small and socioeconomic and small businesses. However, the administration also recognizes there's more work to do to advance equity and procurement, and we're intent on leveling the playing field. It isn't about providing all small busines ses the same thing. Every business does not need exactly the same thing.

00:06:12:01 - 00:06:38:11

Exodie Roe

So if we took an equal distribution approach, it might mean that some disadvantaged businesses still won't have enough to move forward. By focusing on equity, we provide a range of training services and support to meet the various needs of small business owners around the country. For example, at GSA, we're implementing a post award engagement strategy to help small disadvantaged businesses be successful in the post award environment.

00:06:38:13 - 00:07:01:17

Exodie Roe

One of the postwar engagement strategy goals is to increase the socio economic small business awards by targeted engagement. For example, our business lines are supporting socioeconomic small businesses by hosting quarterly industry days and matchmaking events that connect industry partners with federal requirements, owners and program offices around forecasted opportunities.

00:07:01:19 - 00:07:10:01

Rob Trubia

So it's not just about GSA says, Hey, this is the procedure, good luck. Follow the directions. We wish you the best. It's a lot more than that, isn't it?

00:07:10:03 - 00:07:40:21

Exodie Roe

It's a lot more we do a lot more to kind of focus on those small, disadvantaged businesses and other minority and small businesses and women owned small businesses that need that extra support. I'm very proud that at OSDBU we have small business technical advisors. We have a small business technical advisor in all 11 regions of GSA and our small business technical advisors will give dedicated sometimes one on one counseling.

00:07:40:21 - 00:08:09:11

Exodie Roe

When a small business needs it, they kind of help them navigate the federal procurement process as well. We also host our Small Business Technical advisors. We'll also do various trainings that they offer in the various regions throughout the year as well that might be specific to a to a particular region. For example, if there is a landport of entry, which we know PBS, the public building service is doing a lot, there's going to be a lot of activity around land.

00:08:09:11 - 00:08:21:19

Exodie Roe

ports of entry, depending on the region are small business technical advisor may do a specific small business training around the opportunities around landports of entry and some other regional opportunities.

00:08:22:01 - 00:08:26:14

Rob Trubia

You've been talking about disadvantage businesses, a disadvantage business according to GSA, is what?

00:08:26:18 - 00:08:48:04

Exodie Roe

Small disadvantaged businesses are. 8a firms are considered disadvantaged businesses, but we also have other socioeconomic categories as well. So women owned small businesses, service disabled veteran owned small business is a socioeconomic category and then also hubs zones is also a socioeconomic categories.

00:08:48:06 - 00:08:49:21

Rob Trubia

What is Hub Zones?

00:08:49:23 - 00:09:24:22

Exodie Roe

Hub zones are areas of areas in the country where they are kind of under invested. They have historically been underinvested and so they're kind of dedicated economic zones and businesses can get certain credits for operating in some of those areas within the country that are underserved. For example, even though they're not considered small businesses, a lot of minority serving universities tend to be located in hub zone areas, but there are a lot of hot zone areas all across the country.

00:09:24:22 - 00:09:35:22

Exodie Roe

And small businesses can get certain tax credits and benefits for operating in those hub zones to try to bring up the economic activity in those cities that need it the most.

00:09:36:02 - 00:09:53:09

Rob Trubia

I want to go back to something you mentioned. I think I heard you say one on one counseling help. Are you telling me that the federal government cares so much about small business that they'll make sure if you want to talk to somebody, almost like a consultant, how can you help me through this process? Are you doing that?

00:09:53:09 - 00:09:54:08

Rob Trubia

Does GSA do that?

00:09:54:09 - 00:10:17:08

Exodie Roe

Yes, we do. We absolutely do that very closely as an agency with APEX accelerators. And the APEX accelerators will help small businesses do a lot of that work as well. They'll tell them about what, you know, various federal agencies are buying. They'll kind of do a little bit more hand holding around what services and products might be a best fit for a particular agency.

