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Tag: federal contracting

Navigating FY 2024: Top Federal Opportunities for Government Contractors

As FY 2023 is behind us, the government contracting market breathes a sigh of relief, marking the end of a busy period. As our attention turns to FY 2024, many companies do a “reset” refocusing on growth and strategically pursuing major procurements that lay the groundwork for future success.

At this crucial juncture, GovWin’s analyst team releases comprehensive reports and webinars spotlighting the top opportunities in the federal government for the upcoming fiscal year. This year’s insights cover the top 20 unrestricted opportunities, the top 10 set-aside opportunities, the top 10 professional services opportunities, and the top 10 architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) opportunities. (GOVCONWIRE November 20, 2023)

What sets this year apart in terms of federal opportunities?

Despite overall growth in contracting, industry participation is consolidating, a trend noted last year influencing the top opportunities for FY 2023. The decline in the number of firms receiving federal awards, despite increased federal spending, is driven by factors such as agencies adopting IDIQ contracts and rising barriers to entry due to stringent compliance requirements. (ibid)

Another notable factor shaping this year’s top opportunities is the rapid and consistent growth in small business contracting, outpacing larger businesses since 2011. Small business contracting exhibits not only a 49% growth rate but also greater stability compared to ‘other than small’ businesses. (ibid)

A high-level overview of the top opportunities for FY 2024

  1. Unrestricted Federal Opportunities: These opportunities, available to all government contractors, offer access to complex but lucrative procurements. Top opportunities, like CCN NEXT GEN, SEWP VI, and ALLIANT 3, promise task order opportunities worth billions of dollars.
  2. Federal Set-Aside Opportunities: Reserved for small businesses, set-aside opportunities provide participation avenues for various socioeconomic categories.
  3. Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Opportunities: AEC opportunities span diverse projects, from advising on capital requirements to major construction undertakings.
  4. Professional Services Opportunities: Covering business operations, management consulting, personnel and HR services, marketing, legal, and accounting services, professional services opportunities abound. (ibid)

Guidance for proactive government contractors

Having identified these top opportunities, proactive government contractors gearing up for success should focus on strategic teaming initiatives, and increasing business development investments, to increase relevant opportunities and enhance their pipelines. (ibid)

If your company targets federal unrestricted, AEC, professional services, or set-aside opportunities and is gearing up to pursue these in FY 2024, arm yourself with critical information:

  • Understand spending trends within your target markets.
  • Anticipate procurement patterns for the coming year among agencies utilizing these contracts.
  • Leverage detailed intelligence to fortify your pipeline. (ibid)

For a deeper dive into how these trends and opportunities may impact your business, give us a call.

The SBA should focus on small businesses, not fraudulent businesses

Last week the small business community urged lawmakers to shrink administrative burdens complicating entry into the Small. Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) program.

This is timely as the Biden Administration has set a goal to bolster the share of federal contracts awarded to small disadvantaged businesses from 5% to 15% by 2025. A former SBA official suggests the SBA focus on expanding entry to the program for disadvantaged businesses and not spend time penalizing those who fraudulently attempt to gain entry. This will go a long way to help achieve the goals as set by the administration.

Jackie Robinson-Burnette, CEO of Senior Executive Strategic Solutions and a former SBA senior program executive said SBA should, “shift their focus to include every firm that is eligible'” for the 8(a) program. She mentioned that she served at the SBA, the SBA received over 2,000 applications a year and accepted only 300 participants. The Government Accountability Office believes steps were taken to address fraudulent applications to the 8(a) program. Unfortunately, there remains no official verification procedure. The Government Accountability Office did not take steps to improve oversight of the program, according to report filings.

Robinson-Burnette said, “right now, the focus is making sure they mitigate the risk of firms getting into the program that shouldn’t be in the program – focusing on the fraud – when really that’s 1% or 2% of firms that apply. The other 90-plus percent of firms are struggling to get in … because the SBA is focused on the wrong thing.”

