While developing a government marketing plan, teaming with other companies is a productive venue for the small business. This article will convey general guidance pertinent to teaming and explore the types of teaming used successfully by small business federal government contractors.
M&A is too important to ignore, so we are taking a deep dive into what it all means.
Source: How M&A is disrupting the federal market — Washington Technology
This week on Amtower Off Center, host Mark Amtower interviews self-proclaimed proposal process “geek” Carl Dickson, founder of PropLibrary.comand CapturePlanning.com on a variety of issues.
Topics from the 2018 Federal Contractor Study included:
Source: ‘Playing to win’ in the GovCon market – FederalNewsRadio.com
In December, the White House announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would serve as the first of GSA’s Center of Excellence (CoE) for IT Modernization. USDA is at the forefront for implementing the Trump administration’s IT Modernization Plan with a series of acquisitions covering multiple skill sets, technology stacks, and application portfolios.
Source: Set Your Sights on USDA Centers of Excellence Bids for Q4 and Beyond | Lohfeld
Sometimes we become very insular and begin to believe that contracting problems are limited to the United States. Probably because of the shear size of our procurement budget, no other country loses as much to fraud, waste, and abuse. But as a percentage of procurement budgets, its likely that other countries lose more that the US. There are probably cultural reasons for this but we don’t believe that many countries have the level of oversight that the US enjoys (or not enjoys, depending upon your perspective).
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Contracting Issues Not Limited to Only the US
One of the first things a prospective government contractor (including a joint venture) must do to be eligible for an award is to create a business profile in the System for Award Management (or “SAM”). Before making an award, in fact, the contracting officer is obligated to verify the prospective contractor is registered in SAM. Not only must a business be registered in SAM, but its registration should be up-to-date. It’s an enduring myth of government contracting that a business’s SAM profile only has to be updated annually. But as FAR 4.1201(b)(1) instructs, an offeror’s SAM profile has to be updated as necessary to ensure that it is “kept current, accurate, and complete.”
Source: GAO Denies Protest Challenging SAM Registration – SmallGovCon
Based on conversations with our clients, keeping key individuals with specific customer engagement expertise on their business development and capture teams seems to be a looming frustration for many of them. Continuity of relationships and the effectiveness and efficiency of engagement on both large and small opportunities is becoming more difficult to achieve.
Source: How to build the talent pipeline for your BD/capture teams — Washington Technology
Fewer federal contractors were debarred or suspended last year. In it’s annual report to Congress, the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee said agency use of the punishments decreased modestly from fiscal 2016. In all, there were 604 suspensions, more than 1,400 debarments and a littler over 1,600 proposed debarments in fiscal 2017, a 14 percent decrease. The committee said the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Housing and Urban Development were among the agencies who carried out the most suspensions, debarments and proposed debarments. (Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee)
Source: ‘Modest decrease’ in amount of contractors debarred or suspended last year – FederalNewsRadio.com
Richard Olsen, vice president of finance for Mission Support Alliance has agreed to pay triple the $41,480 in kickbacks he received from his own company, or $124,440.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: How Do You Accept a Bribe from Your Employer?
In a recent blog post, we explained that the Federal Circuit’s decision in Cleveland Assets, LLC may have narrowed the COFC’s bid protest jurisdiction. Prior decisions had held that a protester need only allege a violation of statute or regulation “in connection with” a procurement or proposed procurement to fall within the COFC’s Tucker Act… Continue Reading
