Government Contracting Resources for Arkansas Businesses

Arkansas's Business Emergency Listing (ABEL) - To better serve the agencies and the governing authorities of the State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, and the Office of State Procurement have prepared this emergency index to retain and use during the activation of a state-declared emergency.

Providing an emergency listing of your business commodity does not establish a contract for purchasing through the State of Arkansas.

ARBuy - The State of Arkansas is implementing a new eProcurement system called ARBuy. ARBuy will transform the procure-to-pay process for all state departments, support local government purchasing, and allow suppliers to do business with Arkansas and its subdivisions more efficiently.

Register as a vendor with the State of Arkansas. 

View procurement opportunities with the State of Arkansas. 

Currently Advertised Projects & Announcements

Advertisement and availability of Plans and Proposals for projects authorized for each of these lettings will be four (4) weeks prior to the letting date. The Proposal Holders List of prime contractors holding bid documents on projects for these lettings will be posted in the PRELETTING INFORMATION. Questions pertaining to projects during the advertisement period should be addressed to the Program Management Division at pmd@ardot.gov or (501) 569-2261. 

• City of ConwayView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Conway.
• City of FayettevilleView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Fayetteville.
• City of Fort SmithView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Fort Smith.
• City of JacksonvilleView bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Jacksonville.
• Jefferson CountyView current bid opportunities for goods and services for Jefferson County.
• City of Jonesboro View current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Jonesboro.
• City of Little Rock Purchasing DivisionThe City of Little Rock Purchasing Division is a centralized purchasing office responsible for locating and securing materials, supplies, equipment, and related services as required by departments in the City of Little Rock.
• City of Maumelle View current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Maumelle.
• City of North Little RockView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of North Little Rock.
• Sebastian County View current bid opportunities for goods and services for Sebastian County.
• City of SherwoodView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Sherwood.
• City of SpringdaleView current bid opportunities for goods and services for the city of Springdale.

Contract opportunities are procurement notices from federal contracting offices. Anyone interested in doing business with the government can use this system to search opportunities. Opportunities include pre-solicitation notices, solicitation notices, award notices, and sole source notices.

View the Arkansas Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Search Site.

Arkansas Division of Emergency Management - Veteran Small Business Enhancement Act - The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management Veteran Small Business Enhancement Act has been approved, and Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB's) are eligible to participate with the Arkansas Federal Surplus Property Program. 

Arkansas Economic Development Commission - The Arkansas Economic Development Commission provides assistance in many areas  of business growth, including providing minority business certification for the state of Arkansas. The Small and Minority Business division promotes the growth and sustainability of small and minority business enterprises by providing them with real world technical and professional assistance, certification, procurement, networking, capital and contracting opportunities.

AEDC - Minority & Women-Owned Business Enterprise - The Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Division facilitates the growth, development and expansion of minority and women-owned businesses by helping them gain access to valuable information, new market opportunities and financial resources.

Arkansas Economic Development Institute -  The Arkansas Economic Development Institute's mission and mandate is to provide community economic development research and analysis, technical assistance, and training to enhance and advance the economy and economic development throughout Arkansas and where appropriate, beyond.

Arkansas MBDA Business Center – Communities Unlimited’s Entrepreneurship Division provides expert trainings and technical assistance that align with the MBDA’s strategic goals to support the growth of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs). 

Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) - The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is a university-based economic development  program that assists entrepreneurs, both new and seasoned. It helps with every aspect of business creation, management, and operation.

Arkansas Women’s Business Center (AWBC) -  The Arkansas Women’s Business Center (AWBC) provides technical assistance, training, and access to capital services tailored to meet the needs of women business owners. The Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Startup Junkie - Startup Junkie is in Northwest Arkansas and is a non-profit program that provides free consulting by professionals in their offices or via Zoom for starting a business or help growing your existing business. Consulting covers all aspects of managing a business or opening one. It also provides free business workshops and live events for entrepreneurs throughout the state all year long.

The Conductor - The Conductor is an entrepreneurial support organization that offers free resources through one-on-one consultations, webinars, events, and more. 

The Generator - The Generator is an innovation hub powered by Go Forward Pine Bluff. The Generator houses a coworking space, a makerspace, and a digital space with the latest in technology. It is a space that creates a fun environment where risk-taking, imagining, problem-solving, discovery, collaboration, and exploration bring the community of Pine Bluff together to learn and grow.

SCORE - SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, with more than 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters.

Transparency.Arkansas.gov - This site can be used to view previously awarded contracts for the state and to research award amounts and contract length. In addition, users may view current contracts and research possible subcontracting opportunities with the prime contractor.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Arkansas District Office- The Arkansas District Office offers business development services and training to help small business start and grow.

