Whether it’s year-end, or any other time during the year, you need to be on top of the federal market. The best way to do that is to have the tools in place, and do your research throughout the year. Waiting until the Request for Proposals (RFP) hits the street is a good way to poison your chances.

Set-Aside Alert hosts networking breakfasts throughout the year with small business program directors of federal agencies. What do they tell us time and time again? Know the agency. Know its mission. Understand the programs and go into meetings knowing how your skills and products can help meet the mission.

1. US Government Manual. (USgovernmentmanual.gov)

Where do you get that information on agency missions? My first choice for the last several decades has been the US Government Manual. Created bi-annually by the National Archives & Records Administration and distributed by the Government Printing Office, this handy guide focuses on every bureau of every agency in all three branches of government. It has organizational charts, mission statements, key officials, FOIA contacts, lists of regional and field facilities – just what you need to develop a targeted proposal.

And the best part is that it is now available online for free.

2. Long-Range Acquisition Forecasts by Federal Agencies.

Another key tool in your toolbox are the long-range acquisition forecasts posted by each of the major departments and independent agencies of the executive branch. These plans are developed at least annually via input from the agency contracting offices. They are required to be posted by Oct. 1 of each year, but not all agencies are timely. At presstime, forecasts by the Agriculture, Education and Energy departments were among those available. A few others, including Commerce’s, were not accessible yet. Some of these plans are updated semi-annually, quarterly or even more frequently.

Keep in mind that funding, resources assignments and other reasons can prevent the agencies from achieving the planned quarters for release of solicitations. However, these are real projects required for the ongoing operations of government. If they are not put out to bid as planned, they still represent projects that are priorities, so get prepared in advance and watch for them next quarter, or the one after that.

Links to most agency’s forecasts can be found on the Acquisition Central web site at http://acquisition.gov/comp/procurement_forecasts/.

3. Acquisition Central website: (Acquisition.gov)

The Acquisition Central web site is also the place to go for full-text of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and other agency acquisition regs. Links connect you to all kinds of useful regulatory and acquisition policy resources, and common components of agency websites, like the small business offices and business opportunities pages. Some of these links may be broken, but don’t despair. If the information was linked previously, it probably still exists but on another page so root around until you find it.

4. Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO.gov)

Besides current opportunities, what else can you find in the Federal Business Opportunities website, known as FedBizOpps? There’s lots of contract history and market intelligence locked up inside of FBO.gov. And it pays to go digging around in there before the next RFP/IFB hits the streets. By opening your search to the last 365 days or searching in the archives, you can find past opportunities that provide hints to success. For example, you may learn that Park Service construction opportunities in New Mexico are contracted out of Lakewood CO. You can ascertain that the Corps of Engineers uses numerous pre-negotiated MATOC contracts with one or multiple-year terms to handle recurring architect-engineering tasks, and the next opportunity to bid typically occurs in May, so spend the next few months getting your ducks lined up, meet the right people, get your resumes and SF330s in quick-response form.

5. Google.com search engine

Another similar trick is to search the title of the procurement on Google.com.. If this is a recurring requirement, you may find various references to previous announcements, including the work statement, who won, the price, etc. Although the procurements might not match 100%, you can still get ahead of your competition with readily available information (unless he’s done the same research already…).

Typically, the last few months of the calendar year are quieter than the rest of the contracting year. Use this time to research what’s ahead, and seek out those tidbits that will give you an edge. Learn the agency missions and pinpoint how you can help them meet those missions successfully. Get in the door early so they know you can do the work. And plan ahead, so that you’re not writing entire proposals at crunch time.

Good luck!

Tom Johnson is president and publisher of Set-Aside Alert, and a government contracting marketing consultant with 35 years of experience. He can be reached at tjohnson@setasidealert.com.