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Tag: General Services Administration

Giving small minority owned businesses a fair shake

The Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration have launched an initiative to improve the identification of minority-owned contractors. The aim is to simplify the process for federal procurement officials to connect with small, disadvantaged businesses across sectors. As part of President Biden’s goal to direct $100 billion in expanded contracting opportunities to historically marginalized firms by 2025, the initiative focuses on increasing federal contracting opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). (Nextgov May 30, 2023)

In the announcement released on May 25th, the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration will establish a pool of SDBs participating in the 8(a) Business Development Program. This program will assist selected firms in gaining better access to federal contracts under the GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule Program. The SBA’s 8(a) program has proven successful in fostering partnerships between the government and SDBs while providing support to minority-owned businesses seeking federal contracts. (ibid)

The establishment of the pool of 8(a) firms aims to make it easier for procurement officials to locate and contract with small, disadvantaged businesses across industries. Historically, this has been a challenge due to a lack of centralized resources for identifying and engaging SDBs throughout the federal government. However, the May 25th announcement lacks details on acceptance requirements and the process for directing solicitations and contracting opportunities to the selected firms. Further information is yet to be provided by the SBA and GSA. (ibid)

The success of the initiative will depend on specific factors, according to Courtney Fairchild, president of the government contracting consulting company Global Services. Fairchild suggests that analyzing individual awards and the dollar value of aggregate awards through the pool will help determine the effectiveness of the effort. If successful, similar MAS Pools for Woman-Owned, HubZone, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses could be implemented to increase opportunities across all SBA-certified socio-economic groups. (ibid)

Experts recommend additional metrics for measuring the program’s effectiveness, such as the size and scope of available opportunities, the length of engagement, and the relevance of North American Industry Classification System codes. These metrics can help determine if the pool successfully recruits firms from a wide array of sectors. (ibid)

Whichever approach is taken to evaluate its success, the new program provides an opportunity to showcase the strengths, diversity of thoughts, and varied technological capabilities within the SDB community, according to Earl Stafford, CEO of Aperio Global, an SDB specializing in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence solutions. (ibid)

President Biden announced the plan in June 2021 to allocate $100 billion in federal contracting opportunities to SDBs over a five-year period, representing an almost 50% increase in set-asides for minority-owned businesses. Federal agencies seem on track to meet this goal after awarding $62.4 billion in federal contracts to SDBs last year, accounting for at least 11% of all federal contracting opportunities. The Office of Management and Budget has since raised contracting goals for all agencies and directed the SBA to award at least 12% of all federal contracts to SDBs in fiscal year 2023. (ibid)

Would you like to know more about the initiative to connect SDBs to federal agencies? Give us a call.

Green is the new kid in town

Last week the General Services Administration (GSA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Defense (DoD) to make sustainable technology products more easily available in the federal marketplace. (Washington Technology March 24, 2023)

Under the MOU, GSA will use DoD’s Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration (STED) Program information on product performance and pricing to simplify the acquisition process and make sustainable technology alternatives more readily available to federal agencies. (GSA.gov March 21, 2023)

“This partnership is an important step in strengthening our sustainable acquisition offerings, it’s so important that we help agencies more easily find and buy products that not only meet mission needs but are also better for the environment,” said Sonny Hashmi, Federal Acquisition Service commissioner. (ibid)

In accordance with the agreement, once a sustainable product that meets or exceeds DOD requirements is identified by STED, GSA will work with vendors in obtaining a new Federal Supply Schedule. (Washington Technology March 24, 2023)

Officials at GSA said they would help vendors obtain National Stock Numbers, allowing agencies to obtain sustainable products directly from GSA through the GSA Global Supply requisition process. The GSA Global Supply requisition process is currently certified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (ibid)

In addition to the Global Supply requisition process, agencies can also buy through the GSA Advantage! Environmental Aisle to assist in meeting federally-mandated acquisition requirements. Products identified through STED will soon have access to GSA Advantage! providing an even larger market for vendors to market their products. (ibid)

Questions about the MOU or the STED program? Give us a call.

