Procurement Matching, Contracting Opportunities

Recently, I participated in a small business roundtable with the Asian-American Pacific Islander community in Philadelphia. The event was co-hosted by the National Association of Asian American Professionals and the Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs, and we were joined by 40 small business owners for a lively discussion on how to do business with the Federal Government.

Part of our mission at the General Services Administration (GSA) is to make sure that small firms across the country have the opportunity to do business with the government, and we were able to pass on several strategies that small businesses can use to successfully compete in the Federal market.

First, FedBizOpps is an online tool to help businesses learn about upcoming opportunities with the government. Small businesses can use this tool to preview what the government is looking to buy in the near future. GSA also posts a Forecast of Contracting Opportunities, informing vendors of anticipated contracts offered by GSA for the current fiscal year.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) is one of eleven awardees in a Small Business Teaming Pilot Program designed to help small businesses work together to compete for federal contracts, grow, and create jobs.

On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act, the most significant piece of small business legislation in over a decade designed to provide critical resources to help small businesses continue to drive economic recover and create jobs. The Small Business Teaming Pilot Program, one of many beneficial programs made possible by the Small Business Jobs Act, awards grants to organizations for training, counseling, and mentoring to help small businesses enter into teaming relationships and compete for larger federal contracts. Teaming may take the form of joint venture and mentor-protégé relationships.

As one of eleven grantees selected from hundreds efforts to of applications submitted, the National Center was awarded $500,000 that will go toward creating jobs, businesses, and cooperative efforts between businesses and tribes nationally and within Indian Country. The organizations in the pilot program will help small businesses find other firms interested in teaming, form teaming arrangements, and find and bid on larger contracts. Grantees will leverage their existing resources and collaborate with SBA District Offices, resource partners, and other federal, state, local and tribal government small business development programs.

You will hear and read the terms “task order contract” and “issuance of task orders” frequently in discussions and documents that pertain to GSA schedules. Even though the FAR 8.4 provides specific authorities for GSA schedule contracts that supercede the FAR 16.5’s specific provisions for task order or indefinite delivery contract types, an understanding of these vehicles will help to better understand the way a GSA schedule works.

Acquisition Tool

FedBizOpps.gov is the U.S. Government's one-stop virtual marketplace. Through this single point-of-entry, commercial vendors and government buyers are invited to post, search, monitor, and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community. 

This site is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and allows vendors to register to receive e-mail notification of opportunities in their areas of interest.