Savvy Selling Teleconference

Savvy Selling Expert Michelle Nichols on Effective Sales Strategies and Your Most Powerful Business Development Tool: A Strong Capability Statement

Expert Speaker: Michelle Nichols
Michelle Nichols is the sales columnist and podcast host for BusinessWeek.com, with readers in over 50 countries. She is also a consultant and professional sales speaker. Michelle increases the sales and profits of orgaizations by understanding their unique situation and applying her cutting-edge thinking to create powerful results as a sales speaker or consultant.

Making Your Capability Statement Stand Out From the Crowd
Your Capability Statement should be the strongest business development tool in your toolkit. A well done Capability Statement will open doors to great business opportunities. A poorly done Capability Statement will slam the door before you get to square one.

Click here for more details and to register for this NO Cost teleconference!

Attend this teleconference and learn The Five Key Mistakes to Avoid plus:
1. The key features of a great Capability Statement
2. How to create a Capability Statement that can be used for more than one agency or prime contractor
3. The differences between Core Competencies and Differentiators
4. The ideal length of a Capability Statement
5. The difference between a Capability Statement and a Capability Brief, and when to use each
And much more…

Attendees will receive the exclusive TargetGov Capability Statement Toolkit, a 20+ page document detailing a sample Capability Statement, specific instructions to craft your best business development tool and over 200 contacts within federal agencies to which to send it.

Click here for more details.

Do Business with Intelligence Agencies

05/10/07 Opening the Door to Intelligence Agency Contracting

Thusday, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST. Check you local time zone for details. This introduction to the 15 federal intelligence agencies covers their processes, what procurement vehicles are most often used and other details for building profitable relationships at these more secretive agencies. Register Now

Learn how to determine if you need security clearances, how to get them, the teaming alternative, where to find specific decision makers and how to build an effective business development strategy.

Click here for more information

SBA Women Contracting Study Complete

STUDY ASSESSES WHETHER WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSESARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING

A RAND Corporation study examining whether women-owned small businesses are underrepresented among firms contracting with the federal government finds that the results vary depending on the way the measurement is made.

The study, conducted for the U.S. Small Business Administration and issued today, is the most thorough analysis done to date of whether women-owned small businesses are underrepresented among firms awarded contracts by federal agencies.

Researchers found that when they examined the total number of contracts awarded, women-owned businesses were underrepresented in more than half of the industry categories studied for federal purchasing during 2002, 2003 and 2005.

However, researchers found that when the dollar value of the same federal contracts was the measurement standard, there was little evidence women-owned small businesses were underrepresented.

“These findings provide policymakers with new information about how to judge whether women-owned small businesses are underrepresented among federal contractors,” said Elaine Reardon, lead author of the study and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
While contracting by women-owned businesses has risen over time, it has not yet reached the target set by Congress of 5 percent of prime and subcontract contract dollars for each industry category. Women-owned small businesses accounted for 3.3 percent of the totals in 2005, the last year studied.

Most studies examining whether disadvantaged businesses are underrepresented among federal contractors have focused on the number of contracts awarded. If disadvantaged firms receive fewer contracts than their total representation in the industry studied, they are deemed to be underrepresented.

RAND researchers broadened their analysis of women-owned small businesses by also examining the dollar value of federal contracts awarded to businesses in different types of industries. Researchers wanted to see whether the dollar value of contracts awarded to women-owned small businesses was in proportion to their representation in individual industries.
Researchers used both methods to analyze federal contracts awarded to women-owned small business across broadly defined industries such as manufacturing, construction, education services and health care.

The study also addressed concerns that large firms may be obtaining small business contracts. Researchers used Dun and Bradstreet business information to define small firms as well as data on size from the federal government. The effort did not change findings about industries where women-owned small businesses are underrepresented.

The federal government encourages small and disadvantaged business, including small businesses owned by women, to seek federal contracts.

The study was conducted under the Kauffman-RAND Institute for Entrepreneurship Public Policy. The Kauffman-RAND Institute is dedicated to assessing and improving legal and regulatory policymaking related to small businesses and entrepreneurship in a wide range of settings.

The study, titled “The Utilization of Women-Owned Small Businesses in Federal Contracting,” is available at www.rand.org.

Learn More

Full Document

Small Business Goal May Increase to 30%

Small Business - Procurement: The House Small Business Committee unanimously reported a bill to reauthorize the SBA’s government contracting programs. Among other things, it would raise the small business prime contracting goal from 23% to 30%, redefine contract bundling, and apply procurement goals to overseas contracts. Another provision would prohibit agency-level procurement goals from being less than the government-wide goal. If implemented, this provision would have the greatest effect on the Department of Energy, whose 2005 prime contract goal was only 5.5%. The bill is expected to reach the House floor in May.

