What's Next? Administering your GSA contract.

Being awarded a GSA contract in a huge achievement for a company. All that painstaking work collecting documents, writing narratives, and compiling information just for the opportunity to sell to the government. And once you have that permission, after all that hard work, it’s only logical that you want to make the most of it.

Our latest webinar show you how to do just that. Every step in the contract administration process has an important function; miss one and you put your contract and good company standing in peril. We show you everything you need to do make the most of your contract and of course, Make Money while doing it. Learn about pricelists, SIP uploads, marketing, quarterly reporting, and so many other vital functions that need to be performed to keep your contract healthy and working for you.

Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us8FXZee5eo and reach out to us if you have any questions at all! We’re ready to help you untangle the mysteries around GSA. 

-Sonya Nudel, Marketing Consultant 

GSA: Doubling Market Share by 2017?

With high hopes, new interactive purchasing tools, and a new digital system of contracting offerings the GSA plans to more than double its market share of government spending. Commissioner Tom Sharpe feels it is time for the GSA to really show what it is capable of and how it can help other government agencies.

“I would argue the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA should be a centralized buyer — and we are going to make that case and we are going to fight for that,” Sharpe said to the Federal Times. He also stated that the agency plans to boost its market share from 14 to 33 percent by the end of FY2016.

Sharpe claims that the GSA is able to give customers data on what they are spending on goods and services. With this data the GSA is able to see if there is a way to save any money by using different contracts or implementing internal reforms.

By the end of 2015 the GSA will make the website interactive and will provide the tools agencies need to enter into contracts, giving them the opportunity to choose the services they want. These areas will include professional services, human resources, transportation services, and IT hardware and software.

The GSA is also making its new contracts more flexible to avoid wasting money on contract duplicates. An example of this new model is the recently released OASIS contract.

Sharpe realizes that this is a huge challenge is aware that mistakes are possible but what is important is that they learn from those mistakes and reach the end goal. 

Highland Canine Training, LLC Awarded GSA Schedule 84

Harmony, NC – Highland Canine Training, LLC, a leader in working dog sales and training for Law Enforcement, Military and Government Agencies is proud to announce that it has been added by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to the approved vendor list as a provider of working dogs and canine educational programs.  This allows government purchasing agents to now place orders directly through Highland Canine Training, LLC. Highland Canine Training achieved this momentous goal with help from the expert GSA team at Government Contract Services and are looking forward to a continued partnership. 

Highland Canine Training, LLC can be found under contract number GS-07F-231BA where it is listed as pre-qualified to provide federal agencies with explosive detection dogs, patrol dogs, drug dogs and educational training courses. Highland Canine Training, LLC is classified in schedule 84, TOTAL SOLUTIONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, SECURITY, FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, FIRE, RESCUE, CLOTHING, MARINE CRAFT AND EMERGENCY/DISASTER RESPONSE, and special item number (SIN) 426-2A, Canine Training and Handling Equipment, Canine Search and Detection. The approved products can also be purchased by state and local governments as part of disaster recovery and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) purchases.

The schedule assignment allows Highland Canine Training, LLC to provide quality working dogs to federal agencies who want to employ and utilize highly trained working dogs. Highland Canine Training, LLC also offers first class canine education programs at our School for Dog Trainers, including a Police K9 Instructor / Trainer Course as well as a Detection Dog Trainer Course.  Highland Canine Training, LLC  offers training and educational programs on location through their series of comprehensive working dog seminars.

In order to further promote our recently awarded GSA Schedule, the company will attend the 2014 Police & Military Working Dog Conference & Vendor Show in Nashville, Tennessee, July 13-15. Highland Canine Training, LLC representatives will be onsite to demonstrate our working dog capabilities and answer questions about working dogs and training programs. Attendees who visit Highland Canine Training, LLC in booth #32 will have the opportunity to win an equipment bundle worth over $200.

“We're excited about the opportunity to work with federal agencies and providing working dog and training programs to meet their needs,” said Jason Purgason, Highland Canine Training, LLC, Training Director. “We strive to make an impression on government buyers with the quality of our dogs and comprehensive training programs as well as our commitment to customer service"

For more information, please contract Jason Purgason at (704) 498-7907 or training@highlandcanine.com. 

Highland Canine Training, LLC will exhibit at the 2014 Police & Military Working Dog Conference & Vendor Show to meet with federal agency customers and showcase working dogs and training opportunities.

Contractor Teaming Arrangements: When and Why?

Ever wanted to pursue an opportunity only to realize that your company can’t fulfill all the obligations on your own? Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTA) might be your way forward to large opportunities and big money! CTAs are a formalized agreement between two companies that could fall into two different categories.

