If your business needs assistance in either establishing or renewing your registration in the federal government’s vendor database known as the System for Award Management (SAM), you can get free help.
Whether you are seeking SAM registration for the first time or you need to accomplish your annual renewal in SAM, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will provide you with help at no charge. (Businesses located outside the state of Georgia can obtain free help from their nearest procurement technical assistance center. Consult the contact list at: http://www.aptac-us.org/find-a-ptac.)
New SAM Registration Requirements
There are new registration and renewal procedures that are now in place. Because of recent fraudulent activity associated with the SAM database, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a rule in late March 2018 that requires all registrants (“entities”) to provide an original, signed notarized letter identifying your company’s “authorized Entity Administrator.” The notarized letter must be submitted and approved before your registration will be activated.
The notarized letter template is available here: SAM_Notary_Letter_Template_4.12.18_GSA_version
An update to the notarized letter rule was issued by GSA on June 11, 2018. The update is in two parts:
- Effective June 11, 2018, entities who create or update their registration in SAM to apply only for federal assistance opportunities such as grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs no longer need to have an approved Entity Administrator notarized letter on file before their registration is activated. (Note that this does not include entities competing for federal contracts.)
- Effective June 29, 2018, all non-Federal entities who create or update their registration in SAM also will no longer need to have an approved Entity Administrator notarized letter on file before their registration is activated. This rule includes businesses that are competing for, or that currently have, federal contracts.
It is important to note that all entities must mail the original, signed notarized letter to GSA’s Federal Service Desk within thirty (30) days of activation or risk having their SAM registration deactivated.
New SAM Log-In Requirements Take Effect June 29, 2018
- The email address and password associated with your SAM account.
- Access to the same email account to receive all confirmation emails.
- A working telephone number through which you can receive the security code that will be sent to you from Login.gov.
Remember, once June 29, 2018 arrives, your SAM username and password will be deactivated, and you will no longer be able to access your SAM account with those credentials.
Free Help Is Available!
As mentioned in the second paragraph of this article, GTPAC (or, if you’re located outside Georgia, your local PTAC) will help you with all aspects of the SAM registration and renewal processes. Simply contact the GTPAC counselor located nearest you; our staff directory is at: http://gtpac.org/team-directory.
In instances where businesses have federal contract awards or contract payments pending, GTPAC and the other PTACs across the country can offer special assistance to expedite the processing of their notarized letters. When contacting your PTAC counselor, be sure to let us know if you are facing either of those two circumstances.
Further Details
For more help with the SAM registration process, including how to protect your company’s interests, please read:
- SAM.gov Registration Is Free, and Help with SAM Registration Is Free, Too
- Tips for Surviving Compromise of Government’s Vendor Database
- Schemes Targeting Small Business Contractors Proliferate
