Government Contracting Blog

On Monday, January 6th, 2020 the Small Business Administration's (SBA) final rule to implement a 2018 law took effect. The 2018 Small Business Runway Extension Act allows small businesses to calculate their revenue over 5 years instead of 3 years. The goal of this change is to allow more businesses to participate in small business set asides. This will allow the government to meet its goals for small business spending while allowing small businesses to better transition from small to large.

What is a Contractor Team Arrangement? GSA defines a GSA Schedule Contractor Team Arrangement (CTA) as an arrangement in which two or more GSA schedule contractors team together to provide a total solution to meet a customer’s needs. The Schedules CTA does not create a separate legal entity, but allows Schedule contractors to meet buyer requirements by combining the supplies and/or services from each team member’s separate Schedule contract in response to a buyer’s Request for Quote (RFQ). CTAs are different from Prime/Subcontracting Agreements - more information about that here.  It is important to note that Schedule CTA’s are different from FAR 9.6 Contractor Team Arrangements; Schedule CTAs require both participants to have a GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract.

  NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes are a very important part of government contracting. We've covered what a NAICS code is, how to use codes to determine if your organization qualifies as a small business, top spending trends and much more. Now that you know about NAICS codes, start using them now to find opportunities! Each year, the government spends millions on a vast array of goods and services, buying everything from office supplies and airplanes to fitness equipment. Given the volume of procurement activities, where do you start? You can narrow down opportunities using these codes in the right way. Your NAICS codes help focus your opportunity searches, so you can zero in on the right opportunities for YOUR business.

Paperwork, negotiating, market research, headaches – all things that companies trying to break into the public sector deal with when establishing an effective federal government sales pipeline. Selling to the federal government can often be an intimidating task, but there are ways to streamline the process; GSA is one of the most widely used options, and for good reason. GSA’s status as a Best in-Class (BIC) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracting vehicle for the government can help companies looking to sell to government agencies by establishing a set contract with standard terms and conditions and a pre-approved catalog of products and services. Once companies who qualify go through the GSA Schedule Offer process and have their contract awarded, those companies become what is commonly referred to as “GSA Approved." Being GSA approved is an excellent asset for federal contractors. It is true that companies are able to sell to the government outside of GSA, but a GSA Schedule will make things significantly easier. As a leading firm in the government contracting space, Winvale is here with a breakdown of how to become GSA approved, and the benefits that come along with that status.

Along with the cancellation of a contract, Suspension and Debarment are the primary ways GSA punishes vendors who fail to comply with their contract terms. But understanding what exactly Suspension and Debarment are and how to avoid them can be complicated.

As a GSA MAS contractor, companies are given access to a variety of tools and platforms for advertising and selling to government buyers. Arguably, the most important of these is GSA Advantage!®. Much in the way that you and I would purchase items from Amazon or shop online during Cyber Monday, contracting officers and procurement managers for government agencies access GSA Advantage to browse the full catalog of contractors and their offerings – products and services alike. Even if you’ve already established consistent relationships with existing buyers, your public sector footprint could grow even larger with the aid of GSA Advantage!®. Although managing Advantage! on the back-end can be a handful, the results you’ll see on the customer-facing side can be significant. Below are tips for how to sell on GSA Advantage!®.