Sometime reader V. Bayer of New York, NY writes, “My seasonal job just ended and I’m back to government contracting.  There are a stack of requests for Letters of Supply, some from people I’ve never heard of.  What should I do?”  Great question, V.  Most companies want to have broad-based distribution channels so that their products have the best shot at getting in front of as many people as possible.  Giving out Letters of Supply, or allowing just anyone to be a re-seller, can make your firm as nervous as Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy.  Unless each and every re-seller is buying straight from you, your firm truly does not know from where the companies are getting their items. This could put you on a compliance hook over which you have no control.  Say that a distributor has a bad relationship with the dealer over non-payment or some other issue, your firm would then be on the hook for supplying the items, potentially entering a quagmire they didn’t have to be a part of.  On another front, the distributor could make false claims regarding a specific model’s TAA compliance.  If the re-seller has a letter from your company, the IG could try to bring them into it saying that they were a party to the false statements as well.  Do business only with those you know and stay alive on Saturday, as well as every other, night.