Tag: Government Marketplace

165: Empowering Small Businesses: Insights and Strategies for Federal Contracting with Lori Smith

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Today’s guest is Lori Smith, founder of Acu-Elligent LLC, a consulting agency specialized in helping small businesses successfully obtain government contracts. With 40+ years of experience as a Procurement decision maker & Contracting Officer, Lori provides insider perspective and guidance to navigate the government marketplace. In this episode, Lori shares her insights and tips on how to successfully win federal, state & local contracts for your business.

Lori is committed to helping black women-owned and other small businesses obtain lucrative contracts and simplify the federal contracting process. She also shares her journey from federal service to founding Acu-Elligent LLC, highlighting the difficulties small businesses often face when trying to secure government contracts. She explains how her team of seasoned business strategists collaborates to develop cost-effective solutions that help companies achieve their contracting goals.

Navigating the government marketplace can be a challenging and complex process, but with Lori’s insights and guidance, small businesses can successfully win government contracts. So let’s welcome our next Giant, Lori Smith.

If you want to connect with Lori, you can go through these links:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-smith-17985a18/ 

Corporate Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acuelligent/about/ 

Email: acuelligent@gmail.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acuelligent

Top 10 Industry NAICS codes in 2019

Posted on by Eric Coffie

If you’re a small business owner and you’re wondering why you don’t see federal opportunities for your company, maybe we can help.

Opportunities, oftentimes, don’t come to you, it’s you who finds them. When searching for opportunities, you need to use specific criteria to filter your search, this is where the NAICS codes come in.

Do you know yours? Many businesses use NAICS codes to find upstream suppliers and downstream markets. Government agencies even post-contract bids and offer tax incentives within a given NAICS code.

Before you go out there and start finding business opportunities, get to know first the federal market and the industries that have been successful in winning contracts. If they can do it, you can too!

With this in mind, here’s the Top 10 Industry NAICS codes that prospered in 2019.

1. 336411 

This industry code is on top of the list with a cumulative government spending of almost $50 billion in 2019. This comprises establishments involving aircraft manufacturing. 

They are those who manufacture or assemble complete aircraft. They also develop aircraft prototypes and do aircraft conversions, such as major modifications to systems and complete aircraft overhaul and rebuilding.

2. 541330

Coming in at second place, establishments in this industry provide engineering services. They apply physical laws and principles of engineering in the design, development, and utilization of their machines and systems. 

Businesses under this code may offer the provision of advice, preparation of feasibility studies, and preparation of preliminary and final plans and designs. 

3. 561210 

Services offered by this industry are often overlooked but are necessary for us to function. They are the establishments that offer facilities support services. These businesses provide operating staff to carry out a combination of support activities; but are not involved with or responsible for the core business or activities of the client. 

The mentioned combination of services include janitorial, maintenance, trash disposal, guard and security, mail routing, reception, laundry, and related services to support operations within facilities. 

4. 541512 

This code is for businesses offering computer system design services engaged in planning and designing computer systems that integrate computer hardware, software, and communication technologies. In 2019, this industry is worth about $24 billion in the federal market. 

5. 336611 

At the top five, we have the ship building and repairing industry. They are the people who operate a shipyard, which are fixed facilities with drydocks and fabrication equipment for building ships.

Activities of shipyards include the construction of ships, their repair, conversion, and alteration, the production of prefabricated ship and barge sections, and specialized services, such as ship scaling.

6. 236220 

Under this code are people responsible for the construction of commercial and institutional buildings and related structures, such as stadiums, grain elevators, and indoor swimming facilities. 

General contractors, commercial and institutional building for-sale builders, commercial and institutional building design-build firms, and commercial and institutional building project construction management firms are included in this industry.

7. 541715 

This is for establishments that involve research and experimental development (except nanotechnology and biotechnology research and experimental development) in physical, engineering, and life sciences.

Businesses under this code conduct research and experimental developments in the field of science and mathematics, all essential for economic growth, which is probably why the government invested around $20 billion in this industry.  

8. 541712 

Similar to NAICS code 541715, this code is also for establishments in the research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences engineering and life sciences (except Biotechnology) industry. This code covers a wide spectrum of fields, from biology to chemistry to veterinary.

