Are you ready for all the upcoming govcon opportunities in 2025? Start the New Year off strong by ensuring your GSA Schedule is compliant and ready for winning contract awards. Here are some actions you can take this month to have a successful 2025 as a GSA contractor:
Update your pricelist/textfile: Every 2 years, or within 30 days after a change, you’ll need to refresh and update your pricelist/textfile. This is a critical step you should stay on top of this year so you’re pricing is always accurate when responding to opportunities.
Update your GSA Advantage! catalog: If you have added a new product or made a price change, it’s important you keep this catalog up to date. We also suggest optimizing your listings for better visibility this year.
SAM registration renewal: Make sure to set a reminder to renew your SAM registration this year. Give yourself plenty of time to renew before it lapses in case there are holdups.
Sales Reporting: Every month or quarter (depending on your Schedule), you must report your GSA sales. Start the new year off keeping good track of your GSA vs commercial or other sales, and make it easier to report when the time comes.
Learn more about keeping your GSA Schedule compliant in our latest blog.
Couldn't make it to our last webinar? Watch it here on demand. This webinar with McCarter & English evaluates the business side of pricing federal contracts, highlights some best practices, and reviews some important legal and regulatory issues.
This training provides an overview of the MAS (Multiple Award Schedule) program with a focus on new and emerging Special Item Numbers (SINs) related to Accessibility requirements, subscription services, and AI consulting services. Register here.
This webinar will cover: when a subcontracting plan is required, the required parts of a subcontracting plan, and where to find hints and suggestions to aid in developing a subcontracting plan. Register here.
Learn how your cloud/software small business can get on the GSA Schedule. Learn how to become one of GSA’s Best-in-Class vendors to support various agency needs. Register here.
Is your company thinking of getting a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) this year? If you've started your research, you know it's not a seamless or easy process by any means--but that doesn't mean it's impossible. With the right knowledge and guidance, you can start off on the right foot with your GSA Schedule offer.
In this webinar, we'll uncover 10 tips to keep in mind when preparing a strong and successful GSA Schedule offer. We'll discuss:
Background Research: what you should know before pursuing GSA MAS
Important Questions: What to ask yourself (and GSA) about the process
Putting it all Together: Creating a winning proposal
Avoiding Common Mistakes: How to avoid common pitfalls
Arriving in late December, Refresh #23 of the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation brings several changes that you’ll need to be aware of when putting together an MAS offer. It’s important to note there have been some updates since the initial Refresh #23 draft, and there are no revisions to SCP-FSS-001 Instructions Applicable to All Offerors within this refresh.
Refresh 23 incorporates a new provision and clause to identify single-use plastic free packaging availability for products, which you’ll see reflected in eOffer. The updated Solicitation also incorporates clause FAR 52.240-1 Prohibition on Unmanned Aircraft Systems Manufactured or Assembled by American Security Drone Act - Covered Foreign Entities (NOV 2024), implements revisions to the Price Proposal Templates (PPTs), and incorporates updated Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS) Wage Determinations. Refresh 23 also includes revisions to a number of Special Item Numbers (SINs). If your MAS offer falls under one or more of these SINs, we suggest reviewing the updated SIN description and instructions to make sure your offer is still in scope and compliant. Learn more about Refresh #23 in our blog.
GSA Announces Upcoming MAS Solicitation Refresh #24
GSA has announced an advanced notice for Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Solicitation Refresh #24 and an upcoming Mass Modification, which they intend to release by the end of January. This Refresh will include changes to the overall Solicitation and updates to specific Large Categories and SINs. One of the changes GSA plans to make is to transition Small Business Set-Aside (SBSA) SINs to their non-SBSA equivalent SIN (where overlap exists). Additionally, GSA will implement revisions to SCP-FSS-001 Instructions Applicable to All Offerors, clarifying language and adding requirements. You can learn more about this Refresh in GSA's Interact post.
QUICK TIP
Update on GSA's Pricing RFI
In April, the GSA Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) issued a Request for Information (RFI) to better understand how to align Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) pricing with commercial practices. They recently posted an article on GSA Interact outlining their takeaways, opportunities to strengthen policies, and their next steps. Their main takeaways were:
Removing or minimizing obstacles related to offering identical products and services across multiple Special Item Numbers (SINs) would align with commercial practices, and enhance sales opportunities.
