The Small Business Administration is seeking public comment on a proposal to provide contracting preference to women-owned small businesses through a set-aside program similar to those in place for other disadvantaged business sectors. The proposed Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Program, which was the subject of a successful lawsuit by the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce relating to implementation delays, was detailed in a Thursday Federal Register notice.
Full Story:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2312
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
GSA solicits your input on IT contracts worth $65 billion
The General Services Administration last Thursday released a draft request for proposals for its long-delayed Alliant and Alliant Small Business contracts, two governmentwide information technology vehicles together valued at $65 billion over 10 years.
The draft RFP is the second to be released for this work; GSA first announced the two Alliant contracts in early 2004 and issued a draft proposal in March 2005. The procurement dragged on through delays and leadership changes, however, and the agency decided to reassess, leading to a February 2006 announcement of new plans for the contract.
Under the revised schedule, the public has until June 30 to submit comments on the draft RFP, and a final version will be published in October for contract award by summer 2007, according to GSA announcements. The draft RFPs, along with other documents for the contract, are posted on the FedBizOpps Web site, with additional information on GSA sites dedicated to the main contract and small business component.
Click here for the full story
The draft RFP is the second to be released for this work; GSA first announced the two Alliant contracts in early 2004 and issued a draft proposal in March 2005. The procurement dragged on through delays and leadership changes, however, and the agency decided to reassess, leading to a February 2006 announcement of new plans for the contract.
Under the revised schedule, the public has until June 30 to submit comments on the draft RFP, and a final version will be published in October for contract award by summer 2007, according to GSA announcements. The draft RFPs, along with other documents for the contract, are posted on the FedBizOpps Web site, with additional information on GSA sites dedicated to the main contract and small business component.
Click here for the full story
IMPORTANT DHS SURVEY: Has Your Company Held or Bid on Contracts from the Department of Homeland Security?
Is your firm a small business that has held contracts or has bid on contracts with the Department of Homeland Security? If so, make your voice count here.
The House Committee on Homeland Security has requested that we send out a survey to obtain your views on the ability of small and minority businesses in obtaining homeland security government contracts through the Department of Homeland Security. The goal of this survey is to gain insight into your company's experiences with and perspectives about the Department of Homeland Security's contracting process, ranging from development and issuance of Request for Proposals (RFPs), responses to RFPs, success in securing contracts, the responsiveness of the bid protest process and difficulties faced in the payment process.
This survey will take less than 30 minutes of your time but will provide valuable information on the DHS contracting process. Individual responses will be confidential, and no identifying information will be released or revealed in any manner. Responses will be used to compile a statistical overview of issues covered in the questionnaire. The statistical compilation of the data collected may be presented to the general public for informational purposes or to Members of Congress for potential legislative action. DEADLINE: June 23rd.
Make your voice count here! Or contact:
Zahra Buck, J.D.
Professional Staff
House Homeland Security Committee
Minority Staff
H2-117 Ford House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The House Committee on Homeland Security has requested that we send out a survey to obtain your views on the ability of small and minority businesses in obtaining homeland security government contracts through the Department of Homeland Security. The goal of this survey is to gain insight into your company's experiences with and perspectives about the Department of Homeland Security's contracting process, ranging from development and issuance of Request for Proposals (RFPs), responses to RFPs, success in securing contracts, the responsiveness of the bid protest process and difficulties faced in the payment process.
This survey will take less than 30 minutes of your time but will provide valuable information on the DHS contracting process. Individual responses will be confidential, and no identifying information will be released or revealed in any manner. Responses will be used to compile a statistical overview of issues covered in the questionnaire. The statistical compilation of the data collected may be presented to the general public for informational purposes or to Members of Congress for potential legislative action. DEADLINE: June 23rd.
Make your voice count here! Or contact:
Zahra Buck, J.D.
Professional Staff
House Homeland Security Committee
Minority Staff
H2-117 Ford House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Small Business Contracts Plunge to Record Low
The latest statistics on Federal small business contracting show the lowest participation by small businesses in recent history. According to current government figures, small businesses received a meager 17% of the total value of Federal contracts during fiscal year 2005. This number represents the lowest level of Federal contracts that have been awarded to small businesses in the past 20 years.
