Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Number of small business prime contractors down by 25 percent since 2010

By

Federal agencies met the governmentwide small business goal for the fourth straight year in fiscal 2016. Last year also saw a $9 billion increase in the total of prime contracts going to small firms.

What these numbers aren’t showing, and what should really worry the Small Business Administration and the broader contracting community, is the number of small businesses winning prime contracts is dramatically down.

Deltek, the market research firm, analyzed the data and found a 25 percent decrease in the number of small business prime contractors since 2010.

“There are fewer small businesses that are engaging as a prime and that is the same pattern across large businesses,” said Kevin Plexico, the vice president of information solutions at Deltek, during the FedFocus 2018 event in Vienna, Virginia on Oct. 10. “The dollars are holding steady but the number of prime participants is declining.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2017/10/number-of-small-business-prime-contractors-down-by-25-percent-since-2010/

An easy way to explore how changes in federal spending affect a contractor

By

The U.S. federal government agreed to spend $262 billion with its top 100 contractors in 2016.

A billion here, a billion there — pretty soon you’re talking about real money, right?  So changes in how the government allocates funds can have a significant impact on supplier companies.

Consider President Trump’s proposed defense budget. For the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, it would provide $574 billion to the Pentagon (not including an additional $65 billion for overseas contingency operations). That’s a 10 percent increase from the last full-year budget, and some of that could flow to defense contractors. Which ones, though?

Here’s how to dig into that question and find the companies most exposed to changes in government spending, the details of government contracts, and the supply chain of each contractor.

To get insight into government policy from Bloomberg Government, first go to https://about.bgov.com/government-contracting.  BGOV follows and interprets legislation, regulation, government spending, lobbying, and campaign finance through the lens of industries and companies, enabling you to generate investment ideas and mitigate risk.

To analyze 2018 budget proposals and potentially identify winners and losers, select FY18 Skinny Budget for information on the White House’s preliminary budget outline and how it differs from the fiscal year 2017 budget.  Proposed increases in defense spending would be subsidized by potential cuts in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the departments of State, Education, and Health & Human Services.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-19/an-easy-way-to-explore-how-changes-in-u-s-federal-spending-affect-a-contractor

See the Top 10 federal contract opportunities, updated weekly, here: https://about.bgov.com/?s=+Top+20+Opportunities

 

Pentagon wins court round on disclosing Sikorsky subcontracting plans

By

pentagon-sealDefense Department attorneys won an appeals court decision on Jan. 6 that denies a demand from a small business advocacy group that Sikorsky Aviation Corp. be required to disclose its subcontracting plan submitted under a long-standing Pentagon program.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled against the Petaluma, Calif.-based American Small Business League, saying that forcing the helicopter maker to disclose its subcontracting plan would put it at a competitive disadvantage.

Small business booster Lloyd Chapman has long challenged the Pentagon’s 27-year-old Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program as nonproductive and oriented mostly toward obfuscating the degree to which large contractors win defense business intended for smaller ones.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/01/pentagon-wins-court-round-disclosing-sikorsky-subcontracting-plans/134472

Lockheed Martin biggest U.S. Government contractor in 2015

By

pentagon-sealThe Pentagon’s top 100 contractors raked in $175.1 billion in obligated contracts in 2015, down slightly from 2014’s total of $177.6 billion, according to government figures released this week.

Lockheed Martin was the largest single contractor for the U.S. government in 2015, easily lapping the rest of the field with $36.2 billion. The next closest competitor was Boeing at $16.6 billion.The federal government’s top 100 as a whole obligated $238.5 billion in 2015, meaning the DoD represented about 73.5 percent of those contracts awarded to the biggest firms.

General Dynamics ($13.6 billion), Raytheon ($13.1 billion) and Northrop Grumman ($10.6 billion) rounded out the top five contractors. Health care services firm McKesson, which has a series of major contracts with the Tricare system, was the only non-defense contractor to make it into the top eight overall federal contractors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/industry/2016/05/09/lockheed-biggest-government-contractor-2015-defense-industry/83961520/

See details on the top 100 federal contractors here: Top_100_Contractors_Report_Fiscal_Year_2015

New regulations will change business for Government contractors

By

The Administration has been active in promulgating Executive Orders (E.O.) that affect the stakeholders in the Government contracting process.  On July 31, 2014, the President signed Executive Order 13673, “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.”  The E.O.states that it “improve[s] the federal contracting process.” But it will create a burden for prime contractors, subcontractors, and their agency customers. It will place increased importance on avoiding any type of adverse ruling involving an employment-related or safety-related claim.

Dept. of LaborAs all Government contractors are aware, a contract may be awarded only after a federal agency determines that the prospective contractor is “responsible” in accordance with Part 9 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Under this E.O., a company’s compliance with 14 federal labor statutes, as well as unnamed state labor statutes, will now be a factor that agencies and prime contractors must consider prior to awarding a contract or subcontract over $500,000.

