Government Contracting Blog

After a 10-year, $2.5 billion contract for contact center solutions has come to its end, GSA has elected to acquire these services via a new method. GSA is preparing to add SIN 132-20, titled Automated Contact Center Solutions (ACCS), to Schedule IT70 to secure more advanced AI computing for these applications and processes within the government.  More details surrounding the addition of this SIN can be found online on GSA’s Interact platform.

Getting on Schedule as a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contractor is a big step toward maximizing your company’s ability to generate government sales. However, it’s not the only step. Obtaining a MAS contract is only a double in the third inning of contracting through the GSA MAS program.

The General Services Administration (GSA) held its annual Industry Days for Schedules 56, 66, and 73 on February 21st and 22nd this year in Fort Worth, TX. Invitations are sent out in advance to current Schedule contract holders, and this event provides a forum for open discussion about managing a contract on these schedules, communication with buying agencies and networking with other contractors. Sometimes for contractors, it can feel like you’re working against GSA to maintain and manage your contract; but this event highlights the importance of the relationship GSA has with its contractors and their mutual desire for success and sales.

Having a small business designation can fuel marketing and sales efforts for new federal business opportunities. Every year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) aims for certain percentage goals of budget spending that are designated for small business contracts. So, it’s critical to know if your company is eligible for small business set-aside contracts, but how to be sure? The answer is lies in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Your company’s NAICS codes help determine if you qualify as a small business based on certain size standards. Through the Small Business Act, the SBA established size standards for NAICS codes to help businesses get their designation, and see relevant opportunities for which they qualify.  Find out if you are a small business

Just a few days into 2018, it’s clear that blockchain technology and cryptocurrency are hot topics whose popularity will continue to surge. In 2017, at times it seemed impossible to escape a discussion with peers about how we wish we’d invested in Bitcoin starting in 2009. The spike in public interest in blockchain-based cryptocurrency has nearly everyone taking note – now even the U.S. Government. What makes cryptocurrency so valuable is the underlying technology it depends on, called blockchain. Blockchain could have a dramatic impact on internet security and communications moving forward.  

GSA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) contracts often have many compliance standards, some of the most complex being the ones for the Trade Agreements Act (TAA).  How do you know if your products meet TAA standards? The simplest way to determine if your product is TAA compliant is to check the list of approved countries of origin. This list outlines all the pre-approved countries of origin permissible under the TAA. But what if the products you want to offer come from a non-TAA compliant country? Under TAA, a vendor may import goods from a non-compliant country if the final product undergoes a “substantial transformation” either in the U.S. or another TAA- compliant country.  So, if acquired parts or goods supplied from a non-compliant country are “substantially transformed” in the final product, a contract holder can assert TAA compliance.