BALTIMORE DISTRICT

You, as a small business, are responsible for creating your own future opportunities. You must be able to answer the following:

1. Why should the Baltimore District contract with my company?
2. Why are my professional services well beyond those of my competitors?
3. What are my demonstrated qualifications?
4. Why is my specialized experience and technical competence better than any other firm in my field?
5. Do I have the capacity and capability to accomplish the work in the required time and within the allocated budget?
6. How has my performance been in the past?

All this information is critical whether selection is made through open competition, set asides, or the 8(a) process. The competition you face is of great magnitude!

All contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) or they will not be awarded a Federal contract.

    The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, requires federal agencies to have the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for every contractor and to pay every contractor through electronic funds transfer. The CCR registration was also created to be the single source of contractor data for the entire DoD, to avoid administrative duplication and allow contractors to take responsibility for the accuracy of their own business information supplying it through a single registration.

    CCR allows federal government contractors to provide basic information, capabilities, and financial information one time to the government. This requirement applies to all solicitations and awards. The only exemptions will be for purchases made with the Government wide commercial purchase card, contracting offices located outside the U.S., classified contracts, and contracts executed to support contingency or emergency operations.

    Contractors can register in the CCR online. For information regarding CCR registration, visit the CCR web site. Other information regarding registration can be obtained through CCR Assistance Center (CCRAC) at 1-888-227-2423. A paper form for registration may be obtained from the DoD Electronic Commerce Information Center at 1-800-334-3414.

    The +4 extension to a DUNS number is created by the registrant in CCR when there is a need for more than one bank/Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) account for a location. Dun & Bradstreet does not create or maintain the +4 number.

    Vendors wishing to register their subsidiaries and other entities, should ensure that each additional location obtains a separate DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet can be contacted at 1-800-333-0505.    

    Vendors that are currently registered in CCR using a DUNS+4 number for reasons other than mentioned above will be contacted by a CCR Team designated to assist in the change. Until at time, all registrations using the DUNS+4 are considered active and complete. The DUNS+4 vendors require no action until they receive instruction from the designated CCR Team.

    The Federal Business Opportunities web site is a valuable source of information for businesses attempting to identify products and services which individual procurement offices are currently buying. This web site also lists proposed procurements of other federal agencies; subcontract opportunities offered by defense prime contractors; recent contract awards, which, in turn, provide leads to additional subcontract opportunities; surplus sales information, and other pertinent information on federal procurement activities.

Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Certification

    All SDB's must be SBA certified in order for any prime contractor (large or small business) or for any federal agency, to receive SDB credit.

    For contractors to register in the SDB certification program, you must access SBA, via http://www.sba.gov/sdb, then access Program Services. Both parts of the registration, (1) ownership and, (2) controlling day-to-day operations, must be completed. SBA also requires that the contractor be registered in each state that they wish to perform government contracts. SBA completes the certification within 30 days.

For questions concerning SDB certification, contact the SBA hotline at 1-800-558-0884.

    DoD requires that its prime contractors make the maximum use possible of small, small disadvantaged, (to include HBCU/MI's) and women owned small businesses in its subcontracting program. DoD uses a special subcontracting clause in contracts with large businesses under certain conditions (i.e., when in excess of $650,000 for services and $1,500,000 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. DoD and the Small Business Administration personnel make periodic reviews at contractors' plants to verify compliance with this program.

    Annually, DoD publishes a directory entitled Subcontracting Opportunities with DoD Major Prime Contractors, which lists alphabetically, by state, all the prime contractors having subcontracting clauses in their contracts. This directory lists prime contractors by operating division and address, including the name and telephone number of the Small Business Liaison Officer, an employee of the contractor designated to assist small and disadvantaged businesses. This directory may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

    The Small Business Administration assists DoD by providing additional sources developed through their many programs and contacts with use of small, HUBZone small businesses, disadvantaged (to include HBCU/MI's) and women-owned small businesses.

    Following is a list of SBA's regional and district offices within the boundaries of the Baltimore District for Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Virginia and West Virginia.

Regional Office

Region III
Parkview Tower
1150 First Ave., Suite 1001
King of Prussia, PA 19406
(610) 382-3092

 

District, Branch and Post Duty Offices

 

Maryland 10 South Howard Street 6th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 962-6195

District of Columbia 740 15th NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20005-3544 (202) 272-0354

Delaware 1007 N. Orange Street Suite 1120 Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 573-6294

Pennsylvania Parkview Tower 1150 First Avenue, Suite 1001 King of Prussia, PA 19406 (610) 382-3062

Virginia 400 North Eighth Street Suite 1150 Richmond, VA 23219-4829 (804) 771-2400

New Jersey Two Gateway Center Suite 1501 Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 645-2434

West Virginia 320 West Pike Street Suite 330 Clarksburg, WV 25301 (304) 347-5220