A government contractor always needs to plan ahead for future opportunities, arguably more so than in the commercial marketplace due to the bureaucracy involved. Given the fact that agencies often start planning future opportunities well in advance of the anticipated award date, you may feel you are keeping well informed of relevant contracting opportunities.

We’re all aware that the federal government is one of the largest buyers in the U.S. Contractors looking to tap into the federal market through GSA Schedules are first going to need to conduct market research to see where they fit in, and will need to continue to research even after they are awarded a contract. But how can we track where all the massive spending is going? Which contracts are obtaining the most cash flows? How much money does each state spend in taxpayer dollars?

In the dynamic landscape of modern business, strategic collaboration has emerged as a driving force behind success. One particularly powerful avenue for collaboration is through Joint Ventures (also referred to as JVs). Joint Ventures bring together the collective strengths and resources of two or more companies to achieve mutual objectives. When it comes to securing a General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule, forming a Joint Venture could become a game-changing strategy. GSA has expanded guidance to Joint Ventures under MAS Refresh 16 which has a myriad of benefits to all sectors of industry and partnership types.

The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program has long been regarded as one of the most popular government contract vehicles, allowing commercial companies to sell their products and services to federal, state, and local government entities. With pre-negotiated pricing and pre-vetted contractors, the MAS program streamlines the procurement process making it much more efficient to buy and sell products and services.

The government has always been notorious for inefficiency, but that doesn't mean they don't make strides with each update, always looking to improve processes while retaining stability. The procurement process is no different, and one of the ways they have improved their process is through the creation of the Procurement Instrument Identifiers (PIID). PIIDs were created to simplify the procurement process, but aren't quite intuitive either, so we've created a guide for you about how to read them and what makes them so important.

A lot of GSA Schedule contractors think they can only sell their products and services to the federal government, but did you know you can sell to state, local, educational, and tribal entities too? Under certain state and local programs, you can offer the same products and services you sell to these entities, greatly expanding the marketplace for your company. One of the most widely used programs is Cooperative Purchasing, which applies to IT and Security and Protections contractors.