New GSA requirement – attest to software safety

According to a recent GSA memo, software vendors will be required to ensure that only approved software is acquired and used by GSA. GSA plans to use a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency form to collect the letters. The forms will be available in early June. (FEDSCOOP February 1, 2023)

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Chief Jen Easterly recently urged industry to take responsibility to ensure the safety of its products. The CISA Chief also recommended shareholders make sure c-suite executives are viewing cyber risk as a board-level issue. (ibid)

GSA is collecting the letters of attestation in an effort to implement a memo signed by the White House. The memo requires all federal agencies to verify that all distributed third-party IT software adheres to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) supply chain security requirements. (ibid)

The Federal Acquisition Council has under consideration, embedding the requirement for software providers to attest to the security of their products within the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). (ibid)

According to the memo, “GSA’s acquisition regulations (GSAM 511.170(d)) require GSA’s Information Technology (IT) Office to approve new software before its use at GSA. To comply with Executive Order 14028 and OMB Memorandum M-22-18, which require federal agencies to only use software that complies with Government-specified secure software development practices, GSA IT will update its processes to approve software including requiring vendor attestations. GSA IT anticipates issuing an updated attestation process by June 12, 2023.” (Memorandum for the GSA Acquisition Workforce 1/11/23)

The memo also states, “Contractors providing GSA with a cloud-based solution are encouraged to work with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). The FedRAMP approval process will streamline the GSA IT Standards Process allowing for a timely contract start. GSA also anticipates that leveraging FedRAMP will ensure and streamline compliance with the requirements of OMB Memo M-22-18 in the future.” (ibid)

Have questions or need some guidance with your letter of attestation? Give us a call.

GSA and the Small Business Administration are teaming up!

GSA is partnering with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to increase 8(a) contracting opportunities. The partnership makes it virtually effortless for GSA customers to use the MAS program to access various solutions from 8(a) contractors. (BUY.GSA.GOV l Interact November 18, 2022)

Once the implementation is complete the PA provides these benefits:

  • Increased opportunities for 8(a) contractors, allowing these contractors competition in a safe set-aside environment.
  • Accessibility to 8(a) contractors and various socioeconomic contractors, thus allowing for a vast range of products and services.
  • Increased ordering flexibility under the MAS Program.
  • Streamlined acquisition processes, thus incentivizing agencies to use 8(a) solutions.
  • GSA and SBA standardized processes for reaching an agreement on acquisition strategies. (ibid)

GSA is looking at a spring 2023 implementation of the Partnership Agreement. (ibid)

Are you an 8(a) contractor or have questions concerning your 8(a) contractor status? Give us a call.

A Technology “Schedule” in the making

The Small Business Research program is in place for companies to use to develop state-of-the-art technologies. GSA is working to build a contract, much like the GSA Schedule platform, to give agencies access to these technologies. The idea is to shorten the time between a prototype of a new technology and the time it takes to get it to government users. (Washington Technology October 28, 2022)

Federal users lose out on many technologies because they never advance to phase two of the program. According to Jim Ghiloni, acting innovation sector director and IDIQ labs group manager at the General Services Administration (GSA), phase three becomes a challenge because it requires agencies to fund further development work to take advantage of new technology. Ghiloni recently said GSA is working on a government-wide contract vehicle that gives agencies access to these emerging technologies. (ibid)

Ghiloni is working on the business case to present to GSA while market research is ongoing. A draft solicitation is expected in the spring of 2023. Ghiloni plans for the vehicle to be in place by the fall of 2023. (ibid)

The plan is for the contract to look a lot like the GSA Schedule program. Here’s how it would work:

  • Companies finish phase two of an SBIR contract with technology ready to sell
  • Submit a proposal to get a spot on the vehicle
  • Market technology to government agencies (ibid)

All SBIR contracts have three phases. The first phase is developing proof of concept. The second phase is ongoing research and development to prove the technology is commercially viable. Phases one and two of an SBIR contract are funded by the SBIR program. For a company to move to phase three, an agency buyer is needed to commercially develop the technology. To date, this has been difficult because there has not been a mechanism for agencies to use to fund the third phase. (ibid)

Ghiloni hopes to make it easy for agencies to start taking advantage of emerging technologies while at the same time, drawing new entrants to the government marketplace. (ibid)

Is your small business developing an emerging or new technology? Give us a call.