According to a recent Las Vegas Business Press article, a government seminar held in Las Vegas drew a crowd of approximately 60 business owners together to learn about the opportunity available through federal government contracting.

According to the article, the seminar drew “architects, engineers, financial service providers and other professionals who (were) looking to tap into government contracts as private-sector projects dry up. What used to be a largely untouched frontier is becoming a battlefield as companies see the county as a business partner that could bring in new revenue.”

“People like us wouldn’t typically approach things like this, but right now government projects are the way to go,” said Gloria Long-Hernandez of architectural firm GMRA. “We are definitely interested in the new opportunities and we have all the credentials for them.”

“There were times when we would send out requests for proposals and no one would show up,” said Nita Lopez, the county small-business coordinator who produced the event. “Now people would even come to prebids. The providers are hungry for jobs and it’s a good thing for us.”

Did you know that the B2G Institute offers free workshops on doing business with the government? Click here to find out when we will be in your city.

According to a recent Federal Registrar article, the government is developing a database to track federal contractor performance.  

 According to the Proposed Rule, current federal contractors with more  than $10 million in current grants or contracts will have to submit data on any criminal, civil or administrative proceedings against them dating back three years. The rule projects that each year about 5,000 contractors will file reports.

 Federal contracting officers will be required to review the database prior to making award decisions for all new contracts worth more than $500,000, the proposed rule stated.

 If contracting officers determine that an “otherwise successful offeror is not a responsible source due to lack of satisfactory performance record or satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics,” then they must include such information in the system.

 “The database will be private and only federal officials will have access. Contractors will be able to view information about themselves, and post comments in response to information that has been included by the government”, the proposal said.

 According to David Drabkin, GSA’s deputy associate administrator for acquisition policy, “GSA expects to award a contract by the end of September that will implement a new way for the agency to manage and possibly merge the nine separate acquisition-related databases that make up its Integrated Acquisition Environment.”

 For more information, check out the proposed rule.

According to a recent Government Executive article, some of the largest existing federal government contractors are collecting the majority of the stimulus contracts.

 “During the past five months, 17 of the largest government contractors have won more than $1.6 billion in Recovery Act contracts — more than all small businesses combined” according to a new spending analysis conducted by Government Executive. The data, which is updated through July 15, was obtained through USASpending.gov.

 Although nearly $7 billion in stimulus contracts have been awarded, nearly one-quarter of that money is going to large, well-connected federal contractors.

 According to Government Executive, a significant number of these  contracts were issued by the Energy Department, “primarily for construction, demolition and environmental cleanup projects at its laboratories.”

 ”These contracts go against the grain of what the stimulus is all about,” said Guy Timberlake, CEO of the American Small Business Coalition. “How much of a stimulus do these companies need?” The list of Recovery Act awardees Government Executive examined reads like a “Who’s Who” in federal contracting.

 Is the problem that small businesses are not stepping up to the plate to claim their share of the stimulus contracts? How can small business start to claim their share?

By now, government contractors and “would be” government contractors are aware of Recovery.gov, a Web site designed to track stimulus-related spending.

 But who is behind this Web site? Who is behind monitoring stimulus-related spending and projects? The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board is the appointed “watchdog for the American public on the use of Recovery Act funds.” Earl E. Devaney, appointed by the president, serves as Board chairman.

 The Board, spawned out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also includes 12 federal Inspectors General from various government agencies. The Board has two principal goals: to prevent and detect waste, fraud and mismanagement and to provide the American people with extraordinary transparency on how Recovery Act funds are being used by states, local governments, and private recipients.

 The Board also maintains Recovery.gov, which provides information on agency plans and programs and disbursements around the country.

According to a recent Next Gov article, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board has hired  Maryland based company, Smartronix, to complete an $18 million contract to redesign the Recovery.gov Web site. 

Recovery.gov is a site that The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board claims that Smartronix  “won the contract over two other bidders, according to the General Services Administration, which made the award.”

A notice posted on Recovery.gov adds that Smartronix is teaming with three subcontractors: Washington-based Synteractive Corp.; TMP Government of McLean, Va., and New York-based KPMG.

The redesign project will cost $9.5 million through January 2010 and up to $18 million if all contract options are exercised through January 2014.

This federal government contract calls for Smartronix and its subcontractors to:

-Develop the next generation of Recovery.gov, which will be visually pleasing, user-friendly and highly interactive.

-Create a mapping capacity that will allow users to search for spending down to the neighborhood level.

-Provide the capacity to store and easily download massive amounts of data.

-Build a state-of-the-art security platform that will protect the integrity and availability of the data and a back-up system in the event of a major catastrophe such as a terrorist attack or large-scale power outage.

-Provide contract support to perform an array of hosting, maintenance, and operational services.

In a recent article posted by the GSA Press Office, The U.S. General Services Administration announced plans to buy and deliver $300 million worth of energy-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  “GSA will focus on vehicles that will provide long-term environmental benefits and savings by increasing the energy efficiency of the federal fleet,” said GSA acting Administrator Paul F. Prouty. “We will achieve this by using newer, more energy-efficient vehicles and advanced technologies while spending the money quickly to stimulate the economy.”

The plan includes a budget of $285 million for 17,600 commercially available fuel-efficient vehicles and $15 million to pilot advanced technology vehicles in the GSA Fleet.

 However, GSA does not intend to award new schedules to fill this hefty $300 million order. “GSA will use existing, competitively bid contracts for all orders and does not intend to award new contracts to spend Recovery Act money,” said Commissioner James A. Williams of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

How can a GSA Schedule help the small business owner compete in the government contracting arena?

A recent CNN Money article outlined the newly introduced Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009.  Introduced on May 21, by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., the bill moves to amend the Small Business Act to ensure fairness and transparency in contracting with small business concerns.

Here’s the problem: Although federal guidelines mandate that 23% of all government contracts be awarded to small businesses, “at least 16 companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues were among the top 100 small business contractors in 2008”.   The article also claims that “giant defense contractors Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500) and General Dynamics (GD, Fortune 500) each earned more than $120 million in small business contract payments last year.”

The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009 prohibits publicly traded and foreign-owned companies (or their subsidiaries) from being classified as U.S. small businesses for government contracting purposes. “For far too long, large corporations have benefited when they should not have,” Johnson says.

Check out the article for more information on different opinion of the act.