Outreach Calendar - This link includes webinars as well as conferences where Defense Logistics Agency Small Business representatives will be exhibiting.

DLA TKO Supplier Training - Defense Logistics Agency, Training Knowledge Opportunities (TKO) offers training for suppliers of products interested to sell to DLA. Virtual TKO seminars and webinars are collective and/or individual sessions that teach vendors how to START doing business with Defense Logistics Agency. Vendors learn how to find open solicitations, how to submit a quote through the DLA Internet Bid Board System (DIBBS), and the procedures for viewing/downloading drawings. There will also be many other relevant topics of discussion. These courses are designed for dealers, distributors, and manufacturers, but NOT a company that provides "services.” All sessions are offered virtually and free of charge.

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program - The DBE program is designed to remedy ongoing discrimination and the continuing effects of past discrimination in federally assisted highway, transit, airport, and highway safety financial assistance transportation contracting markets nationwide. The primary remedial goal and objective of the DBE program is to level the playing field by providing small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation contracts.

DFARS – Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement -  A supplement to the FAR that provides DoD-specific acquisition regulations that DoD government acquisition officials – and those contractors doing business with DoD – must follow in the procurement process for goods and services.

DHA - Defense Health Agency - The official website of the Military Health System (MHS). This site provides information about the Directorate of Procurement that supports the MHS through award and administration of health services and information technology contracts.

DIBBS- is a web-based application that provides the capability to search for, view, and submit secure quotes on Requests For Quotations (RFQs) for Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) items of supply. DIBBS also allows users to search and view Request For Proposals (RFPs), Invitations For Bid (IFBs), Awards and other procurement information related to DLA. 

DLA ASSIST - ASSIST is a comprehensive web site used to develop, coordinate, distribute, and manage defense and federal specifications and standards, military handbooks, commercial item descriptions, data item descriptions, and related technical documents prepared in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Defense Standardization Program (DSP). 

Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) - The Dynamic Small Business Search is a marketing site as well as the location for SBA Certifications for the 8a Business Development Program and HUBZone Program.

FAR Supplements for each Agency- This page links to the FAR and key agency FAR supplements and related documents.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System) - Federal Procurement Data System can be used to research detailed procurement activity data on 60+ federal departments.  

HUBzone Map - Is your business in a HUBzone? Find out. 

The government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses in historically underutilized business zones (HUBzone). It also gives preferential consideration to those businesses in full and open competition.

Read more about the program's benefits, qualifications, and certifications from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Joint Certification Program (JCP) certifies Canadian and United States (U.S.) contractors for access to unclassified military technical data belonging to Canada's Department of National Defense (DND) and to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). This program helps to protect controlled Unclassified Militarily Critical Technical Data (MCTD) and technology from common adversaries, but allows it to flow to certified Canadian and U.S. companies that have a legitimate need to know for business purposes. This program is effective in protecting the competitive edge of North American companies by ensuring that only eligible companies are provided with this data.

Suppliers interested in doing business with DLA must also have a DLA Enhanced JCP (EJCP).

Project Spectrum – Cybersecurity Support

Project Spectrum is a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)-sponsored initiative that provides companies, institutions, and organizations with a comprehensive, cost-effective platform of cybersecurity information, resources, tools, and training. Its mission is to improve cybersecurity readiness, resiliency, and compliance of small and medium-sized businesses and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) manufacturing supply chain.

Subnet - The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Subcontracting Network System that bridges the gap between businesses seeking small businesses and small business seeking contracting opportunities.

SAM – System for Award Management - The System for Award Management (SAM) is an official website of the U.S. government. There is no cost to use SAM. You can use this site for FREE to register to do business with the U.S. government, update or renew your entity registration, check status of an entity registration or search for entity registration and exclusion records. 

SBA Size Standards- NAICS 2023- This table lists small business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The latest NAICS codes are referred to as NAICS 2017.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs- SBIR is a federally funded program that provides more than $2 billion annually to research-capable small businesses that are developing new solutions to agency-identified needs. STTR is similar to SBIR, but funds cooperative public/private R&D projects involving a small business and a non-profit research institution.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Search - This page allows the user to search the 1987 version SIC manual by keyword, to access descriptive information for a specified 2,3,4-digit SIC, and to examine the manual structure.

USDA Procurement Forecast Tool    The tool provides small businesses with a user-friendly way to search and filter the USDA procurement forecast. 

U.S. Small Business Administration Contracting Guide
Government contracts are a tremendous financial opportunity for small businesses. The SBA works with federal agencies in order to award 23 percent of prime government contract dollars to eligible small businesses.

Pathfinder - Your personal guide to working and innovating with Veterans Affairs.