00:10:17:14 - 00:10:30:15

Exodie Roe

And so there are a lot of resources. So I always encourage small businesses to start with Apex Accelerator and also with their OSDBU office that they might be interested in doing business with that particular agency.

00:10:30:15 - 00:10:38:12

Rob Trubia

So that Apex accelerator, that's something that NASA's created, it sounds like. What is what's an Apex accelerator? Help our listeners understand.

00:10:38:14 - 00:11:05:06

Exodie Roe

The Apex accelerators are actually funded by the Department of Defense. And so the Department of Defense, there's Apex Accelerators. They used to be called Ptax, and so now they're called Apex accelerators. These Apex accelerators are located all throughout the country. There are many of them there. They're located in every region and they really have their small business counselors and they will help their small business with marketing.

00:11:05:08 - 00:11:13:15

Exodie Roe

They'll help go over their capability statement. They will help a small business kind of navigate Sam.gov and so on and so forth.

00:11:13:17 - 00:11:32:10

Rob Trubia

So if I'm a small business right now and I'm listening to this podcast, I'm thinking, I hope they're encouraged. They feel like, wow, they're really rooting for my success, their support there. But I'm still I'm really still feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm hearing a lot of acronyms. Maybe I'd understand what your go to advice for small business that just feels overwhelmed.

00:11:32:15 - 00:11:33:04

Rob Trubia

Where do they start?

00:11:33:04 - 00:11:59:11

Exodie Roe

One of the things I like to encourage small businesses to do is we created about two years ago our department created some small business factsheets that literally can help a small business from A to Z. And we created those small business factsheets because of questions that you just raised. We really wanted to make sure that we make it as easy as possible to do business, at least with GSA.

00:11:59:13 - 00:12:22:03

Exodie Roe

And so these small business factsheets can be found at GSA.gov/smallbusiness. So that's GSA.gov/small business. So I would encourage small businesses to first start on our website. And then we also have in all regions of GSA one through 11, we have the Small Business technical advisor where they can contact that information is on the website as well.

00:12:22:04 - 00:12:44:08

Exodie Roe

Still, it tells them what the who the small business technical advisor is and how to reach out to them. So that would be a step that I would take as well. Also, I would encourage small businesses listening to follow up with their apex accelerators and either the OSDBU office can do that or they can kind of Google, you know, their local apex accelerator and that information will come up as well.

00:12:44:08 - 00:12:56:06

Exodie Roe

So those would be kind of like the entry level initial steps that I would encourage a small business to take when wanting to do business with GSA or another agency within the federal government.

00:12:56:09 - 00:13:09:18

Rob Trubia

That's helpful because already do you think there's a lot of small businesses out in the country that just they don't even want to touch this? Like they'd be really helpful to the economy, they'd be really helpful to what the government needs to get done, but they're just a little bit afraid.

00:13:09:22 - 00:13:37:05

Exodie Roe

Well, that's why we have these resources, Robert. You know, like that's what they OSBU exist for. We want to help. It's not always easy. There are resources out there like the OSDBU, like Apex accelerator accelerators that are free. All right? There's not too many things that are always free. But this is this is our free service. And I encourage them small businesses to start with, you know, the free resources and take advantage and maximize these resources.

00:13:37:05 - 00:14:02:03

Exodie Roe

I always encourage our small businesses out there to start with the free resources first. And that's why I appreciate the opportunity today and this platform, because I wish we could tell and just get out to the entire country. The federal government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the country, and also that there are free resources that can help those small businesses, you know, do business with the federal government.

00:14:02:08 - 00:14:25:16

Exodie Roe

Every small business may not be necessarily a good fit for a particular agency. And so that's where that research will come into play. Just kind of researching one, the agency and what that agency is buying and selling can do that by one. Just kind of going navigating that agency's website and seeing what those business service lines are kind of buying and selling two.

00:14:25:16 - 00:14:41:12

Exodie Roe

They can look at SAM.gov, which has all of the opportunities that are out there across the entire federal government. And three, of course, they can work with the Apex accelerators and or the OSDBU. They know which agency that they specifically want to work with.