Small business interests are still protected

We did it!
Small business interests are still protected

For everyone that was concerned about the provisions buried in the Iraq funding bill, we as small businesses, are safe for now. Here’s a few excerpts from recent news articles in the Maryland Daily Record www.mddailyrecord.com
Please log onto their site for the full stories.

Set-aside prohibitions are defeated
LOUIS LLOVIO
Daily Record Business Writer

“…Congress stripped language from the final version of the Iraq war-spending bill sent to the president that would have done away with set-asides for small businesses and forced them to compete with larger companies for federal contracts. Sections 5001 and 5002 of the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, Katrina Recovery and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007 would have prevented agencies that dole out more than $1 billion a year in government contracts from using set- asides in their procurement process.

Gloria Berthold, president of TargetGov at Marketing Outsource Associates Inc., a Baltimore government procurement consultant, worries that the issue could pop up again in other legislation. “What’s really scary is the thinking behind it,” she said...

Previously reported:
Defense bill imperils set-asides
As the nation kicks off National Small Business Week, a little-noticed section of the Iraq military appropriations legislation is working its way through Congress that could essentially strip away federal government set-asides and pit small businesses against multinational corporations for government contracts.

The standards instruct government agencies that award more than $1 billion in contracts annually to “develop and implement a plan to minimize the use of contracts entered into” other than by competitive means. That would eliminate set-asides, which are contracts awarded specifically to small businesses.

In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees dated April 16, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass. and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, who sit on the Senate’s Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, warn that small businesses could “effectively be driven out of the federal procurement process” if the section stands. “This language, while well intentioned,” the senators wrote, “has the potential to summarily invalidate all federal contracting set-aside programs and preferences for all small business concerns.”

“At stake here is nothing less than the loss of $80 billion in federal contracts currently received each year by small businesses all across America,” the senators wrote. But small business groups are hoping to defeat the measure before it gets to the president.

If the standards do survive, Gloria Berthold, president of TargetGov at Marketing Outsource Associates Inc., a Baltimore government procurement consultant, said they would abolish safeguards that allow small businesses to compete for lucrative government contracts.

“These new procedures would eliminate government contractors who are small businesses” she said. She is also concerned that even if the sections are defeated, now that they have been approved once, they will work their way back into other legislation. “What’s really scary is the thinking behind it,” she said. “It is a crisis, and even if the president vetoes the Iraq funding bill, in which this nasty piece of legislation is buried, this will resurface.”

Crisis -- Small Business & Government Contracting

This just came in. It is VERY IMPORTANT that every small business (under 500 employees and/or under $23 million revenues) involved in government contracting be aware that federal contracts for small businesses may be drastically cut:

"...A letter from the Senate Small Business Committee alerted us to a provision in the House-passed version of the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill, H.R. 1591, that threatens all federal contracting set-aside programs and preferences for small businesses. Katie Kilby in our DC office has put together an overview of the provisions and we wanted to pass on this information to you.

Specifically, Title V, Sections 5001 and 5002 attempt to minimize sole-source contracts and cost-reimbursement type contracts at the expense of small businesses.

Section 5001 directs the head of each agency to develop and implement a plan to minimize the use of contracts entered into using procedures other than competitive procedures by the agency concerned. The plan shall contain measurable goals and shall be submitted to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This section would apply to all Federal agencies with over $1 billion in total contracts. Small businesses would have to bid directly against large corporations.

Section 5002 requires agencies to minimize the use of cost-reimbursement type contracts in favor of fixed price contracts. This section applies to agencies with contracts totaling $1 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Section 5001 especially threatens the programs that the small business community has worked so hard to get and would even invalidate the woman-owned goals that the Federal agencies currently have.

H.R. 1591 is set to go to conference between the House and the Senate. Senate conferees have been named and the House is expected to name conferees soon.

Click here for the letter from both Olympis Snowe (R) and John Kerry (D)

Click here for H.R. 1591 Sections 5001 and 5002

These are the letters I faxed to Chair Byrd and Ranking Member Cochran. I left them in a Word doc so you can copy the body. Please personalize the attached letters to reflect your own message. Be sure to put your personal information at the bottom including name, business, city and state and how they can contact you. We suggest you put this letter on your company letterhead.

