FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Media Contact: 
Pheniece Jones 
Director, Media Relations 
703.875.8974 
media@pscouncil.org 

PSC Recommends DoD Refocus and Expand Contract Financing Study

  
Arlington, Va. (July 21, 2022) The Professional Services Council (PSC) has submitted formal comments on last month’s Department of Defense request for information (DoD RFI) on its ongoing study of contract financing policies and practices. The RFI sought input from industry to help inform the first comprehensive DoD assessment of this issue since 1985.  

“Since the Government Accountability Office recommended this study in 2019, PSC repeatedly urged DoD officials to obtain industry input, so we were pleased to be able to submit comments,” said David J. Berteau, PSC’s President and CEO. “The RFI seeks information on some of the right issues, including how to determine the financial health of the defense industrial base (DIB), current practices in subcontractor financing, and the impact on small businesses of DoD’s current policies and practices. However, the RFI falls well short of the information DoD needs for a truly comprehensive study and fails to establish any mechanism for ongoing engagement with industry as the study progresses.” 

Berteau continued, “The global financial marketplace in which defense contractors operate today is fundamentally different than the one in which current policies were established. DoD needs to ask questions that are dramatically different that the ones in this RFI, if it hopes to adjust policies and practices so they can address future challenges and maintain a robust defense industrial base.”

The PSC comments recommend that DoD officials broaden the scope of the study and establish an ongoing dialogue with industry partners. The study needs to reflect the realities of global finance, the impacts of COVID-19, better mechanisms to support small business growth, a focus on attracting and retaining the total workforce, and attention to financing of government contracts not just for weapon systems and products but also for services and solutions.

“PSC’s comments provide input on the specific topics mentioned in the RFI, but we also outline for DoD the larger issues of how contract financing policies and practices affect contractors and impact the financial marketplace on which the industry depends to operate effectively,” Berteau concluded. “At PSC, we look forward to helping to facilitate discussions and information exchanges between government and industry for improved contracting policies and better returns from taxpayer dollars on critical missions.” 

For a PDF of this press release click here. 

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