Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

U.S. Department of Education to host Atlanta small business conference July 29th

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The U.S. Department of Education (Education) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) will host the Atlanta Small Business Conference Monday, July 29, 2019.  The Atlanta Small Business Conference will feature presentations concerning Education procurement opportunities and Education prime contractor partnering opportunities.

Registration is required.  Conference registration will close July 22, 2019  or when capacity is reached.

The U.S. Department of Education has posted the following notice on fbo.gov:

The U.S. Department of Education Atlanta Small Business Conference

https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ED/OCFO/CPO/ED-OSDBU-ATL-SB19-9100/listing.html

Below is the conference registration link:

http://www.cvent.com/d/m6qy9k/1Q

Event Details

Date:  July 29, 2019

Time:  10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Location:  Sam Nunn Federal Building, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

Please email questions to small.business@ed.gov or call 202-245-6300.

Education Dept. holding small business conference in Atlanta on April 23rd

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The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) will host a Small Business Conference in Atlanta on Monday, April 23, 2018.

DOE’s Atlanta Small Business Conference will feature presentations concerning DOE and other federal agency procurement opportunities.

Advance registration is required. Conference registration will close on April 16 or when capacity is reached.

This is the registration link: http://www.cvent.com/d/5gqml6/4W

Event Details:

Date: April 23, 2018

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Location: Richard B. Russell Federal Court House, Strom Auditorium, 75 Ted Turner Dr., SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

Please email any questions to small.business@ed.gov or call 202-245-6300.

U.S. Department of Education hosts small business conference on July 21st

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The U.S. Department of Education Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) will host a Small Business Conference July 21, 2017.

The free conference will feature presentations and roundtables regarding federal and state procurement opportunities.  All small businesses are welcome to attend.

Time:  10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Location:  Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center; 61 Forsyth Street, S.W.; Tower Building, 2nd Floor; Atlanta, GA  30303

RSVP is required. Register at: http://www.cvent.com/d/5fqzxx/4W

Public transit is recommended.  The closest MARTA stop is at Five Points Station which is adjacent to the building.  There are limited parking facilities nearby.

Please email any questions to small.business@ed.gov or call Marcella Coverson at 202-245-6300.

OPM holds 4th quarter readiness forum on July 20th

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The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Clark Atlanta University have joined forces to present a “4th Quarter Readiness Forum” at Clark Atlanta University on July 20, 2017.

The session is designed to offer the small business community marketing and contracting tips to consider when marketing to federal agencies during the federal government’s 4th quarter (July, August and September).

Representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), General Services Administration (GSA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Education Dept., the Small Business Administration (SBA) and other agencies will be available to discuss how they utilize various contracting tools and vehicles to award contracts in this often challenging 4th quarter time frame in the government’s calendar.

Attendees also will be provided research tips on how to use the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) data base to help you research procurement opportunities.

The session will be held at Clark Atlanta University, Cole Science Research Center at 223 James P. Brawley Dr., SW, Atlanta, GA  30314 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Box lunches will be available for purchase at this event.

Here’s a link to what OPM buys: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/us-office-of-personnel-management-14499326759

Attendees are required to register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-quarter-readiness-forum-tickets-35946174977.

For more information, feel free to contact Ms. Cherina Hughes at cherina.hughes@opm.gov or Art Brown at 770-732-9392 or art@lescot.com.

Appeals court says extension constitutes new contract for considering bid protest

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Award Term ExtensionsOn July 12, 2016, in Coast Professional, Inc. et. al v. United States, No. 2015-5077 (Fed. Cir. July 12, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a Court of Federal Claims (“CoFC”) decision, finding that the CoFC erred in ruling that it did not have bid protest jurisdiction over the award of task orders characterized as “award-term extensions.”

The Federal Circuit’s decision provides clarity on the scope of Tucker Act’s bid protest jurisdiction, and provides a strong defense against Government arguments that attempt to limit that jurisdiction going forward.

The dispute in Coast Professional focused on “award term extensions” to task orders issued through the Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”).

