Small Business Office
Opportunities for Small and Disadvantaged Businesses

The Philadelphia District was named the 8(a) Procuring Agency of the Year for 1996 by the Small Business Administration, and also received the first 8(a) Crystal Award given to a federal employee. This latter award recognizes a procuring agency employee for outstanding contributions in aiding small disadvantaged businesses by providing contracts in the minority small business community.

The Government employs three basic procurement methods in buying goods and services: simplified acquisition purchases, sealed bid purchases and negotiated procurement.

Simplified Acquisition Purchases

Government acquisitions under $100,000 are considered small purchases, under which simplified acquisition procedures apply. Small purchases are reserved for small businesses and follow special simplified procedures, including limited competition and streamlined processing. Many small purchases are made through purchase orders, government-wide credit cards and blanket purchase orders.

• For purchases under $2,500 for a product or service valued at under $2,500 (a "micropurchase"), a contracting officer does not have to obtain competitive quotations. (Note that these micropurchases are no longer reserved exclusively for small firms.)
• Purchases between $2,500 and $100,000 are automatically reserved for small business concerns.

Sealed Bid Purchases

The Government uses fixed-price sealed bid contracts to buy standard, easily defined products or services that generally are worth more than $100,000. This type of purchase is used when ...

• The award will be made on the basis of lowest price;
• There is no need to clarify or discuss the procurement requirements with bidders; and
• The government expects to receive more than one bid.

Negotiated Procurement

This is the most flexible -- but also somewhat more complicated -- method of procuring goods and services. Negotiated procurements take many forms. They may call for competitive proposals, involve restricted competition, or be sole-source.

Under this initiative, government acquisitions are "set aside" (reserved) for small firms when there is a reasonable expectation that ...

• Offers will be obtained from at least two responsible small businesses, and
• The contract award will be made at market prices.

Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act empowers the U.S. Small Business Administration to enter into prime contracts with other agencies for goods and services. The SBA then subcontracts the actual performance of the work to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses that have been SBA-certified.   For a small business to be certified for the 8(a) program it must be at least 51-percent unconditionally owned, controlled and managed by an individual(s) who is a socially and economically disadvantaged citizen of the United States.

All small disadvantaged businesses must now be certified in a new SBA certification program before any prime contractor (large or small business) or federal agency can receive SDB credit. To register in the SDB certification program, contractors need to access the SBA website at http://www.sba.gov/sdb , then click on Program Services . Both parts of the registration, (1) ownership and (2) controlling day-to-day operations, must be completed. Also, the contractor must be registered in each state where they wish to perform government contracts. The SBA will complete the certification within 30 days. For more information on SBD certification, call the SBA Hotline at 1-800-558-0884.

The Small Business Administration has launched the Dynamic Small Business Search to provide an Internet registration system for small firms who wish to contract with the government. It is a search engine for contracting officers, a marketing tool for small firms and a "link" to procurement opportunities and important Small Business information. Companies can link their own web sites to their PRO-NET profile, creating a very powerful marketing tool .

Prime contractors use the SBA's SUB-Net program to post subcontracting opportunities. These may or may not be reserved for small business, and they may include either solicitations or other notices--for example, notices of sources sought for teaming partners and subcontractors on future contracts. Small businesses can review this web site to identify opportunities in their areas of expertise. While the web site is designed primarily as a place for large businesses to post solicitations and notices, it can also be used by Federal agencies, state and local Governments, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities, and even small businesses for the same purpose.

A business firm seeking to participate in Department of Defense procurements should inform the procurement offices of products or services it has to offer and request that the firm be placed on appropriate solicitation mailing lists. The Philadelphia District Mailing List Application (SF 129) can be obtained by calling (215) 656-6867 or by faxing a request to (215) 656-6780 ... or CLICK HERE to download an electronic version in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Eventually, with the complete implementation of Central Contractor Registration (CCR) , only one application will be required to be included in all federal agencies source lists. Contractors MUST be registered in CCR to do business with the Department of Defense. NOTE: Before registering in CCR you must first obtain a DUNS Number.

The Commerce Business Daily is a valuable source of information for businesses attempting to identify products and services that individual procurement offices are currently buying. The publication also lists proposed procurements by other federal agencies; subcontract opportunities offered by defense prime contractors; recent contract awards, which in turn provide leads to additional subcontract opportunities, and other pertinent information on federal procurement activities. This site can be found at http://cbdnet.access.gpo.gov/ .

DoD requires that its prime contractors make the maximum use possible of small, small disadvantaged (to include HBCU/Ml's) and small women-owned businesses in its subcontracting program. DoD uses a special subcontracting clause in contracts with large businesses under certain conditions (in excess of $500,000 for services and $1,000,000 for construction.) When these conditions are met, large business prime contractors must establish a plan designed to maximize the participation of small and small disadvantaged business concerns as subcontractors.

Following is a list of SBA district offices for the parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania bounded by the Corps' Philadelphia District:

Delaware	Wilmington District Office 842 Market St, Suite 610,  Wilmington, DE 19801	Phone (302) 573-6249
Maryland	Baltimore District Office 10 South Howard St, 6th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202	Phone (410) 962-6195
New Jersey	Newark District Office Two Gateway Center Newark, NJ 07102	Phone (973) 645-3729
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia District Office Robert N.C. Nix Federal Building 900 Market Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107	Phone (215) 580-2722 Fax (215) 580-2757

The Philadelphia District fully supports the national policy of providing small and small disadvantaged businesses the opportunity to provide supplies and services within their capabilities. We are committed to these worthwhile and varied socioeconomic programs, and through teamwork we will continue striving to help small businesses contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Further information regarding our district's Small Business/Small Disadvantaged Business contracting opportunities can be obtained by contacting Cheryl Chandler , Deputy for Small Business.