On October 1st 2019, GSA will be consolidating its Multiple Award Schedules (MAS). The consolidation will combine 24 of the current schedules into 1, excluding only the 9 Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) schedules. On August 20th GSA held a webinar to explain the process of consolidation and answer vendor questions. The consolidation will consist of three phases.

The General Services Administration (GSA) was established in July 1949 by President Harry Truman to streamline the administrative work of the federal government. Today GSA provides centralized procurement for the federal government by managing the Federal Supply Schedules program, known more commonly as GSA Schedules. GSA Schedules is a purchasing vehicle that offers more than 12 million commercial supplies and services and is open for use to any federal agency within the Executive Branch. Currently there are 24 Schedules offering commercial goods and services which are managed directly by GSA. There are also another eight federal supply schedules managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As part of Winvale's new guest blogger series, Andrea Davis, Director of Contracts at Govplace and a Winvale client, is sharing the top 15 tips about government contracting that she's learned in her 20 years working for government contractors, in no particular order:

Back in April of 2000, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that Digital Signature Trust Company has received the first interim approval to operate on the Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) contract. This breakthrough was phenomenal because it rapidly sped up the processes of schedule acquisition, maintenance, and compliance more broadly. The ACES contract is currently managed by the Office of Information Security in GSA's Federal Technology Service.

The General Services Administration (GSA) provides the leading contract vehicle for government acquisition. GSA Schedule contracts, also known as GSA Schedules or Federal Supply Schedules, are indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), long-term contracts under the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program. The GSA Schedule Program continuously accounts for approximately $45 billion of government spending. Businesses, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions can obtain a GSA Schedule Contract to sell products and services to government customers.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has just announced its findings on the Federal Government’s 2018 fiscal year, and it is great news for American small businesses. 2018 marks the 6th consecutive year the Federal Government has met their small business contracting goals. Not only did the federal government meet this goal in 2018, they surpassed it by $15 billion.