Column: Thinking outside the (FAR) box

Looking to expand your Federal marketing base? Are you anxious to target new prospects in the government sphere?

Small business executives usually focus sales and marketing efforts on the major departments and executive agencies. Those organizations publish their opportunities daily in FedBizOpps. Their procurements follow the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Their purchases can be searched on USASpending.gov and the Federal Procurement Data System.

But there is another set of Federal government targets that are not covered by the FAR.

Many of them do not post their opportunities in FedBizOpps and do not report to the Federal Procurement Data System, so you may not notice their existence. Yet they require goods and services just like DoD or EPA does.

They issue contracts and spend considerable amounts of money in accomplishing their individual missions. Some of them, like FAA, have large staffs, operate in many locations, lease and build buildings, have major information technology needs and are good targets for small business contractors.

The FAR applies to most (but not all) executive branch agencies and to many independent organizations, as well as many wholly-owned government corporations. The corollary is that the FAR does not apply to legislative and judicial branch agencies, some independent organizations, mixed ownership government corporations and a portion of the wholly-owned government corporations. See FAR 2.101 Definitions (https://goo.gl/hD34tb) for applicability, along with 31 U.S. Code 9101 (https://goo.gl/U14Tpv) for explanations.

Executive Branch

The Federal Aviation Administration and the US Mint are two of the few executive branch agencies that have been granted exemption from the FAR. (The Transportation Security Administration was also exempt when it was first created, but it was brought under the FAR in 2008.) Under their respective policies, many opportunities are not posted to FedBizOpps, and the use of set-asides and the applicability of the Small Business Act are unique to those agencies. FAA has its own opportunities posting site at https://faaco.faa.gov/. Instead of RFPs, the agency issues Screening Information Requests (SIRs). It maintains its own small business data base for prospective suppliers; register at http://www.sbo.faa.gov.

Legislative Branch

Looking at the legislative branch, not only the House of Representatives and the Senate are outside of the FAR, but also the Government Publishing Office, GAO, the Library of Congress and the Architect of the Capitol.

Judicial Branch

On the judicial branch side, the primary management organization is the Administrative Office of the US Courts. This organization is responsible for implementing policies and providing oversight of Federal district and bankruptcy courts, but the individual courts play a significant role in acquiring products and services for that specific court’s operation. The AOUSC plays a lead role in the IT infrastructure of the courts system nationwide. The General Services Administration provides utilities, facilities management and grounds keeping services to courthouse buildings around the country.

Wholly-owned Corporations

The US Postal Service, Ex-Im Bank, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Federal Prison Industries and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation are examples of wholly-owned government corporations. The Tennessee Valley Authority and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, as well as the Millennium Challenge Corporation are also in this group. Some of them advertise on FedBizOpps but others do not.

Mixed-ownership Corporations

The “mixed-ownership Government corporation” category includes the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and other influential federal financing organizations.

“Quasi-governmental” Organizations

There are some quasi-governmental corporations that are not specifically covered by the FAR but which have robust small business outreach efforts and are “small business-friendly”. Case in point is the Smithsonian Institution, which operates not only the museums on the National Mall but also the National Zoo, the Udvar-Hazy center, two museums in New York, and ancillary support facilities in West Virginia and elsewhere. Smithsonian has awarded many construction projects as well as facilities management, IT, security and other services contracts.

GSA Schedule Contract provisions

Do you already have a GSA Schedule contract? One of the key tools for selling commonly-used supplies and services to the Federal government is through a multi-year contract awarded under the GSA multiple-award schedule program. These contracts may be used by any executive branch agency, but also by legislative, judicial, and independent agencies and even wholly-owned and mixed-ownership government corporations. There are numerous other eligible users including the Government of the District of Columbia, international agencies and in certain instances, disaster response agencies, and non-profit agencies for the blind and handicapped. The eligible users are described in GSA Order ADM 4800.2H (http://goo.gl/MPKH2f).

In Summary

Make it a point this year to think outside the (FAR) box to find additional federal prospects.

Tom is president of Business Research Services and publisher of Set-Aside Alert. He has been an observer of federal procurement most of his career. E-mail him at tjohnson@setasidealert.com.

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Column: Thinking outside the (FAR) box

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