Fax both letters to the Senate Appropriations Committee Office at the following numbers:
Chairman Byrd (202) 224-2100 or 202-228-0002
Ranking Member Cochran (202) 228-0904

ACT NOW! For more information, please contact:

Andrea C. Cianfrani
Director, Advocacy
Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
888.488.WIPP phone
acianfrani@wipp.org
www.wipp.org

Deadline: Phase 1 DHS SBIR Proposals

The DHS SBIR program opened its 7.1 pre-solicitation on April 4, 2007

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program opened its 7.1 pre-solicitation on April 4, 2007 and is seeking Phase I proposals from the small business community. The pre-solicitation includes 10 topic descriptions that address research area needs throughout both the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO).

The topic descriptions cover the following research areas: chemical; biological; radiological; nuclear; explosives; command, control and interoperability; human factors; infrastructure protection/geophysical; and borders and maritime security.

The 7.1 pre-solicitation can be accessed via the Federal Business Opportunities web site at and the DHS SBIR web site at http://www.sbir.dhs.gov.

The 7.1 pre-solicitation will be open for 15 days. The full solicitation will then be open for 45 days. Contact with DHS staff regarding questions specific to the pre-solicitation should be addressed before the full solicitation opening date. Questions regarding the solicitation after the full solicitation release date is restricted for reasons of competitive fairness. Therefore, all questions after the full solicitation opening date must be submitted to faq@hsarpasbir.com. Responses will be posted on the DHS SBIR FAQ web site at http://www.sbir.dhs.gov for general viewing.

STTR proposals will not be sought in FY07

Proposals for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program will not be sought in FY07, as the annual DHS agency extramural budgets for research or research and development (R/R&D) is less than $1 billion, the minimum amount required to administer an STTR program.

BRAC National Teleconference Helps Entrepreneurs to Locate, Pursue and Win Government Contracts

The BRAC Process Translates to Billions in Contracting Opportunities: Learn How to Be Part of that Billion Dollar Opportunity

Baltimore, MD. The national teleconference “BRAC CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES UNCOVERED: How to Locate and Pursue the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Contracts”, will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 1:00-2:00pm ET (noon CT, 11 a.m. MT and 10 a.m PT). There is no wasted travel time and no travel costs as attendees participate from their own office over a live telephone conferencing system.

The BRAC process translates to billions in contracting opportunities throughout the United States for the businesses that know how to find, capture and perform for these special operations. Attend this TargetGov teleconference to learn the details of the upcoming BRAC opportunities in your area and throughout the entire U.S.

Attendees will also receive a 71 page exclusive BRAC Business Development Toolkit immediately upon registration. The Toolkit is loaded with specific contact information: names, emails, phones and addresses; web sites, maps and contract information relating specifically to BRAC business opportunities. For more information call 1-866-579-1346 or visit http://www.targetgov.com/ and click on the Teleconference button in the upper right hand corner.

Expert speakers will guide attendees through the BRAC contracting process. Dennis Smythe is a Retired Navy Civil Engineer Corps Officer / Government Contracting Officer with extensive government contracting, project management, and contract administration experience. He is President of a consulting company that provides strategic positioning, business development, proposal management, contract administration and comprehensive federal contracting expertise. Gloria Berthold is the President of Marketing Outsource Associates, Inc. (MOA) and its division, TargetGov; the TargetGov division focuses on government procurement and related business development services. She is the author of “The Veterans Pocket Guide to Government Business” (book) and she has created a series of Government Business Guides highlighting various federal agencies.

Contract opportunities will be covered for Personnel and Human Resources Support, Intelligence, Operational Security, Facility Security & Support , Operations and Training & Support, Logistics Support , Civil Military Operations & Planning Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Construction (roads, buildings, finish), Facilities Planning, Management & Support Resource Management and Finance, Military Community Activities, Public Affairs and Public Relations , Organization-wide Management Support, Strategic Visioning/Planning, Strategic Business Planning and Implementation, Process and Program Reviews, Process Development, Training and Integration, Project/Program Management, Installation Management Integration, Change Management/Communication Planning, Workload/Reorganization Planning, Environmental Process Integration, Environmental Survey, Environmental Transitioning, Environmental Mitigation, Real/Personal Property Disposition Planning/Management, Real/Personal Property Disposition, infrastructure Information Development and Management, Billing Process and Procedures, Utilities Privatization & Support, Housing Privatization & Support, Base Operating Infrastructure Transitions & Support, Mission Transition, Facilities Management and Workload Planning and other opportunities.

