IDAHO FALLS - At the end of September 2021, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) reported another successful year of partnering with small business to provide the goods and services needed to achieve its missions. In fiscal year 2021, INL spent around $316 million with small businesses, which made up over 71% of the laboratory’s spending on goods and services. The lab also exceeded all five of its specific socioeconomic spending goals, including small disadvantaged, HUBZone, women-owned, service-disabled, veteran-owned and Idaho-based businesses.
“Small businesses are vital right now to our work and will be even more important as we grow,” said INL Director John Wagner. “They are laser focused on their areas of expertise, and as an organization, INL benefits greatly from that focus.”
The spending for goods and services with these businesses occurred in large part due to the success of INL’s growing missions, including a thriving construction portfolio, expanding cybersecurity research and a heightened business need generated by the advanced nuclear projects slated for the INL desert Site.
“We saw excellent support not only in our operations groups like Facilities and Site Services and Information Management,” said Stacey Francis, Small Business Program manager, “but also across the mission organizations as we engage in expanding research across the lab.”
As INL heads into FY 2022, this focus will not shift. “We will continue to look for small business partners who can assist us in providing excellent support as we continue to grow our missions,” Francis said. Information on how small businesses can engage with INL can be found at procurement.inl.gov