00:14:41:14 - 00:14:58:02

Rob Trubia

Exodie, I definitely sense some passion in your voice and that you really care about this. And I think that I think that is outstanding. So you care so much. I know you want your to know that GSA is doing a good job in what they're doing. How do you measure that? Do you know you're doing a good job?

00:14:58:04 - 00:15:03:19

Rob Trubia

Can you give us some examples of how you might measure to maybe some maybe some notable achievements, if any, in the last several years?

00:15:03:19 - 00:15:25:14

Exodie Roe

Yes. Now, I appreciate the question. So one of the ways that we kind of measure, you know, how well we're doing is the SBA scorecard. And so I'm proud to say that GSA received an A on our SBA scorecard is actually our 13th year of receiving one. And the only way that that happens is if the entire agency is committed.

00:15:25:14 - 00:15:55:05

Exodie Roe

It's not just the small business office. It's our senior leadership, it's our administrator, our deputy administrators, their commitment, our chief of staff's commitment, my commitment our HHS os their commitment as well to making sure that we do everything possible to give small businesses an opportunity to do business with us. So that's one way. The other way is in fiscal year 23, we awarded more than $3.3 billion to small and small disadvantaged businesses.

00:15:55:05 - 00:16:23:14

Exodie Roe

That's over 50% of our eligible spend. And I know we'll build on that this year. So specifically, my team monitors spending across GSA to ensure small businesses are considered for federal contracting opportunities. We also review proposed acquisition strategies and negotiate with GSA's acquisition workforce to change their strategies when we can from full and open competition to contracts that are exclusively reserved for competition among small businesses.

00:16:23:16 - 00:16:50:12

Exodie Roe

In some cases, we may also have opportunities for a social economic program set aside when a small business set aside is the proposed acquisition strategy. Our ultimate objective is to continually maximize small business participation and performance of our GSA contracts. It's also to provide acquisition vehicles that make it easier for our federal agencies to access and utilize small and socioeconomic small businesses for their requirements.

00:16:50:15 - 00:17:06:19

Exodie Roe

Government wide, we're going to increase the share of contracts awarded to small disadvantaged businesses by 50% by 2025. So we're stepping up our efforts to make it easier to do business with the federal government and to lend a hand once a contract has been awarded.

00:17:06:19 - 00:17:27:07

Rob Trubia

You know I keep hearing about stepping up efforts and, you know, a lot of these podcasts that I do, it's really encouraging to me to be a part of GSA because I just keep hearing over and over, we're doing more, we're working harder, we're doubling down, we're really trying to serve. I think that's fantastic. You mentioned earlier subcontractors, small businesses. Is that where your time as small business is starting off as subcontractors?

00:17:27:07 - 00:17:27:17

Rob Trubia

How does that work?

00:17:27:17 - 00:17:49:09

Exodie Roe

Yes, and some in some cases, there are small businesses who get prime contracting opportunities. There are other small businesses who actually want to start off as subcontractors. One of the advantages of starting off as a subcontractor is that you don't have to do as much paperwork as a lot of small businesses. They just don't have the resources right that the larger businesses have.

00:17:49:11 - 00:18:17:07

Exodie Roe

And so if you're a subcontractor, you're ultimately the prime contractor is responsible to the agency and to the contracting officer for meeting all the regulatory requirements that occur. And so that subcontractor doesn't have to worry about all of the all of that that process, the regulatory requirements as much they can kind of just do the work and they can kind of leave some of the other larger areas of regulatory requirements to the prime contractor.

00:18:17:07 - 00:18:36:13

Rob Trubia

So yeah, they maybe can just focus on the task at hand and not have to be so overwhelmed by the process. And hopefully they're learning the process as a subcontractor because I think there's maybe some collaborations, a little bit of partnership that goes on between those really big guys and the really little guys because they both need each other, don't they?

00:18:36:14 - 00:18:38:01

Exodie Roe

They do. Yes, they do.

00:18:38:02 - 00:18:50:12

Rob Trubia

Let me ask you this. Take us behind the curtain a little bit into the decision making room at GSA. You know, how are small business contractors being evaluated and what can make or break a proposal? Let's just get right down into it.

