Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

What to expect as the curtain comes down on federal fiscal year 2017

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Government Product News asked Chuck Schadl for his take on government selling opportunities as the federal fiscal year draws to a close on Sept. 30. Schadl is Group Manager for Government Contracting Services at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Here are his views.

The federal government’s year-end spending sprees are legendary as agencies try to commit contracting dollars – lest they have to turn their leftover budgets back to the U.S. Treasury.

A study conducted last year, however, shows that spending just before September 30 seems to be trending downward, with more attention being given to better planning the spend that begins anew on October 1.

The study, “Positioning for 2017: Competitive Outlook in Defense and Civilian Agencies,”shows that for the past two years both defense and civilian agencies have softened their year-end spending spike. Big data and analytics firm Govini conducted the research.

That said, there’s still a disproportionate amount of contract dollars obligated in the fourth quarter of the federal fiscal year – at least 30 percent.

What can vendors do now to perhaps capture year-end money, as well as set the stage for the new fiscal year?

Keep reading this article at: http://americancityandcounty.com/federal/what-expect-curtain-comes-down-federal-fiscal-year-2017

Federal acquisition scorecard shows which agencies are spending more in 2017

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Govini released its annual scorecard, offering insights into federal spending trends, including which agencies are spending, what the money is being spent on and what contractors agencies are working with.

With a new administration, there have been some changes throughout the government. The most notable and unexpected of these changes were within the Army and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The Army saw a big uptake in contract spending,” Matt Hummer, director of analytics for Govini, said. This uptake is the “first positive growth seen in the Army’s spending in a long time.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/federal-acquisition-scorecard-shows-which-agencies-are-spending-more-in-2017

Download Govini’s report at: http://www.govini.com/research-item/2017-federal-scorecard/

 

Contractors are confident amid uncertain political environment

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These days, change and uncertainty seem to be the one constant in the world of government and business.

As we move into the middle of the year, it’s hard not to be affected by the constant reminders of risk and uncertainty all around us with a slow-growing economy, political gridlock, skepticism in government and heightened tensions around the world. But as we measured the collective “mood” of government contractors in our recent survey of contractor sales expectations, a very different perspective emerged.

Contractors, vendors and suppliers are betting that the economy will continue to grow, agency budgets and spending will continue to improve, and that the “wait and see” type of caution that characterized many government contracting decisions prior to the November elections will transition to an “invest and grow” mentality in vital areas like infrastructure and technology.

In short, rather than limping along in a defensive posture, the government contracting marketplace is expected to be on its front foot in the coming year – a bright spot on the landscape.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.routefifty.com/finance/2017/07/contractors-remain-confident-amid-uncertain-political-environment/139341/

Contractors have increased confidence in the government market

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Following an election year filled with uncertainties, companies selling to the public sector have increased confidence in their expectations for sales growth in 2017-18.

That’s one of the findings from Onvia’s third annual survey of government contractor sales expectations. The report is a guide to vendor sentiment on the government marketplace. The firm provides government sales intelligence in the business-to-government (B2G) marketplace.

A total of 424 companies who sell to federal, state, local and education agencies participated in this year’s study. Their responses indicate how contractors expect to perform over the next 12 months compared with their self-reported performance over the last 12 months. The combined results were used to calculate the 2017 Onvia Government Contractor Confidence Index (GCCI), which set a new record high score at 135.8, up 5 percent from 2016.

Keep reading this article at: http://americancityandcounty.com/gpn/contractors-have-increased-confidence-government-market

Federal contractors confident after post-election uncertainty, says survey

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Government contractors overall, but especially those in the federal tech sector, have increased confidence in 2017-2018 sales growth, according to a survey of 424 companies selling to federal, state, local and educational agencies.

Posing questions about growth and agency budgets to wide-ranging firms in the infrastructure, technology and other/services sectors, government business intelligence company Onvia constructed the government contractor confidence index presented in its third annual report.

Monitoring the composite results following the dips of 2016’s election year uncertainty, Onvia found an increase in overall confidence of 5 percent over last year’s survey, placing the current level (135.8) at its highest since 2015 (135.1).  