The FAR Council issued a proposed rule (FAR Case 2014-025) on May 28, 2015, amending the FAR to implement E.O. 13673.  80 Fed. Reg. 30548. On that same day, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued extensive “guidance” on the E.O.  80 Fed. Reg. 30573.  Comments on the proposed regulations were originally requested by July 27, 2015, but that deadline has been extended twice and is now August 26, 2015. Your company, or an association representing your industry, may have already filed comments on the proposed regulation; regardless, it is very important that your company focus on the requirement and take immediate steps to prepare for its implementation.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e1853900-11d2-43a0-a8db-2418a038249c

Prime contractors holding small business outreach event in Savannah on Aug. 19

By

Two large prime contractors are conducting an outreach event entitled “How To Do Business with a Large Prime Contractor” on August 19, 2015 in Savannah, GA.

Great Lakes

Tetra TechThe contractors sponsoring this event are Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC and Tetra Tech.  The event is being held at the Savannah Civic Center from 8:30 am until noon.

This event is free to attend, but requires advance registration.

If you are interested, you may see the program at: Savannah Small Business Program 2015Aug19

The Registration form is here: Savannah Small Business Outreach Registration Aug 19 2015

These are the Georgia companies who won federal contracts in April 2014

By

Ever wonder who’s winning federal contracts in Georgia?

Wouldn’t this information be helpful if you are looking for subcontracting prospects?  Or when you’re trying to figure out who your competitors are?  Or when considering who might be a good partner on an upcoming bid proposal?

Each month, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) publishes a list of federal contracts awarded to Georgia businesses.  The list comes complete with point-of-contact information on the awardees, the name of the awarding agency, the dollar value of the contract, and much more.

Download details on the award winners for April 2014 right here: FEDERAL CONTRACT AWARDS IN GEORGIA – APRIL 2014

Winners of federal contracts earlier this year may be found at the links below:

For information on Georgia businesses that won federal contracts in 2013, click here.

Beltway firms dominate DHS services contracting

By

Familiar Beltway company names and places dominate an inventory of Homeland Security Department services contracts obligated during the last fiscal year.

Each year, DHS and other departments release data on their services contracting; the Office of Management and Budget in 2011 called on agencies to reduce services spending.

The newly released fiscal 2013 DHS inventory shows the department obligating $9.35 billion on services during that fiscal year with 16 percent of it dedicated to guard services.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/beltway-firms-dominate-dhs-services-contracting/2014-02-03Top 15 DHS Services Contractors - FY13

 

Fort Gordon post exchange construction begins next week

By

The Fort Gordon Post Exchange made possibly its strongest commitment Friday to its slogan, “You save. We give back.”

Using earnings from purchases made by a consumer base that includes 100,000 on- and off-post soldiers and retirees, the shopping complex broke ground on a $21 million project to renovate its nearly 20-year-old facility into a more spacious and modern retail center.

“Today is the realization of a plan that was initiated years ago, and we are finally seeing it come to fruition,” Maj. Gen. LaWarren V. Patterson, Fort Gordon’s commanding officer, said after digging the project’s ceremonial first clump of dirt.

Patterson said the project shows the faith and confidence that both the Department of Defense and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service have in the patronage of Fort Gordon’s Post Exchange.

At a time when U.S. military bases are using early retirement, natural attrition and hiring freezes to battle federal budget cuts and avoid layoffs at its trading posts and strip malls, Fort Gordon has been authorized to nearly double its facility in size from 98,000 to 177,000 square feet.

Keep reading this article at: http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-10-25/fort-gordon-post-exchange-construction-begin-next-week?v=1382733456#

Contractors brace for possible government shutdown

By

The threat of a federal government shutdown is even more bad news for a  defense industry struggling to weather sequestration.

Following a summer of Pentagon furloughs and with other sequestration cuts  starting to sink in, the government — caught between a gridlocked Congress and a  dug-in White House — is marching to the brink of a complete halt, which industry  sources say could do irreparable damage to defense firms.

“A shutdown means that there’s no additional funding that is  made available for contracts,” said Elizabeth Ferrell, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge who’s worked in government contracts law for more than 30 years.  “So with very limited exceptions, there are no new contract awards, no  additional funding obligated to existing contracts, contractors are faced with  performing when there are no government people around, government people will be  furloughed.”

Defense contractors would have to work in a vacuum, she said, when normally  they rely on give-and-take with government employees. “The government will cease  to function, except for a very limited number of essential people,” she  predicted.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/defense-firms-brace-for-hard-hit-of-a-shutdown-97179.html.

 

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More