Wall Street Journal on ... Three Best Ways to Win a Government Contract

[CC-Conrad Clyburn-MedForeSight]

Colleagues,

As reported by Raymund Flandez at [e-mail] in the Wall Street Journal ... The U.S. government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the world, spending $500 billion last year. And that's not including the additional $787 billion in stimulus-bill related contracts. Last year, the federal government awarded small businesses $93.3 billion in prime contracts – although it missed a 23% goal mandated by Congress...

... Experts say your business has to be ready for this kind of work; sound accounting systems and experienced contract attorneys must be in place to make sure your business is protected and doesn't fail to meet the government's expectations. The challenge, still, is how to maneuver your way into the system and find a governmental need that your business can provide...

Here are three best ways to win a government contract.

1. Do your homework. Try to find out which local businesses are getting government contracts, what kind of work they're doing and which agencies are handing them out. You can do this at USASpending.gov or FBO.gov (a.k.a. FedBizzOpps.gov). The next step is to register your small business with the federal government at the Central Contractor Registration, or CCR.gov ... In addition, get to know the appointed small-business specialists who are at every level of the federal government ... Another good guide is from the Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining.

2. Work with others who have experience. It's a steep learning curve, so consider partnering with another business that has been doing federal contracting work for years or be one of its subcontractors...

3. Use other resources to your advantage. If appropriate, get your small business certified in a category that may give you an edge, such as woman-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, or in a poor economic area called a HUBZone. Each agency is required to hand at least 23% of all federal contracts to these groups...

P.S.: Additional "Clymer Group" recommendations include the following ...

- The SBA has produced a very useful distance learning curriculum on capturing “Stimulus” funding at: http://www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining/

- See below, the attached Stimulus funding "How To" presented by the Clymer Group at the Annual Larta Institute Life Science Venture Forum in Silicon Valley this summer.


ENJOY!

CC

[Bernice Bowers]

Great information CC ~ your How-To PPT was excellent, as is SBA's distance learning offerings and the emphasis on having government-contract specialized accounting and contract / IP attorneys, HR support, etc. The SBA is opening up a government contracting office in Hawaii this month, so this is timely and relevant to our environmental scan and resource listing.

I also find that many defense and dual-use technology companies benefit from Best Practices and training in marketing, teaming with large defense contractors, and maximizing their participation in events as they move into commercialization.

Thanks again for great information as always!

[CC-Conrad Clyburn-MedForeSight]

Bernice,

Thank you.

We will try to keep the information focused on the interests expressed by the members.

CC