AFCEA Space Coast hosts Fireside Chat on navigating the evolving government contracting environment

By Cassidy Mills, Staff Writer

 

AFCEA Space Coast hosted a Fireside Chat titled “Navigating the Changing GovCon Landscape” where experts in the field gathered to discuss the evolving government contracting environment and what small businesses need to know to remain competitive, at Patrick Air Force Base, May 28.

 

Diana Teel, U.S. Navy civilian (Ret.) and co-founder of Central Florida Tech Grove, served as moderator for the event. Panelists included Natalie Colvin, small business specialist at Kennedy Space Center; J.E. “Ed” Ramos, regional manager at the Small Business Administration (SBA); and David Charitat, attorney at Widerman Malek, and Taona Enriquez, Col. USAF (ret), former contracting officer, and now CEO of Space Coast Solutions. Together, they shared key insights and strategies for success in the shifting government contracting space.

 

The discussion focused heavily on the implications of recent executive orders and the ongoing overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), a major rewrite that is already reshaping how federal agencies conduct market research and issue contracts.

 

“A lot is changing under the current administration, and the changes being made are radical,” Charitat said. “If you don’t adapt, it’s going to fundamentally shift the culture of government acquisition and that will change how we, as contractors, do business with the government.”

 

Charitat said these changes are not only procedural but cultural, requiring contractors to shift away from legacy approaches and toward more agile, mission-driven solutions.

 

“We were slowly, and now very rapidly, moving away from traditional contracting,” Charitat said. “You can’t do traditional contracting in 2025. You now have to have contracting methods, procedures and ways of doing business that allow the government to acquire things rapidly, efficiently and cost effectively.”

 

Ramos said SBA provides a Mentor-Protégé program, which pairs experienced business owners with new entrepreneurs to offer guidance, share best practices and help navigate the challenges of starting and growing a small business.

 

“There are several mentor programs you should take advantage of to make your company more agile and adapt to current circumstances,” Ramos said. “There’s plenty of opportunity out there for you to work with other companies. Working on your own, you may find, it’s going to become more difficult to form a team.”

 

The panel also highlighted the importance of understanding the new FAR rules and engaging with tools that provide simplified summaries of regulatory updates, including redlines and plain-language explanations. Teel said many small businesses underestimate their responsibility to understand these changes.

 

“If you look at the executive orders that are out, the most important one that I think right now is the FAR overhaul,” Teel said. “You may say, as a small business, I don’t have the bandwidth to know what’s in the FAR and that’s where you’re wrong.”

 

Attendees were urged to review FAR Part 10, which has removed language requiring federal agencies to consider small businesses during market research. The change is currently in the public comment phase and Colvin encouraged participants to use their voices.

 

“If you are a small business wanting to do business with the federal government, go to that Federal Register and make a comment, because FAR Part 10 has now eliminated language specific to small businesses,” one panelist said. “It’s gone, it’s redlined, it’s out.”

 

Enriquez said it is important to stay informed and proactive about changes to FAR, particularly when it comes to understanding how regulatory changes impact small businesses.

 

“If this is your livelihood, you need to be reading as soon as those FAR changes come out. Look into the website and figure out what they’re trying to say when the executive orders come out,” Enriquez said. “I don’t even know what it’s about before I’m searching that PDF for small business, because I want to know what the thought process is behind these executive orders.”

 

The panel also explored the increasing use of Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), a streamlined acquisition method designed to enable rapid contracting for innovative commercial technologies. These solicitations can move from posting to award in as little as 15 to 20 days and often require only a brief, one-page response.

 

“If you don’t understand the CSO process, you need to,” Charitat said. “Every one of the executive orders I’ve looked at is pushing contracting officers to use CSOs. What motivates them now is not how many small business contracts they award, but how often they use commercial solutions and innovative acquisition methods.”

 

Panelists closed the session by encouraging small businesses to remain proactive, stay informed and engage early with contracting officers and agency stakeholders.