Dennis W. Bartow was appointed as the Director for the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) in June 2019. He is the first appointed Director since 2014. Mr. Bartow leads a network of over 700 small business professionals, and is principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense, the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Sustainment, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy for matters relating to small business. Small business procurements represent over 20% of all procurements within the Department, greatly influencing mission success. Mr. Bartow provides leadership, guidance, and oversight to the Military Departments and Defense Agencies to create unity of effort towards achieving established small business goals.

Mr. Bartow is responsible for integrating all DoD small business activities and overseeing the efficient and effective functioning of the Department's small business specialists and acquisitions workforce. He works to integrate the diverse aspects of the small business programs into a balanced and coherent program that supports the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy.

A decorated U.S. Army combat veteran with more than 26 years of honorable military service, Mr. Bartow currently serves as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in support of Special Operations Forces in the West Virginia Army National Guard. Mr. Bartow comes from a family of entrepreneurs, is a small business owner, accomplished entrepreneur, and 70% service-disabled combat veteran.

From October 2017 until his appointment as DoD OSBP Director, Mr. Bartow served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Policy. There he served as the Action Officer for Central Africa, and as the lead for Security Cooperation and resources. He provided critical leadership in support of U.S. AFRICOM’s $210 million security cooperation portfolio, and impacted the $1.4 billion global security cooperation budget as a member of the Security Cooperation Executive Policy Committee.

From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Bartow served as a Military Operations Subject Matter Expert supporting Interpol Washington, the U.S. branch of the International Criminal Police Organization. While at Interpol, Mr. Bartow led the advancement of U.S. law enforcement interests in the areas of identity intelligence and anti-piracy. For three years, he led a Department of State-funded project with five African nations to combat marine piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

Born in Canton, Ohio, and a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Mr. Bartow also has five years of Congressional staff experience covering issues such as military and veteran affairs, homeland security, foreign policy, education, and housing, as both a constituent case worker and Military Legislative Assistant. He has also served in senior staff management and advisor roles for members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate and State Senate in Ohio.

Mr. Bartow resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and their three small children.