The cost of this teleconference is $119.00, which includes the teleconference and the 71 page exclusive TargetGov Teleconference BRAC Business Development Toolkit. If you cannot attend the teleconference, a CD of the session and the Toolkit will also be available for purchase.
TargetGov is a division of Marketing Outsource Associates, Inc., a full service business development and marketing firm. It is woman-owned, privately held company specializing in government contracting business development at federal, state and local levels. Ms. Gloria Berthold, president, is a government contractor and an expert author and speaker regarding government contracting. She has instructed contractors regarding government business development in recent teleconferences and procurement conferences and has been quoted in USA Today, Inc. Magazine and Government Executive Magazine. She may be reached through the web site: http://www.targetgov.com/ or at 866-579-1346.

Deadline: Phase 1 DHS SBIR Proposals

The DHS SBIR program opened its 7.1 pre-solicitation on April 4, 2007

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program opened its 7.1 pre-solicitation on April 4, 2007 and is seeking Phase I proposals from the small business community. The pre-solicitation includes 10 topic descriptions that address research area needs throughout both the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO).

The topic descriptions cover the following research areas: chemical; biological; radiological; nuclear; explosives; command, control and interoperability; human factors; infrastructure protection/geophysical; and borders and maritime security.

The 7.1 pre-solicitation can be accessed via the Federal Business Opportunities web site at and the DHS SBIR web site at http://www.sbir.dhs.gov/.

The 7.1 pre-solicitation will be open for 15 days. The full solicitation will then be open for 45 days. Contact with DHS staff regarding questions specific to the pre-solicitation should be addressed before the full solicitation opening date. Questions regarding the solicitation after the full solicitation release date is restricted for reasons of competitive fairness. Therefore, all questions after the full solicitation opening date must be submitted to faq@hsarpasbir.com. Responses will be posted on the DHS SBIR FAQ web site at http://www.sbir.dhs.gov/ for general viewing.

STTR proposals will not be sought in FY07

Proposals for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program will not be sought in FY07, as the annual DHS agency extramural budgets for research or research and development (R/R&D) is less than $1 billion, the minimum amount required to administer an STTR program.

Intelligence Adds Acquisition Deputy Director

Director McConnell Announces Organizational Changes at the ODNI

WASHINGTON, PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Director of NationalIntelligence Mike McConnell today announced organizational changes necessary to better position the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to effectively lead the Intelligence Community in the next stage of intelligence reform.

"We are moving forward on the next stage of intelligence reform, going beyond the initial progress made to better clarify responsibilities and authorities, create a true community of professionals, radically transform tradecraft, accelerate information sharing and modernize how we do business," said Director McConnell. "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is better organizing ourselves to effectively lead those efforts."

Highlights of these changes include:

* Elevating acquisition to a Deputy Director of National Intelligence level to increase technological agility and better posture the Intelligence Community to achieve acquisition excellence, streamline acquisition policies and processes, and enhance the professionalism of the acquisition workforce. The goal is to shorten development timelines and produce more reliable systems.

* Creating a new Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy, Plans and Requirements, with responsibilities primarily encompassing those of the current Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Requirements and the Assistant Deputy Directors of National Intelligence for Strategy, Plans & Policy, Training & Education, and Security.

* Establishing an Executive Committee (EXCOM) to provide policy inputs to support enhanced Intelligence Community coordination. This body will be composed of senior leaders in the Intelligence Community, the Under Secretary for Intelligence at the Department of Defense, and representation from the Departments of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security. The intent is to use the EXCOM forum to initiate, change, and end programs, policies, and capabilities.

In addition, the DNI will designate the Chief of Staff position as the new Director of the Intelligence Staff (DIS). The DIS will oversee the staff to ensure the effective integration and coordination of policy, positions and procedures across the functional domains of DNI responsibility. For example, all internal ODNI administration will now report directly to the Director of the Intelligence Staff.

Changes will be implemented immediately and are expected to be completed by mid-April. "These adjustments will result in an ODNI better able to make progress on the next stage on intelligence reform and support the needs of the Intelligence Community and our stakeholders," stated Director McConnell.

SOURCE Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary!

We are celebrating our 10th Anniversary!

Thank you to all of our clients and colleagues who have placed your trust in us. We pledge to do the best work possible and will look forward to working with you for years to come!

Very best regards, Gloria Berthold, President

PS: As a special thank you, use this code: 304495 at checkout for an additional 10% discount for any teleconference, CD, book or other TargetGov product!