In addition to misplaced focus, Rep. Kweisi Mfune (D-MD) said business owners have reported concerns with the length of the program and that it takes most firms multiple years to receive their first awards. Mfune said, “this hinders the development of program participants and raises the question of whether enterprises are ready for graduation when they exit the program.”

Darryl Hairston, the SBA’s former associate administrator of business development, said he submitted a proposal to redesign the 8(a) program a few years ago. Hairston took into account the complexities small businesses encounter in navigating the federal marketplace during their initial years in operation.

Hairston said, “one of the things that we talked about was that most firms coming into the program, who are truly eligible for the program, had little experience in the federal marketplace. The timeframe is highly dependent upon how successful you are coming into the program and how well you take off with the benefits that are available to you.”

Robinson-Burnette feels adding priority access for SDB mentors will increase successful outcomes. This will occur by shifting some of the SBA’s dependence from their assigned business opportunity and creating additional inroads to work opportunities. Mfume is considering meeting with the SBA administrator to figure out “what can be done in the time we have.”

Are you a small disadvantaged business or a business looking to work with one on an upcoming contract? Give us a call.

There’s more to a Small Business Affiliation than meets the eye

Small business contracting has been gaining momentum through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) “all small” mentor-protege program. This program allows a large business to form a joint venture with a small business to compete for set-aside contracts. The SBA has several ways to determine if a company is actually small. And just because you meet the size standard for a procurement does not necessarily mean you are eligible for an award. (Federal News Network January 14, 2022)

Every procurement has a size standard assigned. Size standards set the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be. Therefore, it is crucial to note whether the small business has any affiliates. Size standards are based on the number of employees or average annual receipts of a company. An affiliate’s number of employees and annual receipts are included in business size determination. (ibid)

Many award protests arise when offerors allege the winning company is ineligible, based on size. A protestor will argue that a company is not a small business due to its affiliation with a large company. The affiliation thereby exceeds the size standard. Should the SBA find that a bidding company exceeds the size standard due to an affiliation, the result can be the loss of a contract. (ibid)

Affiliation is when one company controls another company, or a third party controls both businesses. It doesn’t matter if the control is exercised. It only matters that it exists. (ibid)

Common ownership can give rise to affiliation. Common ownership happens when an owner of a firm holds an ownership interest in one or more other firms. This gets complicated if a company is owned by multiple shareholders. (ibid)

Affiliation can occur due to the relationship between the firms themselves, such as an affiliation based on the ostensible subcontractor rule. This rule provides that a prime contractor and subcontractor are affiliated if the subcontractor is performing the primary requirements of a contract and the prime contractor is reliant upon the subcontractor. If the SBA dins an affiliation under the ostensible contractor rule, it is limited to the procurement in question. Both companies may be eligible for award of other small business contracts. (ibid)

The rules around affiliation are subtle and often complicated. Many times a company finds out about an affiliation only after a protest is filed. An unfavorable size determination will result in the loss of a contract. This can affect a vendor’s ability to compete for future set-aside contracts. If this happens, a firm must be recertified as small. It is the same if a protested frim is a protege in a mentor-protege joint venture. The protege must be recertified. (ibid)

Affiliations are preventable. All agreements should include representations concerning the prime contractor’s small business status. All parties should be knowledgeable of the circumstances that may result in affiliation. (ibid)

Do you have affiliation questions? Give us a call.

Back to Basics

If you are a long-time government contract holder or just beginning your government contracting journey, it is helpful to know the various forms of government contracts. According to GovCon Wire, these are the following 5 categories of government contracting.

Fixed-Price Contracts

The pricing of a fixed-price contract never changes. All risk is borne by the contract. The vendor works with what is provided by the government

Indefinite Delivery & Indefinite Quantity Contracts

Sometimes an agency isn’t exactly certain of its requirements. An agency may not know the exact amount of material or length of time required by a vendor to offer a service. Because of this, these are adaptable government contracts. They may also be called Task Order Contracts or Delivery Order Contracts.