Note: The NAICS Code 541712, however, is no longer valid. The NAICS Code that should be used instead is 541715. Unless the requirement is dealing with nanotechnology, in that case, code 541713 should be used. 

9. 336414 

This code is for the guided missile and space industry, which manufactures complete guided missiles and space vehicles and/or develops and makes prototypes of guided missiles or space vehicles. 

Although it is second to the last, the government spending on this industry is worth about $19 billion, which is still a huge amount.  

10. 541519 

Last but not the least, with a cumulative government spending of almost $17 billion, we have the industry that provides other computer related services. 

The services offered are all computer related services except those that were provided for by NAICS code 541512 (computer systems designs services).  

RESOURCES

The ranking from this article was taken from usaspending.gov, wherein Industry NAICS codes in 2019 were ranked from highest to lowest, according to the cumulative amount obligated by the government to each respective industry.

To learn more about all things NAICS, you can check out the website here.

SOURCES SOUGHT: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) – Security Vulnerability Scanning Software for IRS COBOL Applications

Posted on by Eric Coffie

The Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) IT Cybersecurity and Application Development (AD) areas are seeking information on potential solutions for software security vulnerability scanning software tools based on national security demands. The primary goal is the ability for the tool to perform application security testing (AST) on source code written in various versions of the

COBOL programming language, both inside and outside the Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) DevOps pipeline. A large portion of the agency’s current software application portfolio is written in COBOL.

This RFI/Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as either a solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. This notice is for market research purposes only.

  • Original Set Aside:
  • Product Service Code: 7J20 – IT AND TELECOM – SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE PRODUCTS (HARDWARE AND PERPETUAL LICENSE SOFTWARE)
  • NAICS Code: 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services
  • Place of Performance: USA
  • Original Response Date: Jun 28, 2021, 05:00 pm EDT
  • Full details via beta.sam.gov

    Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

SOURCES SOUGHT: General Services Administration (GSA) seeks to lease the following office space in Raleigh NC (7NC2166)

Posted on by Eric Coffie

The U.S. Government currently occupies office and related space in a building under lease in Raleigh NC (7NC2166), that will be expiring. The Government is considering alternative space if economically advantageous. The agency will consider, the availability of alternative space that potentially can satisfy the requirements, as well as costs likely to be incurred through relocating, such as physical move costs, replication of tenant improvements and telecommunication infrastructure, and non-productive agency downtime.

The Government will consider space located in an existing building or new construction. A minimum of 7,200 of American National Standards Institute/Building Owners and Managers Association (ANSI/BOMA) Office Area (ABOA) square feet (SF) consisting of approximately (6,400 ABOA SF of contiguous office space and 800 ABOA SF of nearby securable storage space) to a maximum of 7,560 ABOA SF of contiguous office space and 840 ABOA SF nearby securable storage space within the Area of Consideration set forth below.

  • Original Set Aside:
  • Product Service Code: X1AA – LEASE/RENTAL OF OFFICE BUILDINGS
  • NAICS Code: 531120 – Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Miniwarehouses)
  • Place of Performance: Raleigh, NC USA
  • Updated Response Date: Jun 04, 2021 05:00 pm EDT
  • Full details via beta.sam.gov

    govcon logo Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

SOURCES SOUGHT: US GOVERNMENT SEEKS SOURCES FOR LEASED RETAIL AND RELATED SPACE

Posted on by Eric Coffie

The U.S. Government currently occupies retail/office and related space in a shopping center under lease in Huntsville, Texas, that will be expiring. The Government is considering alternative space if economically advantageous and is seeking to lease between a minimum of 2400 SF and a maximum of 2800 SF gross square feet of existing Class A or B retail space, in Huntsville, Texas, specifically in state zip code, 77340. In making this determination, the Government will consider, among other things, the availability of alternative space that potentially can satisfy the Government’s requirements, as well as costs likely to be incurred through relocating, such as physical move costs, replication of tenant improvements, and telecommunication infrastructure and non-productive agency downtime.

