51 Firms Chosen For COMMITS GWAC Fifty-one companies won spots on COMMITS Next Generation, the governmentwide acquisition contract set aside for small IT firms. The contract has a ceiling of $8 billion over 10 years. More than 400 companies competed for pieces of the action, Commerce Department officials said. COMMITS NexGen is the successor to the original COMMITS, the first set-aside GWAC. Fifteen of the 58 vendors on that contract won places in the new one. In NexGen, the Commerce Department divided the vendors into three size categories and will permit a firm to compete for task orders only against others of similar size. Tier I companies are those certified in NAICS codes with $6 million or $12.5 million size standards; they will be allowed to compete on task orders worth up to $5 million. Tier II covers size standards of $21 million or 500 employees; those companies will be allowed to compete on orders valued between $5 million and $70 million. Tier III companies, those certified at 1,500 employees, will only be allowed to compete on orders worth more than $70 million. An incumbent contractor may compete for work in any tier. The contract includes “off ramps” for companies that outgrow one of the tiers to move up to a higher one or for firms that outgrow small business size standards to be dropped from the GWAC. Commerce will require contractors to recertify their size every three years. If a proposed SBA rule requiring annual recertification is adopted, it would supersede the three-year rule. In addition, “on ramps” will allow new companies to join the contract to replace those that graduate. The first open season will be conducted after no less than three years.