Updating solicitation instructions to prioritize the use of data already available within the government and/or obtained from sources other than the offeror can reduce industry burden and better align MAS solicitation requirements with the contract pricing policy in FAR subpart 15.4.
Several comments addressed sampling methods and sample sizes that can be used for evaluating proposed MAS pricing. FAS plans to use this information to develop guidelines that improve effective and efficient market research, particularly for items with low market saturation.
Further expansion of the Transactional Data Reporting initiative as a less-burdensome alternative to legacy pricing disclosure requirements.
GSA plans to use this information to implement changes that will help streamline the pricing evaluation process, including consolidation of the four EPA clauses into one clause and issuing guidance to the FAS workforce to clarify evaluation procedures. The full Interact post can be found here.
EMERGING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Project VA NP BLRI 1G27 - Blue Ridge Parkway
The Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) has issued a pre-solicitation under NAICS Code 237310 for the rehabilitation of the James River Bridge structure. The services required will include cleaning and sealing minor cracks; removing vegetation on piers; cleaning and patching spalls, large cracks, and exposed rebar; cleaning and painting graffiti and concrete stains; repairing damaged mortar and missing stonework at the bridge abutments and pedestrian walkway; cleaning and painting steel beams on pedestrian walkway; and more tasks. This opportunity is a total small business set-aside, and the solicitation is expected to be issued on or around January 17, 2025. The response date will be specified in SF 1442, Block 13a of the released solicitation. More information can be found under Notice ID: 693C73-25-B-000005.
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Building and Site Improvements Design-Build Project, in Kihei, Hawaii
The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Corporate Services Acquisition Division (CSAD), Facilities Support Branch has released a pre-solicitation under NAICS Code 236220 for design-build services for the HIHWNMS Building and Site Improvement Project. This opportunity is a total small business set-aside and the expected services include roof replacement, window replacement, PV system replacement, and more tasks for the Visitor Center Building. NOAA anticipates publishing the Phase I solicitation on or around February 5, 2025, with the response dates and times as March 20, 2025 by 12:00 PM ET for Phase I and August 15, 2025 by 12:00 PM ET for Phase II. More information can be found under Notice ID: 1305M4-25-R-0007
Standards Development Licensed Platform Subscription
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a Sources Sought Notice under NAICS Code 513210 to gather responses from businesses and non-profit and educational organizations that have the capability to provide a customized online standards development platform licensed subscription. The requirements for the online cloud-based platform collaboration tool include features for committee participation, discussion threads, balloting/voting, edits and comments on documents, and archiving of document versions. This Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only. All capability statements and information requested in this notice must be submitted via e-mail to randy.schroyer@nist.gov by 5:00 PM EST on December 4, 2025. More information can be found under Notice ID: NIST-SCO-25-SS01
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you’re looking for a consultant to help with your government contracting needs, here’s some important questions to ask them:
Q: How is your approach different from other competing consulting firms?
A: Why you should ask it: This can be a great question to get to know your prospective consultant and their practice better, which will give you insight into whether they will be a good fit for you or not. Hiring a consultant is entering into a partnership, so it’s in your best interest to make sure that their business practices will not only align with yours, but also offer something for you that your other options may not. In addition, it’s good to read into whether your prospective consultant is tracking market trends and the government contracting environment, as it’s a vital business function in this field.
Q: Are all your consultants in-house or do you outsource?
A: Why you should ask it: Understanding the company structure of your prospective consultant can help you know whether they are really invested in your success or not. Companies that are headed by a CEO but have exclusively outsourced consultants should be viewed with scrutiny, as you are likelier to experience issues in quality and consistency. If your prospective consultant company does outsource consultants, make sure to inquire about their contractor requirements to better understand how they maintain quality control in the services they intend to provide to you.
Q: What kind of post-award training do you offer?
A: Why you should ask it: If you hire a consultant for GSA Schedule acquisition specifically, it’s important that you have support through and shortly after contract award, and not just up to the submission. If your consultant does offer post award training, this shows their commitment to your success. Training and knowledge sharing, as well as collaboration on the clarification and negotiations phase, are key processes for you to be able to obtain and manage a Schedule contract, and you should look for these things in your prospective consultant.
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