Doing Business with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Are you a small or minority business looking to grow and scale your business? Have you tried contracting opportunities with different federal agencies? Have you considered the Department of Agriculture as your business partner for federal contracts? Join this virtual seminar by the Virginia MBDA Business Center on Doing Business with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This discussion was targeted toward our minority small business community. 

Tommy Marks, the webinar moderator, is joined by Michelle E. Warren from the USDA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. Mitchelle discusses how to do business with USDA and how our MBEs can gain access to government contracts. She shared important insights, tools, and training resources to arm our MBE community with what they need to know. You can also download the handouts from the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3j1BfGj.

Tune in!

Here’s What You’ll Get In This Episode

[00:01] Episode intro and what’s in for you with Michelle E. Warren

[05:15] A brief overview of the U.S Department of Agriculture as a federal agency

[09:20] What Michelle does in the OSDBU office and the Agriculture agency

[11:06] USDA outreach and small business assistance programs

[14:28] Functions of the USDA’s OSDBU office

[16:17] The nationwide goals you must know about as established by the small business act 

[19:04] USDA’s scorecard for the last 11 years from SBA

[24:30] Answering questions from the audience

[53:50] Wrap up and final thoughts

[59:12] Ending the show and call to action

Notable Quotes

• OSDBU office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is great for small businesses interested in contracting opportunities to get started.-Michelle E. Warren [09:08].
• Every U.S. federal agency has an office for small and disadvantaged business utilization. The mission of these offices is to ensure that small businesses have the maximum opportunity to compete for procurement opportunities.- Michelle E. Warren  [09:50].
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture is not just about food, tree thinning, or land treatment. Water supply systems and many more are also in their docket.- Michelle E. Warren  [21:47].

Connect with Michelle E. Warren

Profile: https://www.usda.gov/da/leadership-and-offices/michelle-warren