Doing business with US State & Local Government
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A Quick Guide on Doing Business with U.S. State & Local Gov Abhijit Majumdar
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18-Oct-2014 -
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U.S. government is the largest and wealthiest customer of the world that offers opportunities for contractors to provide services and customers. This quick guide will help new businesses looking for opportunities with the US Government to understand the dynamics of the business and get started.
Transcript of Doing business with US State & Local Government
A Quick Guide on
Doing Business with U.S. State & Local Gov Abhijit Majumdar
Government Contracting Market❖ U.S. government is the largest and wealthiest customer
with an annual budget of 76.5 Billion $ for year 2014 (source https://myit-2014.itdashboard.gov/treemap)!
❖ U.S. government is one of the most economically stable governments in the world!
❖ One of the most recession and austerity-proof markets!
❖ U.S. government is recognised for its timely payments with net 30 day guaranteed payment
Competitive Edge❖ U.S. government fosters competition between Government contractors through
complex sales process!
❖ Contractors are encouraged to deliver a sophisticated solution, engage in complex pre-proposal preparations, write an engaging proposal, present the solution and participate in negotiations!
❖ Contractors are exposed to rigorous procurement processes, numerous regulations and a constant effort to reduce “waste, fraud, and abuse”!
❖ Not as hostile as other sectors but needs knowledge of government policies and programs!
❖ Contractors with nasty reputation get a bad name quickly and word spreads quickly. !
❖ Ethical behaviour is strictly regulated than in the commercial world!
❖ Less Corruption and Greater Transparency
Key Decisions to Make❖ Which agencies do you want to work with?!
❖ What are you good at?!
❖ What services or products do you want to provide?!
❖ Have agencies bought your type of services or products in the past?!
❖ Will they buy them in the future?!
❖ How steep is the competition in that agency?!
❖ What’s the best way to market yourself to them?
Rules of the Game❖ Fiscal Year - U.S. Govt. fiscal year starts from Oct 1 and ends on Sept 30. Procurement tends
to pick up in the 1st quarter, slows down in second, start slowly in the third and heats up around the end - between July 1 and Sept 30.!
❖ Budgeting Cycle - Buying activities correlate with congressional approval of the budget. Typically in April Congressional committees report budget estimates to Budget Committees. (Source : http://bgov.com , http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/appendix )!
❖ No Single Procurement Agency - Each agency and different departments of the agency manage procurement their own way!
❖ Rules : There is no single procurement authority in the government, there is no single uniform set of rules by which every government entity abides!
❖ Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) - is a set of procurement regulations for acquisition (Source : http://www.acquisition.gov/ , http://www.sba.gov/content/federal-acquisition-regulations-far )
Government Procurement Methods❖ Micropurchases or Purchases Under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) , Agencies on the FACNET can buy
unto $100K!
❖ GSA and VA Schedules (Source : http://GSA.gov , http://www.fss.va.gov/)!
❖ Requirements Contract employ a variety of solicitation types, including the following:!
❖ Request for Proposal (RFP)!
❖ Request for Quote (RFQ)!
❖ Invitation for Bid (IFB)!
❖ Multiple Award Contracts (MAC) or Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) There are multiple types of IDIQ like GWAC, IQC, MATOC & SATOC!
❖ Reverse auctions - Contractors are encouraged to undercut each other bidder’s price ( Source : http://fedbid.com)!
❖ Grants - Money awarded to organisations as financial assistance from a federal agency to carry out a public purpose of support or economic stimulation ( Source : http://grants.gov)!
❖ Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) - Government enters into a contract with a contractor to provide a service or implement a project by investing and collects its investments by charging for the service or from savings generated by the project
Acquisition Process for a Procurement❖ Identify a need!
❖ Perform market research and check for potential set-asides!
❖ Describe and publicise the need, often thru a RFI!
❖ Plan acquisition and issue draft RFP!
❖ Issue solicitation, answer questions, issue amendments!
❖ Evaluate proposals, hold orals!
❖ Conduct discussions, request clarifications and proposal revisions!
❖ Make award decision and announce!
❖ Conduct winning and losing contractor debriefs!
❖ Deal with pre and post-award protests, if any
Websites to Search for Opportunities in State and Local Gov
❖ Upcoming Fed Funded Agency Opportunities https://www.fbo.gov/!
❖ Market Research on Govt Spending http://www.usaspending.gov/!
❖ U.S. Government Agencies http://www.usa.gov/Agencies.shtml!
❖ Paid online databases www.bgov.com , www.govwin.com, www.targetgov.com, www.centurionresearch.com, ePipeline.com, www.onvia.com, www.setasidealert.com. www.findrfp.com
Thank You
Abhijit Majumdar
