Commander, Naval Facilities Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic Rear Adm. Darius Banaji stressed the importance of close cooperation between the Navy and private sector businesses to 470 men and women representing 250 different organizations during the 2019 Hampton Roads Post of the Society of American Military Engineers’ (SAME) Small Business Outreach and Industry Day on March 19th in Norfolk, Va.

Banaji presented an overview of the NAVFAC mission in support of the National Defense Strategy, outlining the command’s role in sustaining the warfighter. He emphasized the vital role played by private businesses who support the Department of Defense, and encouraged them to consider “NAVFAC first.”

“NAVFAC’s mission, actually, our role together, in this grand strategy,” asserted Banaji, “is to provide the infrastructure and support facilities here in the U.S. and abroad necessary to train, project and regenerate these highly lethal forces. Supporting the warfighter is why NAVFAC exists and it’s why we are here today. You and I are partners in this grand effort.”

NAVFAC manages the planning, design, construction, contingency engineering, real estate, environmental and public works support for U.S. Navy shore facilities around the world. Each year NAVFAC conducts an annual volume of business in excess of $11 billion, providing the U.S. Navy forces with the operating, expeditionary, support and training bases they need to meet their global mission. Last year NAVFAC Atlantic awarded nearly 14,500 contracts worth $3.4 billion to support U.S. Navy forces throughout the NAVFAC Atlantic area of operations. Banaji emphasized that a significant portion of contracts being awarded this year are going to small businesses.

“To date this year, we’ve already awarded nearly 3,000 contracts worth $600 million,” said Banaji. “We look to award much more in the next six and one-half months.”

Banaji’s remarks supported the framework of NAVFAC’s recently released Strategic Design 2.0, which describes the three lines of effort central to the systems command’s (SYSCOM) contributions to maintaining the maritime superiority of the United States.  The lines of efforts include 1) enabling warfighter lethality, 2) maximizing naval shore readiness and 3) strengthening the SYSCOM team. In support of these lines of effort, the SYSCOM is focusing on two primary themes: the development of a work force ready to meet new challenges, and the timely delivery of needed products and services.

“Delivery is about better performance, affordability and achieving results on a relevant timeline,” Banaji emphasized. “We must build and maintain bases with greater quality, speed and agility.”

Banaji appealed to private sector businesses who support the NAVFAC mission for closer cooperation in maximizing naval shore readiness.

“We need earlier and more frequent engagements with you to hear industry input as we strive for the right acquisition strategy and technical solutions.”

Founded in 1920, SAME’s mission is to unite public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental, facility management, contracting and acquisition fields and related disciplines in support of the United States' national security. SAME Hampton Roads’ Small Business Outreach and Industry Day facilitates collaboration between government agencies and both large and small businesses, allowing businesses to actually meet the Government representatives that are generating contract requirements. Many of these small businesses would not have opportunities to meet with Government representatives if not for events like this conference.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command: The Facilities and Expeditionary Combat Systems Command - NAVFAC is the Systems Command that delivers and maintains quality, sustainable facilities, acquires and manages capabilities for the Navy's expeditionary combat forces, provides contingency engineering response, and enables energy security and environmental stewardship. Additional updates and information about NAVFAC can be found on social media sites Facebook and Twitter. Become a Fan at www.facebook.com/navfac and follow us at www.twitter.com/navfac.

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