Ask any government contractor what they think of partnering or teaming and they will probably murmur something close to, “It’s probably a good idea.” There are a lot of benefits to partnering and almost every government contractor understands the basic concept. However, many also have false perceptions of what it takes to form a partnership, believing it’s daunting, difficult and not a priority for their government sales strategy.

Now that you’re a GSA contract holder you may have noticed that there’s quite a bit of red tape to work around. Certain performance orders issued under your GSA contract may require you to travel out of area. If this is the case for your organization, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to travel expenses and per diem charges.

Government contractors are painfully aware of the amount of time it takes to search for opportunities that are a good fit for their business. However, while research is an acknowledged key to success, rarely do contractors dedicate enough time for it. Why is this? Probably because knowing how much time to spend with each resource is a mystery to most.

The ImmixGroup recently published an article that gave an overview of cooperative purchasing and some contract vehicles associated with it. In this overview they were able to touch on some points about the National Association of State Procurement Officers (NASPO) ValuePoint program. Immix, who has a very established presence in the federal market, highlighted advantages of utilizing cooperative purchasing contracts and the amount of dollars procured through NASPO ValuePoint. I will highlight NASPO ValuePoint from an inside perspective, as I have first-hand experience working in the program, working with State Procurement Officials and currently managing several companies within the program.

On Tuesday April 28th 2015, I was able to attend the NASPO ValuePoint Vendor Kickoff Meeting, hosted by NASPO ValuePoint in Bloomington, MN. This meeting was intended to educate both current and newly awarded contract holders for the Computer Equipment, Peripherals & Related Services Contract under NASPO ValuePoint.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, dated April 15, concluded that federal agencies reported incorrect information to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for fiscal year 2013. The SBA’s ability to completely conclude compliance with spending requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs for fiscal year 2013 is incomplete, because most agencies submitted budget numbers, but not their spending obligations. Spending obligations are the foundation for calculating an agency’s spending requirements for SBIR and STTR.