The Small Business Act of 1953 requires that 23% of Federal contracts go to small businesses. Last year, the SBA reported that 23.09% of contracts were awarded to small firms during FY 2004.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313
The Small Business Act of 1953 requires that 23% of Federal contracts go to small businesses. Last year, the SBA reported that 23.09% of contracts were awarded to small firms during FY 2004.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313
SBA Closes Veterans Assistance Office
Without consultation or notification, the Bush Administration has closed its office at the Small Business Administration (SBA) solely dedicated to helping veteran-owned small businesses gain access to federal contracts. The Administration has also informed the Veterans Advisory Committee, another group dedicated to helping veteran small business owners, that their charter will not be extended and instead will expire this September. These unprecedented moves hurt America's veteran entrepreneurs and raise serious questions about the Administration's commitment to comply with federal law.
Budget cuts and Barreto's resignation leave SBA toothless. One small- business advocate is sounding the alarm as best he can that companies should prepare for the possible closure of the Small Business Administration. It's just a matter of time, said Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League. President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress want to shut SBA's doors for good, he said.
Full Story:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313
Budget cuts and Barreto's resignation leave SBA toothless. One small- business advocate is sounding the alarm as best he can that companies should prepare for the possible closure of the Small Business Administration. It's just a matter of time, said Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League. President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress want to shut SBA's doors for good, he said.
Full Story:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2313
Web Site Governance Hotly Contested In Many Agencies
Who should be responsible for the content on a federal agency’s Web site—the agency’s public affairs office, CIO office or some other oversight body? Or should the program managers actually control the material?
This is the issue that many federal agencies are now grappling with, according to two researchers at George Mason University.
“As agency [W]eb sites become the most public agency presence for most citizens, the approval process for content [within these agencies] appears to be increasingly contested,” argued Julianne Mahler and Priscilla Regan of GMU’s Department of Public and International Affairs. Professor Regan is currently on leave from GMU, serving as a program director at the National Science Foundation. The two researchers studied how agencies manage their sites. They presented their findings at the International Conference on Digital Government Research, held recently in San Diego.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2314
This is the issue that many federal agencies are now grappling with, according to two researchers at George Mason University.
“As agency [W]eb sites become the most public agency presence for most citizens, the approval process for content [within these agencies] appears to be increasingly contested,” argued Julianne Mahler and Priscilla Regan of GMU’s Department of Public and International Affairs. Professor Regan is currently on leave from GMU, serving as a program director at the National Science Foundation. The two researchers studied how agencies manage their sites. They presented their findings at the International Conference on Digital Government Research, held recently in San Diego.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2314
More Companies Watching E-mail
By LARRY FIORINO
Special to The Daily Record
Forrester Research recently released a comprehensive survey of 294 U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees concerning e-mail usage in their corporate environments.
During the last year, almost 33 percent of the companies have fired an employee for inappropriate usage of corporate e-mail, and over half the companies have disciplined an employee for the same types of infringements.
Currently, 38 percent of companies surveyed employ staff to analyze or read outgoing messages. This statistic may make many employees bristle, if they happen to be using corporate e-mail services for personal reasons. However, the main reason behind this trend is a bit more justifiable when companies were asked why they were concerned about outgoing employee e-mail.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2315
Special to The Daily Record
Forrester Research recently released a comprehensive survey of 294 U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees concerning e-mail usage in their corporate environments.
During the last year, almost 33 percent of the companies have fired an employee for inappropriate usage of corporate e-mail, and over half the companies have disciplined an employee for the same types of infringements.
Currently, 38 percent of companies surveyed employ staff to analyze or read outgoing messages. This statistic may make many employees bristle, if they happen to be using corporate e-mail services for personal reasons. However, the main reason behind this trend is a bit more justifiable when companies were asked why they were concerned about outgoing employee e-mail.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2315
Negotiation Strategies for Entrepreneurs
Negotiation skills – an increasingly important part of virtually every aspect of business and life – are especially valuable to entrepreneurs engaged in growing their companies.
