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