00:18:50:12 - 00:19:20:05

Exodie Roe

I'll just say this. You know, every acquisition is unique and so are the evaluation factors. So generally, it's good having relevant experience providing the type of supplies or services being sought is usually helpful if you don't have relevant experience with projects of similar size and complexity it’s good to start small and perform well. I will also say that you should pay close attention to the solicitation, make sure you're providing a complete response and not missing any required information.

00:19:20:05 - 00:19:28:05

Rob Trubia

Is that what you think a rejected proposal comes down to? Maybe some missing information? They didn't fill out the paperwork correctly, and that's why they really should get the help upfront.

00:19:28:05 - 00:19:51:21

Exodie Roe

Would be a number of things. That's why I'd say it's best to kind of follow up with the with the contracting officer. But in general, it is very important to pay close attention to the solicitation proposals and then small businesses can actually follow up sometimes with the contracting officer if they were not successful after, you know, after award, they can actually follow up, get some kind of advice or a kind of a debrief.

00:19:51:23 - 00:20:18:03

Rob Trubia

So with all these efforts, it's obviously very important to the federal government to increase small business, to give them more opportunity. That's got to have something to do with just the health of the economy. GSA's doubling down. They've got these special initiatives to help the community, the economy at large. How do these efforts ripple out beyond just the immediate business world and how does it help just beyond that one individual or that one small business?

00:20:18:04 - 00:20:44:13

Exodie Roe

GSA’s initiatives, they have a tremendous impact on the economy. So our acquisition vehicles make it easier for other federal agencies to access small and socio economic small business projects, for example, that I'll refer to earlier, like our landports and entry projects and our federal courthouse projects do so much for the local communities surrounding them. Not only do they create good jobs, they also stimulate the economy and support other businesses in the community.

00:20:44:15 - 00:21:09:15

Exodie Roe

The GSA Post Award Engagement Initiative will assist new and recent entrants to federal contracting, provide them with training resources and outreach in order to increase their likelihood of success. These initiatives ripple beyond the business world because small businesses drive innovation and innovation is what will lead us to more sustainable products, slow down climate change and help the country operate more efficiently.

00:21:09:18 - 00:21:26:05

Rob Trubia

Yeah, it sounds like, you know, the agency knows that there's small businesses out there that we really need. We really need that that initiative, those ideas, and we want to pull that out of them. We want to make it as easy as possible for them to want to engage with the federal government so we could honestly take advantage of their expertise.

00:21:26:05 - 00:21:26:23

Exodie Roe

Yes, we can.

00:21:27:04 - 00:21:35:19

Rob Trubia

It sounds like you really care like we talked about. What is it about small business, about what you do every day that just really kind of gets you up in the morning?

00:21:35:19 - 00:21:58:12

Exodie Roe

I love the fact that small businesses are so passionate about what they do right. I love the fact that small businesses create local jobs in their communities and they hire the people within their communities. I was just at a procurement conference in Alabama, in Huntsville, Alabama. This is my first time in Huntsville, Alabama. I was there for two fold.

00:21:58:12 - 00:22:37:17

Exodie Roe

For one, it was a partnership that we had with the Treasury Office to kind of engage in that region and then to part of our HBCU initiative efforts there. We also have at the agency to try to help more HBCU's and minority serving institutions take advantage of federal procurement opportunities as well. And so while I was there, I met a small business owner who started a small business, started a federal contracting small business like directly from undergrad, and took advantage of some great opportunities within that region to do some IT work.

00:22:37:19 - 00:23:08:19

Exodie Roe

And now I'm proud to say that, you know, 30 years later, that small business is one of the six most successful small businesses in that area. It's a minority owned, women owned small business, and it's been successful now for 30 years that the business owners' children are now involved in the business. So that is creating generational wealth and a generational impact in that community in Huntsville, Alabama.

