Contracting with the United States government

Like almost everyone else these days, work has been a little harder to come by and a little slower in coming. So I had a bit of time to try to figure out how to get contracts with the government.

Although I have not yet gotten a government contract, I have found out a lot of information and put pieces in place that should result in a contract.

Check with local government agencies

For my particular area of expertise (technical writing for control equipment), a logical first choice was the NASA Glenn Research Center here in Cleveland. The Internet has improved things tremendously! Many moons ago, I made a similar effort to get government work, but it involved going to NASA and examining a huge bulletin board of contract listings. I gave up in despair after a few futile trips.

Anyways, these days, there’s a web site. It wasn’t completely up-to-date, especially contact names, but it provide loads of free information on how to contract with NASA. One of the sources led me to the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS), where you can subscribe to information about upcoming and ongoing contracts, and who is awarded them.

Having been to the web site, I was still left a bit confused, so I emailed a contracting officer for advice. He pointed out a few resources, and recommended that I attend an open house that NASA was sponsoring. It was $75, but, as it turns out, it was well-spent: I got a lot of good information and clarification on several things. If you find an open house in your area, I recommend attending.

GSA and FedBizOpps

One of my first points of confusion was where to start. There appeared to be two main entries in to government contracting: through Federal Business Opportunities (at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/) and through the U.S. Government Services Administration (GSA, at www.gsa.gov).

As it turns out, both are valid entry points. FedBizOpps is a central repository for all requests for proposals over $25,000, including those that will be procured through a GSA Schedule. It was quick and easy to sign up for notification on solicitations through FedBizOpps.

GSA is more focused on supplies (for example, supplying toilet paper to the military), but does support some services, too. To work through GSA, you must get on a GSA Schedule (also known as a Multiple Award Schedules (MAS)), which is essentially a contract between you and the U.S. government. The GSA works as a matching organization between suppliers and vendors. Once you get on schedule, you are granted a five-year contract with three five-year options.

The problem with the GSA is that it takes 99 days on average to get on schedule (according to a GSA representative; a Small Business Administration representative said that was “optimistic”). The other problem (for me, anyway) is that they don’t have a schedule specific to technical writing; it’s lumped with marketing services. The contact for the marketing schedule also told me that the technical writing in that schedule is mostly technical marketing material.

One of the advantages of being on a GSA schedule is that, at least in Ohio, the state will rubber-stamp a state-level GSA schedule if you are on a federal GSA schedule. There are also other organizations, like local community colleges, that buy off schedules.

The GSA encourages teaming arrangements (where several small business join to offer services on one GSA schedule). I am going to try this with another small business that offers graphic arts services.
For more information on GSA schedules, see https://fsstraining.gsa.gov/

To search schedule solicitations for one that applies to you, go to www.gsa.gov/elibrary.
Handy tip: The GSA liaison that spoke at the NASA open house recommended that you send in your GSA schedule with your highest prices. You will negotiate actual prices per contract.

Doing business with a particular government agency

Another session I attended gave information specific to NASA (and Glenn Research Center here in Cleveland, in particular). I believe this information generally applies to other agencies as well, though some of the specifics might be different.

For NASA, there is no vendor registration (other government agencies do require registration) and no particular method for getting in: you approach them like you would any other customer. Try to get names of people that need your services and make sure they have your information the next time they have a project. Fortunately, their web site contains lots of lists of departments and the people who work in them. The hard part isn’t finding people — it’s figuring out which people are your best contacts.

For services under $25,000, vendors must use direct marketing. For items under $2500, you can contract directly with individuals that have government-issued credit cards. Government agencies must supply lists of people who have credit cards under the Freedom of Information Act. (However, I happened on a newsletter to internal NASA employees that admonished them to be nice to vendors who call, so it appears that there is some resentment about their names being out there.)

The contracting officer that spoke at the open house said that it is OK to call and contact individuals within NASA to offer services. You can also check the acquisition forecast to see if there are plans for acquiring your services, so you can get in early on contracts.

Also check existing contractors: they have a mandate to work with a certain percentage of small businesses. Again, NASA supplies lists of their contractors and the points of contact for them.

Handy Hint: The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at NASA Headquarters (http://osdbu.nasa.gov/) is responsible for the development and management of NASA programs to assist small businesses. The office oversees and directs the activities of corresponding offices at each NASA Center. The mission of the OSDBU is to ensure that small, small disadvantaged, and women owned small businesses, including historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority institutions, are provided the maximum practicable opportunities to participate in NASA prime contracts and subcontracts, particularly in the high tech areas. This includes technology transfer and commercialization activities.

What you need to have in place to do business with the US government

Most of these items were simple to come by — it involved following a link from one web page to another and most of them took less than a day to acquire.

• A D&B (DUNS) Number (see http://www.dnb.com/us/)
• Central Contractor number and a Trading Partner Identification Number (TPIN) (get these at www.ccr.gov)
• Ability to accept credit cards (required for GSA schedules and preferred for other agencies)

You should also know:

• Your NAICS code (this is the North American Industry Classification System, which has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.) For technical writing, the NAICS code is 561410.
• IYour classification code, either: For technical writing, it’s T013.

Bits and sundry

A SBA representative recommended that I don’t bother certifying as a woman-owned business. Currently, this can be accomplished by writing a letter detailing why you believe you are a woman-owned business. This might change; there is a law on the books that says you must be certified, but currently, it is not being enforced. I have heard that certification can cost in the ballpark of $200, so this was good news.

The Department of Defense has a group called Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTACS) whose mission is to help small business procure government contracts. They offer a Bidmatch program for free that searches federal, state, and local government sites for jobs and emails them to you. They also offer help with unsolicited proposals and subcontracting. Some local Ohio PTAC offices are at www.lcede.org/ptac and business.kent.edu/KRBA/ptac.asp, 330-672-1275) Also see www.sellingtothegovernment.net for PTAC information.

Handy hint: The government is mandated to pay in 30 days; if you accept credit cards, they are mandated to pay in 10 days.

About the author

Barbara Philbrick, President of Caslon Services Inc. since 1992, is an accomplished technical writer and business owner. She has written, designed, and developed hard copy manuals, online help, and marketing materials for such clients as the Ernst & Young, Rockwell Automation, Rockwell Software, Reliance Electric, and North American Manufacturing Company.

You can reach Barbara at:

Caslon Services Inc.
385 East Pioneer Trail
Aurora, Ohio 44202
Phone: 330-995-0499
Email: caslon@alltel.net
Website: http://home.alltel.net/caslon/

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