The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) announced the launch of its Connections Marketplace (CMP) initiative with a Buyer Side Chat featuring DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration.

The CMP will present a new, free platform to help connect small businesses to USDOT procurement officials across all modal administrations. 

The CMP will be bridging this gap and building new conversations that will lead to enhance small and minority businesses engagement with federal agencies and prime contractors, according to the press release.

The CMP platform will include a series of monthly virtual events, aimed to engage attendees, in order to assist in demystifying the government contracting landscape.

These sessions will include roundtable discussions, one-on-one matchmaking, information driven breakout sessions, and regional contractual opportunities. During these sessions, the audience will have the opportunity to engage with federal, state, and local government procurement officials such as contracting officers, program managers, and other subject matter experts.

Additionally, large prime contractors will be presenting on the CMP platform on roundtable “Teaming Talks” sessions to connect with small business teaming partners. This platform is centered around the flexibility it brings to small business owners across the nation to be able to connect from virtually anywhere with decision makers.

The CMP will also assist in hosting hybrid events where attendees have the opportunity to physically be in the audience or live stream their round table, break out, and/or matchmaking sessions.

The mission of the OSDBU is to ensure Small Business policies and goals of the Secretary of Transportation are implemented in a fair, efficient and effective manner. 

In addition, the office provides technical assistance and capacity building activities through our network of Small Business Transportation Resource Centers.