Maintain compliance by keeping up to date with TAA policies! 

The 2016 Presidential election was filled with a lot of “America first” rhetoric. Within the Trump Administration, that language is continued and there will very likely be an increased importance of American made products purchased through the GSA. With that in mind, reviewing the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) and what it means for GSA spending is important for contractors and buyers alike. The Trade Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. & 2501-2581) of 1979 was enacted to foster fair and open international trade, but more importantly, it implemented the requirement that the U.S. Government may acquire only U.S. – made or designated – end products.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, streamline proposal, DoD, Schedule84, SIN list, Special Item Number, TAA, Trade Agreements Act

As government contractors, it is imperative to handle protected health information and personal identifiable information because cyber threats are constantly increasing! 

Things just got a whole lot trickier for companies that handle Protected Health Information and Personal Identifiable Information (PII). Over the last 18 months, the Government has been cracking down and handing out stiff fines for those who breach government protocols, but a recent court decision solidified the severity of things.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, streamline proposal, DoD, Schedule84, SIN list, Special Item Number

The GSA is announcing a consolidation for Schedule 84!

 

During the month of May, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced that a Special Item Number (SIN) consolidation for Schedule 84 would be considered. The GSA would like to implement the changes to the SINs in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. Are you wondering what this means for the future of Schedule 84 holders? Here are 4 important questions to consider:

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, streamline proposal, DoD, Schedule84, SIN list, Special Item Number

FedMall will change the way government agencies procure their goods! 

Federal Mall (FedMall) has gone live, as of June 19^th! The idea behind FedMall is to improve upon EMALL, which was created by the Department of Defense (DoD). It will sell Commercial Off-The-Shelf items (COTS) and will replace the DOD EMALL. Here are some things to be aware of as you’re transitioning from DoD EMALL to FedMall.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, streamline proposal, Schedule 70, SIN 132-56, FedMall, DoD

SIN 132-56 is a streamlined way for the Government to find your Services.

By the end of 2017, the Health IT government marketplace will be valued at $31.3 billion. This 7.4 % growth subsequently means that there is an increase in customer requests for Health IT Solutions. In June of 2016, the General Services Administration (GSA) rolled out a new addition to Schedule 70s new Health IT Special Item Number (SIN) 132-56. Here’s what you need to know about this SIN, its benefits and selling on this schedule. Since the introduction of the new SIN, 197 contractors have been added to this category.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, streamline proposal, Schedule 70, SIN 132-56

At your 20 year mark? Say goodbye to a tedious proposal process!

Congratulations on your successful partnership with the Government, under the GSA’s Federal Supply Schedules (FSS). Not all contractors make it to the 20-year mark with their GSA Schedules Contract and even less will extend the partnership past that. You’ve gotten this far, let’s talk about the process in detail, and what you can cut from your streamlined proposal.

GSA allows for the award of overlapping or continuous contracts. These are identical contracts but with different periods of performance. Historically successful FSS contractors can acquire an overlapping contract to ensure contract continuity through what the GSA calls, a “streamlined process.” This applies to contractors that submit an offer for a new contract under the same schedule. 

Streamlined Offers are shortened by pulling a few of the most time-consuming things together. This includes the Open Ratings Report which can take up to 3 weeks for the surveys to complete and Past Project Write-ups.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, B2G, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, Service disabled veterans, 20 year, 20 year proposal, streamline proposal

 Client Spotlight – Sayres and Associates Corporation, a Veteran and Native American Owned Small Business.

As we continue celebrating National Military Appreciation Month, we spoke to representatives from Sayres and Associates Corporation (Sayres), a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). Hank Miranda, Information and Security Director and Brennan Roy, Director of Business Development explained to us how John Sayres successfully positioned his company to win federal contracts while competing against larger corporations.

John Sayres founded his namesake company in 2001 to provide management, technical and administrative services. Working in the realms of program management, acquisition support,  logistics, business financial management, cyber security, counterintelligence analysis and much more, helped cultivate brand credibility with the federal government.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, veterans, Service disabled veterans, VOSB, SDVOSB, Veteran Owned Small Business

Client Spotlight  - Avilar Technologies Inc, a Veteran Owned Small Business.

At the dawn of the Internet era, Tom Grobicki, CEO of Avilar Technologies began envisioning a world with technological advances that would eventually propel the software industry and subsequently help the  armed forces. After serving in the US Air Force and cultivating over 25 years of software development experience, Tom determined that the key to enterprise success was its people.

After being in the ROTC and then serving as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, Tom oversaw operations at the office of SYSCON Corporation, which provided software engineering support to the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. He regarded himself and his colleagues as futurists, which would accurately describe their efforts towards projects they worked on. While there, he interacted with the Department of Defense and other agencies.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Duke University and would later obtain his Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as Master of Science degree in Computer Science from The Johns Hopkins University. He then joined AdaSoft, Inc. where he continued as a leader of several advanced technology assessment projects at the Applied Physics Laboratory. A true starting point was the innovations Tom developed for combat system training. From there, Tom ventured into competency management, workforce planning, and eLearning. Avilar Technologies was founded in 1997.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, GSA Maintanance, Contracts, veterans, Service disabled veterans, VOSB, SDVOSB, Veteran Owned Small Business

In observance of National Military Appreciation month as well as Memorial Day, Winvale is highlighting Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) and topics relevant to them.

We will be starting with five key things that veteran small business owners

Star #1 should know:

The United States Code defines a veteran as someone who has served in the active military, naval or air service, and who was discharged or released under any conditions other than a dishonorable discharge. Federal Agencies spend an estimated 5% of their budget on VOSBs. With an estimated $179 Billion awarded a year, veteran owned opperations can potentially generate $8.9 billion worth of business. Here are three key requirements to becoming a VOSB:

• 51% of your company needs to be owned by one or more Veterans. If your business is publicly traded, the same criteria needs to be met for shareholders. 

1. Management and daily business operations are controlled by you or other veteran colleagues as well.
2. Your VOSB needs to be categorized as “small” under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, GSA Maintanance, Contracts

GSA is making changes to become better aligned with the OPM Federal Human Capital Business Reference Model.

The contracting vehicle's changes are in support of the government-wide Category Management goals to reduce contract redundancy, increase cost savings and to streamline the acquisition process.

The updated 738 X Schedule complements the new, and more complex, Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCaTS) vehicle, by offering an A-La-Carte menu of specific services. The update also has provisions for time, material, labor hour contracts and traditional Firm Fixed Price service.

Topics: GSA Schedule, Business to Government, GSA Maintanance, Contracts