We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. Now that the elections are over, it’s time to start a new year with a new effort. We’re going to start the year off with a look at how to research more federal bid opportunities.

It’s great to go to a Procurement Technical Assistance Center, but you really should learn how to find out what government agencies are going to buy in the future. Companies that have not read this article will be out of the loop because we are going to give you information that will give you an advantage.

Sample 1 is an example of what you can find on the web. There are many government websites that can help you research what agencies are looking for. It often takes time, but it can be very rewarding. Here are some of the forecasting websites you might be interested in.
 

Department of Energy:

http://hqlnc.doe.gov/forecast

Redstone Arsenal:

www.smdc.army.mil/2008/AcqForecast.asp

TACOM, Rock Island Arsenal:

https://aais.ria.army.mil

US Army Material Command, RIA:

www.amc.army.mil/pa/smallbusiness.asp
 

These are just a few of the many websites you can go to. Sample 2 is an acquisition forecast from the Defense Supply Center Richmond. I picked a short one that can give you some idea what you might see.

You can see from the Sample that you can garner a lot of valuable information from this search, such as what the item is, when it will be bought and how many items will be bought. And best of all … you get to see the history of what they bought and how much they paid for it.

The Department of Defense site is www.defenselink.mil. This link is a portal to other sites that will give you more information.
 

Networking and Face-to-Face Meeting

The Internet is a wonderful tool for contracting research. You can see thousands of opportunities and contracts the government and its prime contractors are working on. You can research and lose sleep because there is so much information out there. It’s great, but it’s not the only answer. There are still face-to-face meetings and networking opportunities you must pursue. If you are in business, take out a map and draw a circle in a radius of one day’s travel by car from your location. Look for all the federal facilities within this radius. I bet you will be surprised just how many lie within easy access.

There is no replacement for face-to-face contact with government procurement personnel. Government workers are ordinary men and women just trying to do their job. Most are very good at what they do and like talking to vendors - that’s you.
 

E-mail Lists

I am on several mailing lists. Yes, I do get lots of e-mails, but in my business and in yours, information is king. If I was not on the mailing list, I would not have received this:
 

Chief, Office of Small Business Programs

U.S. Army Sustainment Command and Joint Munitions Command1 Rock Island ArsenalRock Island, IL 61299-6500 Subject: 2008 TACOM LCMC APBI - Agenda Now Available 2008 TACOM LCMC APBI Hyatt Regency Dearborn Dearborn, MI October 22-24, 2008

The TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) Advance Planning Briefing for Industry (APBI) will provide broad based business planning information to industry relating to future TAC OM LCMC plans, programs and acquisition opportunities. TACOM, the Program Executive Officers (PEOs), and other appropriate TACOM Life Cycle Management Command organizations will present market opportunities and plans to include research and development efforts, procurement of major end items, secondary items, maintenance, and other system support business.

This is an opportunity to find out who is buying and what they are procuring. Get into that circle and get on every government e-mail list you can find. Find major buying agencies that are within a day’s driving distance and contact their Small Business Offices. If you are working with a PTAC and are on their bid service, have them add a search for "conferences and workshops" to your profile so you will know what is going on around you.

Over the 35 years I have been helping businesses get government contracts, it amazes me how many companies will chase a contract 1,000 miles away yet forget about a major facility just around the corner. It’s not the company’s fault. It’s the impression that you have to go to the other end of the country to find work. Try networking and developing a database of contacts that are federal government-related. Talk to your peers and find out if they are doing anything with the government, who they work with and how you can contact them.

Comments