FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
RESEARCHING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
52
CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITES
BY NANCY DAHLBERG
TCBusiness.com
Scotty Wilson served 28 years as
an Indiana conservation officer,
eventually becoming the director
of the Indiana Department of Natural
Resources Law Enforcement
Division. During his time in state
government, Scotty served as a
district commander, state logistics
officer, division executive officer
and finally was appointed by Gov.
Mitch Daniels as the director of
law enforcement — overseeing
214 sworn officers and 40 civilian
support staff. Scotty is a graduate
of the Indiana Law Enforcement
Academy, the FBI National Academy,
the FBI LEEDS (leadership
academy), and served a six-month
fellowship at FBI headquarters in
Washington D.C. While serving at
the executive level, his duties included
involvement and oversight
of procurement, service contracts,
state and federal grant administration,
emergency operations, human
resources, budgeting, payroll,
continuity of operations, local,
state, and federal agency liaison,
and Homeland Security. Scotty
is a veteran of the United States
Marine Corps and a graduate of
Oakland City University with a BS
in human resources.
While small businesses may have been
discouraged by the recent government
shutdown, you should know that the federal
government is the largest buyer in the
U.S., spending billions of dollars annually
on products and services in construction,
R&D, manufacturing, logistics, IT and other
industries. Federal agencies also have prime
contracting goals for small businesses and
set-asides in a variety of categories, such
as for women-owned, minority-owned or
veteran-owned small businesses.
Last year, the federal government met its
small business federal contracting goal for
the fifth consecutive year, awarding nearly
24% in federal contract dollars to small
businesses totaling $105.7 billion, an annual
increase of $5 billion and up more than $20
billion since 2013.
In the last issue of Treasure Coast Business,
we gave you some advice on determining
whether government contracting is right
for you. Ready to pursue federal government
contracting opportunities?
It’s a process, but it doesn’t have to be
overwhelming, says Scotty Wilson, Procurement
Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)
consultant with the Florida Small Business
Development center at Indian River State
College (FSBDC at IRSC). “These small business
operators must understand it is the
federal government and there is paperwork
and procedures to follow, but efforts have
been made to streamline the processes.
And that’s why programs like the FSBDC
at IRSC and PTAC are out there — they are
designed to help small business operators
pursue these opportunities.”
PTAC, programs and consultants, can
provide free assistance to small businesses
looking to compete for government contracts.
PTAC consultants work with a small
business on researching opportunities –
including through its BidMatch service — as
well as provide feedback on the business’
capability statement, proposal and overall
strategy. “We can help them work smarter
not harder, developing a more tailored and
targeted strategy,” said Wilson.
FSBDC at IRSC consultants can also help
small businesses seeking government contracting
in a variety of ways. Some businesses
have a great game plan when it comes
to contracting but may require additional
working capital until they receive payment.
Other consultants can help with the operations
side or HR as businesses ramp up to
service a big contract. That’s where PTAC
and SBDC work hand-in-hand to help out
the business owner.
According to Wilson, small businesses
need to do their homework and be prepared
to follow up. That includes developing
a plan for entering the marketplace,
completing the required registrations,
developing marketing tools and securing
relevant certifications.
Althea Harris, the U.S. Small Business
Administration’s assistant district director
for Marketing and Outreach Area 1 (Miami),
agreed.
“Small businesses have to do their
research and they have to strategize. It’s
very important to be ready and part of that
means being financially ready. You have to
be able to afford the contract you want, you
have to make payroll before the government
or a prime contractor pays you. It
means you have the right employees in the
place or you know how to employ them
quickly,” Harris said.
“Being ready also means understanding
what value you bring to the proposition,
and not everyone is able to articulate that
in a way that is compelling. In what way are
you distinctly different and better than your
competitors? Be very targeted about the
contracts you are going after. Understand
what it will cost you to pursue the contract.
It is a business proposition to pursue the
federal money that will cost you time and
money, which is money and money.”
TAKING THE FIRST STEPS
To start your search for opportunities, go
to USASpending.gov and search for all the >>
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/USASpending.gov