  • Original Set Aside:
  • Product Service Code: X1AA – LEASE/RENTAL OF OFFICE BUILDINGS
  • NAICS Code: 531120 – Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Miniwarehouses)
  • Place of Performance: Huntsville, TX 77340 USA
  • Original Response Date: May 31, 2021 05:00 pm CDT
  • Full details via beta.sam.gov

    govcon logo Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

 

SOURCES SOUGHT: US National Sectéra vIPer Universal Secure Phone

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Based on the responses to these sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition, and multiple awards may be made for US National Sectéra vIPer. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Submission Instructions: Interested parties who consider themselves qualified, as detailed in Appendix 1, are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by May 19, 2021.

  • Original Set Aside:
  • Product Service Code:
  • NAICS Code: 541519 – Other Computer Related Services
  • Place of Performance:  Albuquerque, NM 87185 USA
  • Original Response Date: May 27, 2021, 12:00 pm MDT
  • Full details via beta.sam.gov

    govcon logo Check out our RESOURCES page for a sample letter that we use in response to government market research.

Jon Tellier: Providing Business Development in the Government Marketplace

Posted on by Eric Coffie

A retired US Army company commander turned business owner, Jon Tellier shares how he started and his insights about the importance of business development in the government marketplace.

BACKGROUND

Jon Tellier is the President of JetCo Solutions, a business development and marketing firm that provides specialized services for companies entering the government marketplace. The company has earned a strong reputation among the Michigan defense industry community through winning contracts valued at over $4 billion.

Tellier is also a respected community and business leader for more than two decades because of his service in the US Army as a retired company commander and being part of several committees and boards supporting youth, veterans, and other businesses. 

Currently, he represents several congressional districts (MI02, MI03 and MI06) as a Military Academy Liaison Officer.

JETCO SOLUTIONS

Building JetCo Solutions, his wife as the proposal writer and him doing the business development, they are basically unemployed. The company provides a different service back then and for months, they haven’t gotten any contracts yet. However, they continued on their business until they landed a government contract and their clients grew in the following months. 

During that time, nobody would give them a huge amount of money but with that, they learned to properly manage their cash flow and to only buy what is needed. 

“We realized, you know, we don’t really need that because we’ll cash flow this and if we can’t afford it, then we won’t buy it.” 

Consequently, the transition of their business from the automotive industry to being a business development firm was when someone pointed out that there’s a need for people who could help write proposals and other services regarding government contracting. 

“At that point I was like, there’s something. And that was the moment that I’m like, ‘Hey, we can, there’s a need for this and there’s people that need our expertise and we can monetize this.’”

So, in making sure that they provide the best business development services, JetCo Solutions help their clients diversify and get into different markets. 

“We’re very proud of helping both, you know, small, medium and large businesses help win in the government space… ‘cause there’s really no book out there for folks to, you know, ‘Hey, do this and you’ll win.’”

GETTING A GSA SCHEDULE

Jon Tellier’s company also helps businesses get on a GSA schedule but he also provides them advice if it’s the best thing to do because a GSA schedule can be a good contract vehicle but there’s a lot of misconception and misinformation about it. 

“We asked the question and we’ll even do some research to back it up to make sure that the GSA schedule is something that you should invest in because if the government isn’t buying the product or service that you sell using a GSA contract, then there’s no sense in spending the time and resources to get one.”

Also, consider that the GSA has a procedure to follow and if you get rejected, you need to fix your requirements and resubmit again. 

Then, after being accepted, you need to follow the process of uploading all of your products, doing your quarterly reporting, and navigating their platform in order to really take advantage of what it can offer as well as being compliant to their rules and regulations.

Hence, if you are not ready for such processes and you are just new in the market, it is best to save your money and do other courses of action in learning the government marketplace first. 

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Jon Tellier as he shares how he started and his insights about the importance of business development in the government marketplace, then be sure to click the links down below.

038 : Jon Tellier, JetCo Solutions – An Extension of the Sales and Marketing Team for Businesses

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/jon-tellier-jetco-solutions-an-extension-of-the-sales-and-marketing-team-for-businesses/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SE80So3pq4&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=33