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OPINION
Public-private partnerships have helped our nation innovate and grow for centuries. They’re responsible for interstate highways, railroads and the electric grid.
When COVID-19 threatened to shut our nation down, the public sector combined its resources and scale with the private sector’s innovation and speed in Operation Warp Speed to create a vaccine to protect our nation’s health.
This is just one of countless partnerships that has bolstered our nation’s growth and strengthened its position as a world leader.
Rather than attacking the pillars of our national economy, the government must look for ways to improve and strengthen its partnerships with the private sector.
What America needs right now is united leadership that prioritizes our national well-being, not rogue government commissions undermining meaningful partnerships.
As one of the fastest and most innovative companies in the private sector, Amazon is an impactful partner for the federal government.
The government has clearly recognized this, as evidenced by its ongoing partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its foray into using Amazon as a procurement portal in the last few years.
Yet the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against the very system that helps support its operations. This move threatens to stifle the partnerships that our government should be cultivating – partnerships that are efficient, cost-saving and beneficial to American businesses and citizens.
Amazon’s efficiency as a procurement portal, for instance, is something I’ve experienced firsthand.
My business, ENALAS, manufactures scientific research and educational products to advance our knowledge and teach the next generation.
The marketplace is our world, which is why I want the government to help change it for the better rather than cripple it through division.
Understanding the impact of public-private partnerships requires a broader grasp of the American economy and its needs.
These partnerships strengthen our national economy by leveraging the strengths of both sectors to ensure the best overall outcome.
If utilized properly, they can also increase our supply chain resiliency amidst growing international uncertainty.
One way the government can encourage these partnerships is by incentivizing and aiding sellers in becoming manufacturers.
Instead of creating division between the sectors, the government could be helping private sellers grow and increase businesses based in the United States.
This transition would give the sellers more power, keep Amazon in competition and create a stronger country and economy across the board.
In addition, Amazon has slowly begun partnering with the public sector.
For instance, the General Services Administration (GSA) has been working with a few companies since 2020, and it spends an estimated $6 billion per year on open-market purchases.
But the system is imperfect, and each sector is still learning how to work well with the other. This lawsuit, just a few years into a budding partnership, now threatens to undo this progress and set an example for all private business owners considering government contracts.
Who would want to work with someone who turns on their partners like this?
While I strongly believe that growing these procurement portals is good for our federal government, Amazon sellers and third-party fulfillment businesses like mine and the everyday American taxpayer, I also believe that partnerships are built on trust and transparency.
These must be the pillars of government contracts with Amazon and the many other companies like it — especially when global manufacturers in China and Taiwan are saturating the platforms with their products. Ensuring that these contracts don’t simply channel money into China is key to creating a healthy national economy through public-private partnerships.
Enforcing and strengthening policies that promote American manufacturing and transparent government contracts is integral to a robust market.
It's also integral at a time when the American people want to see that the government is functional and worthy of our trust.
These simple steps can safeguard the American economy without stifling its growth.
Private sector companies have spent decades specializing in the innovation and development of commercial networks.
Civilian consumers aren’t the only ones who should benefit from these innovations and cutting-edge products.
In fact, it’s counterintuitive that the consumer can have access to more efficient, reliable, and secure technologies than our highest offices in the land.
The government’s ability to leverage these innovative technologies is its ability to strengthen our cities, states, and nation.
Attacking the government’s private sector partners doesn’t help anyone.
Creating an us-versus-them mentality in a partnership that benefits the American economy and Americans business owners like me, is a dangerous move that undermines the economic growth, prosperity, and opportunity that our country once stood for.
This FTC lawsuit is an obstacle in the way of meaningful progress and collaboration across sectors.
America doesn’t need a splintered government that attacks its own partners; we need strong, united leadership that encourages domestic innovation and understands the importance of well-managed public-private partnerships.
Ben Pearson is the Founder and CEO of Enalas group, a group of small manufacturing companies, primarily focused in the Scientific Apparatus and Supplies industry.
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