In 2008, the Department of Education (“DOE”) issued a Request for Quotations (RFQ) for services related to the collection of defaulted student loans. The RFQ stated that the Task Order would include a base term ending March 31, 2011, with additional option periods up to 24 months.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/07/federal-circuit-confirms-that-a-task-order-award-term-extension-constitutes-a-new-contract-for-purposes-of-bid-protest-jurisdiction/

Five tips from federal innovation entrepreneurs

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Using “lightening round” presentations, nearly a dozen presenters shared their stories. Andy Feldman from the Department of Education, who coordinated the event, noted that the goal wasn’t innovation for innovation’s sake, but rather to use innovation as a tool to tackle mission-related performance challenges: “We’re here to focus innovation on our agencies’ biggest challenges and opportunities.” Delegated Deputy Secretary of Education John King also welcomed attendees, urging them to put ideas into action.

conceptAs if to reinforce these messages, the same morning at a meeting of the President’s Management Council, deputy secretaries discussed way to expand the use of evidence, evaluation, and innovation in their agencies.  Several White House policy councils participated in the meeting, asking agencies to “articulate their strategy to advance the use of evidence in decision making . . . as a part of their budget submissions, due to OMB on September 14, 2015.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2015/07/five-tips-federal-innovation-entrepreneurs/118269

Can small, innovative companies break into D.C. contracting scene?

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Sharath Mekala’s two-person tech startup isn’t a textbook government contractor.

Village Defense, spawned through a startup incubator called 1776, develops a free app that lets neighbors send real-time alerts to one another if they notice suspicious activity. A premium version, which costs $125 a month, is designed for homeowners associations.

technologyA Washington area native, Mekala recently uprooted from Atlanta and returned to D.C., in part to market Village Defense to behemoth potential customers: the Defense Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Education Department. He says President Obama’s public safety initiative, which includes a blueprint for improved community policing, creates an opportunity for apps like Village Defense.

“I think the government is trying to keep up with [technology]… earlier on you’d have to push your way in,” Mekala says.

Federal procurement, once largely unapproachable by startups, could be transforming to let small, creative tech companies in.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2015/07/startup-shakeup-can-small-innovative-companies-break-dc-contracting-scene/117640/

This story appears in the July-August issue of Government Executive magazine. 

Contracting facts and fictions

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Many debates on the issues in government acquisition rely on assumed “facts” that may or may not be based on reality.

However, examining the latest actual, comprehensive, uniform, and unbiased information directly provided by contracting officers (from the Federal Procurement Data System) sheds light on some discrepancies.

For example, despite the budget drama of the past two years, inflation-adjusted figures reveal that contract awards remain over 20 percent higher in 2013 than back in 2003. For the contracting profession, this news is encouraging, especially considering the wind-down of the longest war in American history and indicative of the continued increase in government contracting in providing essential citizen services.

Similarly, while awards have dropped within the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State, other agencies—such as the Department of Education, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Veterans Affairs—have seen increases, as have contracts awarded to small businesses.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20140603/BLG06/306030013/Contracting-facts-fictions 

Slides from US Education department’s Jan. 14 outreach event now available

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The Department of Education, Contracts and Acquisitions Management, Programs Contracts Group (PCG) held a Small Business Outreach event in Washington, DC on January 14, 2014.  The purpose of this event was to review portions of the department’s FY 2014 forecast and provide roundtable sessions in which small businesses could have the opportunity to discuss education programs and contracting opportunities with Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs), Contracting Officers, Contract Specialists, and Program Managers. 

The outreach event was focused on small businesses who specialize in program evaluation, technical assistance, educational support services, data collection and analysis, and logistical support services. 

If you were not aware of this event or unable to attend, you now can access the slide presentation from the event (containing many points of contact) and the list of the 300 attendees at: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=d8a3b3f4518079d0d991ac5d8a2a9ac8&_cview=0.

Small Businesses engaged in educational products and services also may find it helpful to review the US Department of Education‘s FY 2014 Forecast of Contracting Opportunities. You will find it at http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html.

The Primary Point of Contact for this event was:

Pamela Bone
Contracting Officer
Pamela.Bone@ed.gov
Phone: (202)245-6181
Fax: 202-245-6297
URL: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ED/OCFO/CPO/1142014SBmtg/listing.html

Most top contractors increased business with federal government in 2012

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A majority of the top 200 government contractors made more money on federal awards last year than in 2011, despite major budgetary cutbacks, according to a report released Wednesday.

Overall, the federal government spent $516.3 billion on contracts in fiscal 2012, down 3.1 percent from fiscal 2011’s total of $532.6 billion, the largest year-over-year decline in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1997, the analysis said. Sixty-four percent of that total went to the top 200 companies doing business with the government.

Bloomberg Government, which published the report, analyzed data from 24 agencies and departments, and in 20 categories of federal purchases. Bloomberg found that many contractors were able to maintain or increase business by focusing on sectors that were not subject to “budget pressures,” such as space vehicles, drones, health information technology and cybersecurity.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/05/most-top-contractors-increased-business-federal-government-2012/63049/?oref=dropdown 

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