Why Do Small Businesses need Training on Government Contracts?

If you have been reading the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center (APAC) monthly newsletters you have seen many new training opportunities. The opportunities are designed to update and educate businesses on the changes in 2017 as well as the upcoming 2018 contracting year, beginning in October. One of the major changes in this computer driven world is the new System Security Plan (SSP). APAC will provide information at various upcoming events in Cabot, Springdale, Jonesboro, Conway and Little Rock.

The question you should be asking, “Is my company ready for 2018?”

• Is your company keeping up with the changes in state and local government contracting?
• Are you updated as a vendor for the State of Arkansas for this next year?
• When was the last time you reviewed your company’s federal vendor registration and its marketing section called the SBA supplemental pages?

While we are all very busy this time of year with vacations, school starting, and finishing those summer projects that pay the bills, education is important for your business. Take the time to make sure the training APAC provides, that is paid for by your tax dollars, is on your company’s radar and reach out for the information that could prepare your company for a state or federal contract.

APAC will be presenting several small business training opportunities in the next several weeks

We have been asked by several businesses for training in specialty areas like wide area work flow and the Department of Interior Internet Payment Platform or IPP.

Please consider the types of training your company needs to keep your staff current on the changes and the requirements of the federal and state government contracts. Don’t forget to share your company’s needs with APAC to see if we need to provide one on one counseling or a scheduled course to deliver the specific training needed to meet the demands of government contracting for your type of business’ products and services.

Winning a bid is all in the details 

In closing, I was asked this week to review a company’s contact sheet that is bidding on their first federal government contract. While they are very successful in the commercial world, they sent the proposal to APAC to review to make sure they had met the requirements that the contracting officer requested in the bid package. The physical prices of the bid were in the average range for the services they were proposing to meet the government requirements but they had missed the required government data for government response. Since this agency was not using the standard form 1449, they were required to reference the solicitation number, company name, contact information, as well as DUNS number, EIN, and for some agencies, the cage code and NAICS code or small business size and type of the business.

These details can win a bid or if not completed correctly, a company could be considered non responsive and be kicked out of the running for an award. Consider attending an upcoming training or call your APAC counselor for a review and the types of training your company requires to win more government contracts.