This month, Kauffman eVenturing features new articles to help emerging business owners become better negotiators in their daily and longer term business dealings. The articles include “Negotiation for Mutual Gain” by William Ury, distinguished global expert and co-founder of Harvard Law School’s program on negotiation. Ury explains how to enable both sides in a negotiation to gain by expanding (rather than dividing) the economic pie.
Click here to read this month’s collection on Kauffman eVenturing.
This month, Kauffman eVenturing features new articles to help emerging business owners become better negotiators in their daily and longer term business dealings. The articles include “Negotiation for Mutual Gain” by William Ury, distinguished global expert and co-founder of Harvard Law School’s program on negotiation. Ury explains how to enable both sides in a negotiation to gain by expanding (rather than dividing) the economic pie.
Click here to read this month’s collection on Kauffman eVenturing.
2006 Congressional Procurement Conference
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Procurement Conference will highlight the many opportunities that exist in the private and public sectors, at the federal, state & local levels. Special sessions will be devoted to the many new programs geared towards helping small/mid-size; women; and minority businesses to succeed in winning procurement contracts. Opportunities of referrals to organization with programs that would assist you getting the services you need to develop and grow.
The annual Congressional Procurement Conference & Expo, presented by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, is intended to help small, mid-sized, women and minority businesses to get a piece of the procurement pie.
Speakers include: Gloria Berthold: Government Business Development; Herbert Jordon: Minority Business Opportunities; Lockheed Martin, Ft Deitrick, GSA, Montgomery County, Clark Construction and many more!
More Information:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2305
The Procurement Conference will highlight the many opportunities that exist in the private and public sectors, at the federal, state & local levels. Special sessions will be devoted to the many new programs geared towards helping small/mid-size; women; and minority businesses to succeed in winning procurement contracts. Opportunities of referrals to organization with programs that would assist you getting the services you need to develop and grow.
The annual Congressional Procurement Conference & Expo, presented by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, is intended to help small, mid-sized, women and minority businesses to get a piece of the procurement pie.
Speakers include: Gloria Berthold: Government Business Development; Herbert Jordon: Minority Business Opportunities; Lockheed Martin, Ft Deitrick, GSA, Montgomery County, Clark Construction and many more!
More Information:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2305
Tax Bill Contains Tax Withholding On Payments To Contractors
Inserted into the massive tax bill passed in May, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (H.R. 4297) signed by President Bush, is a new requirement mandating a 3% tax withholding on payments to contractors for goods and services provided to federal, state, and local governments. This new requirement could be potentially devastating to small federal contractors.
The provision does the following: requires tax withholdings at a rate of 3% on payments for products and services made by the federal government, as well as State and local governments with contracting expenditures of $100 million or more; imposes burdensome information reporting requirements on payments that are subject to the withholding; does not apply to payments for government employee wages, interest, real property, tax-exempt entities, foreign governments, classified contracts, and intra-governmental payments. The provision applies to payments starting in 2011.
The impetus for this provision came from five recommendations issued in Treasury’s Bluebook that was released with the President’s budget in February addressing the Tax Gap. The Treasury estimates this new requirement will result in raising $225 million in the next four years for the U.S. Treasury. WIPP is getting involved with a coalition headed up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to address this provision. WIPP will continue to keep you informed of this issue.
The provision does the following: requires tax withholdings at a rate of 3% on payments for products and services made by the federal government, as well as State and local governments with contracting expenditures of $100 million or more; imposes burdensome information reporting requirements on payments that are subject to the withholding; does not apply to payments for government employee wages, interest, real property, tax-exempt entities, foreign governments, classified contracts, and intra-governmental payments. The provision applies to payments starting in 2011.
The impetus for this provision came from five recommendations issued in Treasury’s Bluebook that was released with the President’s budget in February addressing the Tax Gap. The Treasury estimates this new requirement will result in raising $225 million in the next four years for the U.S. Treasury. WIPP is getting involved with a coalition headed up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to address this provision. WIPP will continue to keep you informed of this issue.
New Kauffman Index
New Kauffman Index Presents State of Entrepreneurship in America
A national assessment of entrepreneurial activity by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation provides some eye-popping numbers. The new report shows that there were 464,000 people creating new business each month in 2005 – a rate of 0.29 percent of the total adult population. Besides year-to-year changes in entrepreneurship activity, the Kauffman Index -- defined as the percent of the adult U.S. population of non-business owners who start a business as their main job each month -- captures long-term trends. While the 2005 figure is actually down slightly from the previous year, it is equal to the average rate for the past ten years.
All stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute Content from this newsletter may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship and a link to www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2307
A national assessment of entrepreneurial activity by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation provides some eye-popping numbers. The new report shows that there were 464,000 people creating new business each month in 2005 – a rate of 0.29 percent of the total adult population. Besides year-to-year changes in entrepreneurship activity, the Kauffman Index -- defined as the percent of the adult U.S. population of non-business owners who start a business as their main job each month -- captures long-term trends. While the 2005 figure is actually down slightly from the previous year, it is equal to the average rate for the past ten years.
All stories © 2006 The Public Forum Institute Content from this newsletter may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship and a link to www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde.
Full Story: http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2307
GSA Has New Leadership and DHS Awards 32% Less
Doan Takes Oath of Office
Source: GSA Press Release
Lurita Doan Assumes Role as GSA AdministratorWednesday May 31, 4:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Lurita Doan took the oath of office, becoming the 18th Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Mrs. Doan is the first woman to hold this position. President George W. Bush nominated Mrs. Doan on April 6, and the Senate confirmed her nomination on May 26. U.S. District Court, Federal Judge, the Honorable Richard W. Roberts administered the oath of office at GSA headquarters with Mrs. Doan's husband, Doug, her two daughters and other family members, friends and GSA employees in attendance.
Full Story:http://www.targetgov.com/Content.asp?id=2308
GSA Solicits Input on IT Contracts Worth $65 Billion
By Jenny Mandel
The General Services Administration on Thursday released a draft request for proposals for its long-delayed Alliant and Alliant Small Business contracts, two governmentwide information technology vehicles together valued at $65 billion over 10 years.
The draft RFP is the second to be released for this work; GSA first announced the two Alliant contracts in early 2004 and issued a draft proposal in March 2005. The procurement dragged on through delays and leadership changes, however, and the agency decided to reassess, leading to a February 2006 announcement of new plans for the contract.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34228&dcn=e_gvet
DHS Awards 32% Less Than Last Year In State, Local Grants
By Jonathan Marino
The Homeland Security Department on Wednesday announced that it has awarded $1.7 billion in grants this year to help states and localities combat terrorism and respond to disasters, representing a 32 percent decrease over grants awarded the previous year. DHS officials said they received applications for more than $5 billion in grants, but funding cutbacks forced them to re-evaluate some programs and make reductions. According to DHS documents published online, the department awarded more than $2.5 billion in grants in fiscal 2005. "We're dealing with significantly less money this year," said Tracy Henke, DHS' grants and training assistant secretary.
Summer: Doldrums or Sales Boon
"Our summer is extremely busy,"
"I expect some robust fiscal-year-end buying."
"Nearly $2 billion is sitting in vehicles that will probably be spent before Sept. 30."
"We see a fair amount of task order activity going on."
"Movement on procurements that were stalled earlier in fiscal 2006 provides another lift for summer sales."
These quotes came from an article on FCW.com which is listed as story number four, "Integrators brace for summer onslaught". Why are these companies seeing the summer months as a boon to their government sales while others are crying the blues about low sales or missed opportunities?
Generally, the successful people know how to work the federal sales cycle, they understand the importance of relationship-building and they are not afraid to aggressively pursue business opportunities when everyone else is settling in with a vacation attitude. Which camp are you in? Which camp do you want to be in?
Proactive marketing to government agencies can open doors to fiscal-year end business opportunities right now. And, even more important, you and your team will benefit from every targeted contact you make right now and for the rest of this last quarter.
Successful Strategies to Increase Summer Federal Government Sales:
1. Develop a strategy to identify and target the agencies with budgeted money left to spend.
2. Create a "fiscal-year-end" sales campaign to stress the benefits, advantages and special offers your company provides
3. Identify the SPECIFIC PEOPLE is the agencies who have purchased your services/products in the past.
4. Set up an aggressive contact schedule to include phone, email, direct mail and fax (if allowed) to these specific people.
