The government is getting less bang for its procurement buck due to the high rate of inflation. This means potentially fewer projects for contractors or smaller opportunities than those they had originally been tracking. Companies already know that the price of goods has increased, requiring them to pass along increases to customers. Similarly, a tight labor market Read more
Filling out spreadsheets and double-checking records are not most people’s idea of fun. It’s much more fun to bring in new business, put earned money in the bank and maybe even congratulate the team for a good quarter. Yet, a failure to keep good records may mean that you have to give back some of the money you put in the bank when discrepancies arise over whether your company complied with all of its reporting, sub-contracting, and other contract Read more
Just reading the headline here likely gives some readers dark or interesting ideas about where this article is headed. We’re not going there. Instead, it is vitally important to remember that Congress can do things to you or for you. Here are three steps every federal contractor should take to ensure that their elected officials know about their business.
1. Establish a Relationship: This is actually easier to do than most people think and it does not require a trip to Washington. Did you know that every Member of Congress and every Senator have offices in their district or state? They even visit the main offices regularly. Call or email the scheduler and make an appointment for when your official is in town. Most elected officials want to hear Read more
Customer Experience (CX) is the new major focus area for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), according to remarks made by Deputy Commissioner Tom Howder at the recent Coalition for Government Procurement Spring Conference. Everything that FAS does will be looked at through the lens of CX. In addition, FAS has three “North Stars”: 1. Deliver value to customer missions; 2. Create and support innovative, compliant, and resilient marketplaces; and 3. Make it easier for industry to do business with FAS. This includes easier contracting and better post-award support from GSA. Howder’s themes were echoed throughout the conference by GSA speakers. Assistant Commissioner for the IT Category Laura Stanton reiterated that her office Read more
GSA keeps pushing back deadlines for agencies that have not yet transitioned their telecommunications infrastructure to the EIS contract, despite contracts being awarded nearly five years ago and a 100% transition deadline of September 30th. That deadline will not be met as the agency most recently invoked the EIS contract’s Continuity of Service (COS) clause that will allow the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice to have until May 31, 2024 to transition, with only an MOU on how that will done in place by the end of the current fiscal year. This move comes after multiple other GSA actions giving smaller agencies more time to transition and extending legacy contracts out that EIS was supposed to replace. Read more