00:23:08:19 - 00:23:25:16

Exodie Roe

And frankly, across the country. So I love it when I, you know, get those stories, when I get a chance to connect with those small businesses to see how their lives were changed. They're their customers were changed, their communities were changed because of the innovation that those small businesses offer.

00:23:25:20 - 00:23:40:20

Rob Trubia

We're just talking about there, I think, is the American dream. It's small businesses, is very much wrapped up in that. I'm curious about initiatives going forward. I know GSA's doing doing a lot of great things. Anything we can look forward to, anything small businesses should be looking out on the horizon that that's going to help?

00:23:40:20 - 00:24:07:01

Exodie Roe

Yes. Yes. We are excited to announce OSDBU’s National Virtual Monthly Training series. Our plan is to work with our partners in the GSA program offices, SBA, the Minority Business development Agency and other partners to provide training on relevant and timely small business topics and information so that it be held once a month for people who are interested. They can go to GSA.gov/small business to find out the details.

00:24:07:03 - 00:24:34:11

Exodie Roe

Also, the GSA forecast contracting opportunities tool is something that I also want to bring up. The purpose of this tool is to provide a nationwide dashboard of upcoming federal contracting opportunities. It helps you learn about potential contracting opportunities early in the acquisition process, and it provides points of contact for acquisitions. Small businesses can easily sort through forecasted contracting data by agency, location.

00:24:34:11 - 00:25:06:08

Exodie Roe

The NAICS contract type and more small business owners can also check out our GSA forecast tool factsheet, which explains how to use the tool and its features. Some other things that we're doing. We've made improvements to some of our fact sheets and information that we have online so they can take advantage of that. I would also encourage small businesses to visit AcquisitionGateway.gov/forecast for more information and see the current list of options and please know where we are.

00:25:06:13 - 00:25:11:06

Exodie Roe

We recently moved to a new website and so some areas are still under construction.

00:25:11:07 - 00:25:29:06

Rob Trubia

Before we sign off. Exactly. I just want you to picture somebody listening in their car and their commute. Maybe they're going to that small business that they own. Maybe have five or ten employees. What's what's the takeaway? They're not doing business with the federal government, but they think their product, their service would be an excellent fit. What is the takeaway you want them to come away from?

00:25:29:09 - 00:25:30:11

Rob Trubia

From this podcast?

00:25:30:13 - 00:25:57:07

Exodie Roe

The federal government is open for business and the federal government is a great partner. If you're interested in doing business with GSA, please reach out to one of our Small Business Technical Advisors at GSA.gov/smallbusiness also encourage you to find your local apex accelerator and have conversations about your business resources that are available to you and what agencies you should target.

00:25:57:07 - 00:26:07:22

Exodie Roe

So you can stay in contact with us by also looking at our GSA Twitter page is a great way to kind of stay in contact with us in everything we're doing at the agency.

00:26:08:02 - 00:26:22:07

Rob Trubia

You know, I really think this podcast has the potential of maybe changing some lives, changing some businesses. I want to thank you. Thank you for your time Exodie, this is a very encouraging. It's exciting. GSA is doing a ton in small business. It's really what GSA is all about. And I want to thank you.

00:26:22:12 - 00:26:34:06

Exodie Roe

Thank you, Robert, for the conversation and for the opportunity to have this discussion today to  talk about small businesses and GSA's very important role and how we support small businesses every day.

00:26:34:11 - 00:26:59:13

Rob Trubia

This is good stuff. Thank you so much. As we wrap up this episode of GSA does that, a big thanks to Exodie Roe for his insights on GSA’s Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Program. Our conversation highlighted GSA's dedication to empowering small businesses, including those led by minorities, women and veterans. It's encouraging to see such support. Here's to new opportunities and a level playing field for all.

00:26:59:15 - 00:27:17:20

Rob Trubia

Thank you for tuning in and don't forget to subscribe. We're always eager to hear from you, so feel free to drop us an email at GSADoesthat@GSA.gov. I'm Rob Trubia joined by our executive producer Max Stempora. This episode was brought to you by the General Services Administration Office of Strategic Communication. I hope you have a great rest of your day.