Time & Materials Contracts

The contracting agency establishes a per-hour labor rate, evaluates materials costs, and puts in place a price ceiling. Vendors who find they can deliver services within a budget will find this an appealing option. Often contracts for emergency services are short-term. The contractor will deliver only labor and are called labor-hour contracts.

Cost Reimbursement Contracts

This form of contract tends to place greater risk on the government agency. This form of contract tends to lean towards research and development as opposed to actual goods or services. There are various cost-reimbursement contract subcategories, including cost/cost-sharing, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus award fee, and cost-plus incentive fee.

Incentive Contracts

This form of contract is actually based on a cost-reimbursement contract or a fixed-price contract, with added incentives. A government agency may award an incentive cract to a business who can complete a project swiftly. If the vendor completes the project ahead of schedule, the vendor may be eligible for an incentive (bonus). (GovCon Wire October 2021)

Do you have questions or need assistance with a government contract? Give us a call.

GSA is going green!

GSA is off and running to make the May 27, White House deadline to deliver a plan around clean energy vehicles and green electricity. According to the executive order, GSA must deliver a plan to address clean energy vehicles and green electricity. (Federal News Network, April 28, 2021)

Sonal Kemkar Larsen, the senior adviser to the GSA administrator on climate said, “one thing that is really important to us at GSA across the board is to be looking at how we can decarbonize our entire supply chain. We procure a lot of different things: Energy, buildings, government goods, and vehicles. In all of those, we need to look at our supply chains, the manufacturers, the businesses we are working with all the way to the design and installation in all of this. There is carbon from the beginning to the end so decarbonization is going to be a big lift as we look across the supply chain. A new focus for us is to look across all aspects of procurement.” (ibid)

Under the order, GSA must address how it will attain:

  • A carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035
  • Clean/zero-emission vehicles for federal, state, local, and tribal government fleets, including Postal Service vehicles
  • Additional legislation required to accomplish these objectives
  • Certifying the U.S. retains the union jobs integral to and involved in managing and maintaining clean and zero-emission fleets while adding union jobs in the manufacture of the clean fleets (ibid)

Katy Kale, the acting GSA administrator, said the Federal Green Building Advisory Committee created two new task forces – the environmental justice and equity task group and the federal building decarbonization task group. (ibid)

According to Kale, “the decarbonization task group will explore opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emission in buildings in the federal real estate portfolio through the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification, and smart building technologies. They will provide some recommendations to GSA this fall so we can begin to develop a roadmap for the decarbonization of federal buildings. The environmental justice and equity task group will improve engagement with diverse communities and key partners throughout the design, construction, operations, renewal, and occupancy. We believe this engagement will lead to increased inclusion, opportunities, and green jobs in the federal sustainability building process.” (ibid)

Kale went on to say, “when we are talking about decarbonization in building, it’s all of the things that we need to do to reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by the operation of the building. That could include replacing gas boilers with solar hot water or using ground source heat pumps. Really we need to make sure we are including every efficiency measure that we can, including using smaller, more local equipment for heating and cooling, making sure motors are high-efficiency motors, adjusting control strategies to reduce peak loads. It’s A to Z, we’ve got everything covered.” This is quite a large opportunity for GSA as 60% of its leases held are going to expire between fiscal 2019 through 2023. (ibid)

The other area of “green” opportunity for GSA is through the vehicles it manages. GSA owns and manages over 670,000 cars and trucks and manages more than 200,000 leased vehicles. As of today, GSA has a fleet of 16 types of battery-operated vehicles and 5 plug-in electric vehicles. (ibid)

According to Charlotte Phelan, the assistant commissioner of the Office of Travel, Transportation, and Logistics in the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), “the biggest challenge that we are looking at is actually the charging infrastructure. We need to deploy electric vehicle infrastructure to make sure we are able to do large-scale vehicle deployment while also ensuring agencies are able to accomplish their mission.” Phelan expects a plan to address the charging infrastructure to be out in the coming months. (ibid)

According to Sonny Hashmi, the commissioner of the FAS, the goal is to get to zero emissions.

Are you looking to be part of GSA’s mission to decarbonize its supply chain? Give us a call.