5. Follow-up until you close the sales.
TargetGov is your secret weapon to zero in on the people who are involved in making purchasing decisions – become a subscriber and start using it today! Call toll-free: 866-579-1346. Want to learn more first hand from the experts? Attend the TargetGov Teleconference.
Click here for date/time details.
"I expect some robust fiscal-year-end buying."
"Nearly $2 billion is sitting in vehicles that will probably be spent before Sept. 30."
"We see a fair amount of task order activity going on."
"Movement on procurements that were stalled earlier in fiscal 2006 provides another lift for summer sales."
These quotes came from an article on FCW.com which is listed as story number four, "Integrators brace for summer onslaught". Why are these companies seeing the summer months as a boon to their government sales while others are crying the blues about low sales or missed opportunities?
Generally, the successful people know how to work the federal sales cycle, they understand the importance of relationship-building and they are not afraid to aggressively pursue business opportunities when everyone else is settling in with a vacation attitude. Which camp are you in? Which camp do you want to be in?
Proactive marketing to government agencies can open doors to fiscal-year end business opportunities right now. And, even more important, you and your team will benefit from every targeted contact you make right now and for the rest of this last quarter.
Successful Strategies to Increase Summer Federal Government Sales:
1. Develop a strategy to identify and target the agencies with budgeted money left to spend.
2. Create a "fiscal-year-end" sales campaign to stress the benefits, advantages and special offers your company provides
3. Identify the SPECIFIC PEOPLE is the agencies who have purchased your services/products in the past.
4. Set up an aggressive contact schedule to include phone, email, direct mail and fax (if allowed) to these specific people.
5. Follow-up until you close the sales.
TargetGov is your secret weapon to zero in on the people who are involved in making purchasing decisions – become a subscriber and start using it today! Call toll-free: 866-579-1346. Want to learn more first hand from the experts? Attend the TargetGov Teleconference.
Click here for date/time details.
Slowed Security Clearances
Agencies may not meet goal of speeding security clearances
Government contractors and potential federal employees anticipating that the wait for security clearances will get shorter in December may be disappointed, industry officials are cautioning.
The 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act requires federal agencies to cut the wait for clearances to a maximum of 120 days for at least 80 percent of applications by the end of 2006. The deadline is a warm-up for 2009 deadlines that will require security clearances to be processed in 60 days and all Top Secret clearance requests to be completed in 120 days. But Trey Hodgkins, director of defense and intelligence issues for the Information Technology Association of America, said he doubts agencies will be up to the task.
"They are not even close to where they should be," he said. "They aren't anywhere in the ballpark."
Multiple intelligence sources said that when requests for a Top Secret clearance or for access to Sensitive Compartmentalized Information are handled through the Office of Personnel Management, they can take up to 18 months to process. An OPM spokesman, however, challenged that estimate, saying the agency's average time for an initial clearance investigation was closer to 150 days, or five months. "In fact, for Top Secret clearances with priority handling, the average processing time is only 53 days, [and] for all other clearance levels with priority handling, it's 64 days," said OPM spokesman Peter Graves.
Full Story:
http://www.govexec.com/
Government contractors and potential federal employees anticipating that the wait for security clearances will get shorter in December may be disappointed, industry officials are cautioning.
The 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act requires federal agencies to cut the wait for clearances to a maximum of 120 days for at least 80 percent of applications by the end of 2006. The deadline is a warm-up for 2009 deadlines that will require security clearances to be processed in 60 days and all Top Secret clearance requests to be completed in 120 days. But Trey Hodgkins, director of defense and intelligence issues for the Information Technology Association of America, said he doubts agencies will be up to the task.
"They are not even close to where they should be," he said. "They aren't anywhere in the ballpark."
Multiple intelligence sources said that when requests for a Top Secret clearance or for access to Sensitive Compartmentalized Information are handled through the Office of Personnel Management, they can take up to 18 months to process. An OPM spokesman, however, challenged that estimate, saying the agency's average time for an initial clearance investigation was closer to 150 days, or five months. "In fact, for Top Secret clearances with priority handling, the average processing time is only 53 days, [and] for all other clearance levels with priority handling, it's 64 days," said OPM spokesman Peter Graves.
Full Story:
http://www.govexec.com/
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