The first one is the establishment of Joint Venture between two companies. A joint venture is when two companies combine to form a single company with a separate bank account and legal name for the purpose of a specific opportunity and/or time period. These are best used when both companies are the same size and possess a GSA schedule. Both companies wanted to go after an opportunity that neither can do on their own so they join forces and try to win it together.

The second type of arrangement is a Prime/Subcontractor relationship. In this instance, only the GSA Schedule of the Prime is used. The Prime then subcontracts out work they cannot perform to other companies. It’s best to consider this arrangement when you are trying to gain experience on a federal level. In this case most solicitations require that the Prime contractor must be able to perform 51% of the work and there is no guarantee as a subcontractor you will receive any of the work.

CTAs can be confusing and to this end the GSA has created a series of videos to help GSA contractors set up these agreements in a fair and reasonable way. There’s also a list of FAQs that help you determine whether this is the right approach for you company. Reach out to us and we help determine of the CTA is right for your company. 

New leadership at the General Services Administration

 

New permanent leadership at the General Services Administration! Sonny Hashmi has been named the permanent Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the GSA. Mr. Hashmi has previous experience managing large IT budgets with his pervious gig as the Deputy CIO for the District of Columbia. His main goals at each concurrent positions seems to always focus on modernization and adopting new technologies to move government information technology r into the future at a fast pace.

Mr. Hashmi believes that the way of future for IT will be cloud technology and has been working tirelessly to help create agile processes for cloud development as well as swiftly attempting to move email systems within the GSA to the cloud. To this end he received the 2013 Federal 100 award for Digital Government Innovation as a “could expander”!

Moving forward, Mr. Hashmi will likely be a leader for innovation for GSA IT. Cloud is growing quickly on the commercial side of IT business and the government must follow or be lost in a sea of never-ending data recovery problems. According to a Forbes.com overview of an IBM Study, “84% of CIOs are focusing on mobility solutions to support closer customer engagement, 83% are evaluating business analytics and optimization and 64%, cloud computing.”  Mr. Hashmi should be able to bring these commercial CIO ideas to the GSA for IT success. 

Don’t Compete with the Big Guys, Government Set-Asides

Quite often companies don’t consider doing business with the government because they don’t think that they have the capabilities to compete with the large businesses getting all the work. I’m here to tell you that isn’t true. The government has a mandated goal that 23% of business is set-aside for small businesses. This means that only small businesses can competitively bid on these contracts and win

            In addition to the small business set-aside there are several other set-asides that are guaranteed a percentage of the total business.

8a- This set-aside is for economically and socially disadvantaged business and can be awarded sole source contracts without any competition. This is a certification issued by the Small Business Administration.

Veteran Owned- This is a self-certification for former or current military members who own at least 51% of their business.

Small Disadvantaged Business- This is for companies owned 51% or more by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Subcontinent Asian Americans and Native Americans. This is a self-certifying designation through your SAM registration.

HUBZone- This designation is for companies who’s employees and business is located in a high unemployment, low income area. This is an application process and 3% of business is set-aside for these companies. In addition to this companies may receive a 10% price preference on bids.

Woman Owned Business- this is a self-certifying designation through SAM with a contracting goal of 5%.

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business- This set-aside is for former military members injured in the line of duty that own 51% or greater of their business. The government wide contracting goal on this category is 3%.

Are you registered in SAM (System for Award Management)?

SAM, or System for Award Management, is the combined U.S. Government system of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. SAM is completely free of charge for registrants and users. Current and potential government vendors are required to register in SAM if they wish to have a contract with the government. If your organization is applying for the GSA must be fully registered in SAM in order to be awarded

The registration can take anywhere from 15 minutes to one hour, depending on if the information requested is readily available. A vendor must provide basic information relevant to procurement and financial transactions. A SAM registration is good for one year and must be updated annually.

Before registering for SAM a company must have the following:

·         DUNS or D-U-N-S Number

o    Data Universal Numbering System

o    A proprietary system developed and regulated by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) that assigns a unique numeric identifier to a single business entity

·         TIN

o    Taxpayer Identification Number and then name associated with that TIN

·         CAGE CODE

o    Commercial and Government Entity code is a five-character ID number that is used extensively within the federal government.

o    If the organization is migrating over from any old systems (CCR, ORCA, etc.) than it will already have this code. If not the organization will be assigned one once you are fully registered in SAM

·         EFT Information

o    Electronic Funds Transfer information such as the ABA Routing Number and bank account number

SAM also allows Government agencies and contractors to search for your organizations based on your ability, size, location, experience, and more. Since SAM incorporated the ORCA system agencies and other companies can see if a firm meets certain Federal requirements (ex: complies with equal opportunity legislation).

Government Contract Services specializes in SAM registrations and updates. Please look for the Government Contract Services SAM eBook which will contain helpful step by step instructions on how to efficiently and successfully register your company in SAM.