A Message from the President
Evaristo "Tito" Bonano

The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association is sending out this special issue of our newsletter to highlight the Department of Energy's first annual Minority and Small Business Conference. This conference is being coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency. The Latin American Manufacturers Association (LAMA), the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association and NEDA Business Consultants, Inc. are participating in the outreach efforts to the minority business community and will be presenters at the conference.

The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy Senior Officials, Mr. James Lewis, DOE Director for Economic Impact and Diversity, and Esther Aguilera, DOE Deputy Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, on the Sandia/8(a) Task Force initiative. The Sandia initiatives, a result of the joint efforts of the Task Force and the Sandia Procurement Council, will be highlighted at the Conference in Denver.

We are excited about the opportunity to work with our former New Mexico Congressman, Secretary Richardson. The honorable Secretary Richardson was a champion of minority business when he was a New Mexico Congressman and worked diligently with the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association.

In his role as Secretary, he is aggressively moving the minority and small business agenda at the Department of Energy; Secretary Richardson has indicated in a Memorandum to Heads of all Department Elements and Major DOE Contractors his strong commitment to maximize small business utilization. His memorandum states:

"The Department of Energy is committed to fully engaging small businesses, including small disadvantaged, 8(a), women-owned businesses, and HUBZone small business concerns, in DOE's core missions and programs. In addition, DOE's scientific, technical, and energy and environmental operations provide a unique opportunity for small businesses to engage in interesting and innovative program activities. The Department plays a key role in supporting small business success in technical and energy fields. Likewise, the Department has benefited from small business innovations. The Department is proud to provide over $3 billion in combined prime and subcontracting opportunities to small businesses, including small disadvantaged, women-owned, and HUBZone small business concerns.

"I want to see the Department build on this record by setting a combined prime and subcontracting goal of $3.3B in Fiscal Year 2000, including $757.6M in prime contracting to small businesses as assigned by SBA. To accomplish this, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) within the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (ED), will work with all departmental elements and provide guidance for achieving this goal."

The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association is encouraging minority businesses to attend the conference, especially in light of the fact that Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory are providing the necessary changes to their procurement policies and procedures to be fully engaged with the minority business community. Please call Anna Muller, at (505) 843-7114, for additional information.

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Demonstrates Procurement Initiatives

On February 3, 2000, the Association met with Los Alamos National Laboratory Director, Dr. John Browne, Controller/Business Operations Director, Allen Johnston, and Deputy Director for Business Administration and Outreach, Joe Salgado to discuss LANL's initiatives to change its procurement practices and policies.

These changes began with the newly appointed Deputy Director for Business Administration and Outreach, Joe Salgado. The team that will be responsible for implementation are: Bennie Gonzalez, who was appointed the new Program Manager of the Small Business Office, and Dennis Roybal, who was appointed Deputy Director for Business Division.

"There are a number of ways in which we need to improve interactions between the lab and regional small businesses," said Joe Salgado. "The changes that LANL is making are based on what we've learned from a review of our current practices and listening to small businesses about their experiences working with the lab."

The changes implemented by Los Alamos National Laboratory include:

The lab is also beginning in-house training for its buyers so they understand and support the effort.

In February of 2000, Joe Salgado directed the formation of The Ombuds Program for Business. This program was created to address community concerns in doing business with the Laboratory. By reviewing current practices and from listening to small businesses, it became obvious that an alternative, neutral and confidential venue was needed to address issues regarding access to appropriate resources, parity of treatment, and responsiveness to business needs.

The Association is pleased to see Joe Salgado and his new team take such proactive measures to redefining and aggressively implementing LANL's procurement practices.

On March 14, 2000, NEDA Business Consultants, Inc. and the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association board members attended the first annual Northern New Mexico Business Conference hosted by LANL. This conference is the first in a series of concerted steps, which the new team of the Small Business Office at LANL has developed to improve the procurement procedures.