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/federal-contractors-confident-after-post-election-uncertainty-says-survey

FY18 federal budget request includes $200 billion in spending to spur $1 trillion infrastructure investment

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As part of its full 2018 budget proposal, the Trump administration has revealed a few long-awaited details of its $1 trillion infrastructure plan, according to The Hill.

The budget calls for $200 billion in direct federal spending over 10 years — a move that the administration said would spur $1 trillion of investments — as well as lifting the cap on private activity bonds, allowing states to increase tolling, cutting regulations and streamlining environmental review processes.

The budget request also calls for a 13% funding reduction for Department of Transportation programs and would either cut or shrink the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment program, spending on long-distance Amtrak service, a Federal Aviation Administration program benefiting small airports and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.constructiondive.com/news/trumps-2018-budget-calls-for-200b-in-direct-spending-to-spur-1t-infrastr/443456/

How much are agencies spending on new contracts?

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The federal government rarely seeks truly innovative solutions when it bids out new contracts, according to a report released on May 16th.

Federal market research and analysis firm Nation Analytics’ “Government Services Competitive Intelligence Report” examined 246 task orders and contracts for federal services—each worth $50 million or more—awarded across the federal landscape in fiscal 2016. It includes federal service acquisitions, such as IT, professional services and operations and maintenance of facilities, but not one-time acquisitions such as weapons systems or construction projects.

Only 35 contracts of those contracts were for new requirements, according to the report. Agencies spent the other $49 billion, or 90 percent of the federal services spend, on the recompetition of work already being performed by existing contractors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2017/05/how-much-are-agencies-spending-new-contracts/137899

Infrastructure spending fuels big state and local procurement gains

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What do Alaska, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Maine have in common? They’re among the 17 states that saw at least a 10 percent increase in the number of state and local agency bids and requests for proposal between Q1 2016 and Q1 2017, according to a new Onvia report.

The state, local and education market witnessed an across-the-board 4.9 percent increase in procurement—the second-highest year-over-year growth since 2014—rooted in more than $200 billion in infrastructure spending.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.routefifty.com/management/2017/04/infrastructure-spending-state-local-procurement-gains/137089/

 

Government has $130 billion a year in contracts with no definite services or deadlines

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Over the past five years, the federal government has committed to spending as much as $130 billion a year on supplies and services through unusual contracts that break the mold of traditional contracting practices.

Typically, when federal agencies buy anything from jetfighters to computer services to paper clips, they throw open bidding on major contracts to a number of eager businesses that compete to offer the best price, the most experience and the promise of meeting a deadline. Larger projects — like building a battle ships — are broken into scores of subcontracts that are bid out in similar fashion.

Yet another type of contract, known as “indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity,” has become common at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs over the last decade or so, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), with the Pentagon accounting for about 68 percent of all such contracts between 2011 and 2015.

For these so-called IDIQs, the government hand picks one or more contractors to commit to delivering products and services in the future and sets a ceiling on how much money will be spent overall. Awards are for a specified number of years with renewal options, but usually for no longer than five years.

Keep reading this article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/government-130-billion-contracts-no-121500314.html

See the GAO report at: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-329

Defense contractors see end of budget decline

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“The tide has definitely turned in the direction of contract spending,” wrote a team directed by Andrew Hunter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Defense Department fiscal 2016 contract obligations increased by 7 percent over the previous year, “far higher than predicted,” said the analysis of the outlook for spending on research and development, defense acquisition reform and procurement performance-based data from the Federal Procurement Data System.

Significant boosts in spending commitments were recorded by the Missile Defense Agency, the Air Force and the Navy, “driven primarily by increased obligations for large procurement programs like the C-130J transport aircraft, the KC-45A tanker aircraft, and the Trident II missile program,” CSIS said. “Even the Army, which had declined far more steeply than DoD overall throughout the budget drawdown, was virtually stable between 2015 and 2016.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/04/defense-contractors-see-end-budget-decline/136788

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