Government Bids & Contract Awards 2009

The White House Office of Management and Budget recently announced a series of government contracting reforms that are slated to save $40 billion a year. The reforms are taking a 3-pronged approach, targeting improved acquisition, workforce management, and contractor accountability. Government contractors can do themselves a huge favor by following this sort of contracting news – it helps you plan your resources to be as competitive as possible with your government bids.

Government Bids – What’s Changing in 2009

In an effort to reduce waste, part of the contract reform initiative requires government agencies to reduce total contract spending by 7% over the next 2 years. Some of the ways the OMB suggests agencies achieve this goal include:

• Ending unnecessary contracts, by terminating existing contracts and rescinding RFPs for new contracts that are deemed wasteful or unnecessary.
• Striving to purchase at lower prices for both goods and services.
• Revamping contract processes to change criteria for what gets contracted out, including a drastic reduction in sole-source and cost-reimbursement contracts, which are deemed high-risk for overspending.
• Increasing in-house capabilities, so more tasks are performed by government agency personnel rather than by contractors.

This reduction in contracting activity will reduce the number of total government contracts available at all levels of government. This will mean that there will most likely be more government bids submitted for each available contract – in some cases a few more, but in some cases a lot more. Staying competitive will be more important than ever.

In order to combat these new increased levels of competition, use government business intelligence to find out what other companies submit government bids for contracts your company has won or would like to win. You’ll need to tailor your government bid to highlight your strengths in comparison to your competitors’ weaknesses. In a time of increased competition, it’s vital to find out about upcoming projects as early as possible, so you can make smart decisions about whether or not to submit a bid. For more on this topic, read Bidding on Government Contracts – To Bid or Not to Bid?

Government Contract Awards – What’s Changing in 2009

Contract reforms aren’t stopping with the government bid; focus on waste reduction and best value will continue once government contracts have been awarded. Going forward, all US government agencies will be required to post contractor performance evaluations of all contracts in PPIRS (the Past Performance Information Retrieval System). While the FAR already required US government agencies to consider past performance information when awarding a contract, officially requiring government agencies to use PPIRS will increase the amount, frequency and level of detail in government contract performance reviews.

Once you are awarded a government contract, it is now more important than ever to provide excellent value to the government agency. This will mean top-notch customer service, transparency in reporting, and coming in at or under budget whenever possible. Your performance on government contracts will now not only affect your ability to win future contract awards with that agency, but also with other US government agencies, who will now have more access to your performance information. For more on this topic, read Great Customer Service Today Will Mean US Government Contracts Tomorrow.

Allen McClellan said,

September 19, 2009 @ 9:46 am

Interested in winning government contracts. Insured, experinced offering my services to meet all you needs.
Thank-you

eddie l jones jr said,

October 1, 2009 @ 8:50 am

i’am a contractor through ccr who is looking for a contract in the field of music and recording and performing arts.please contact me at; 216-721-0519 or at 10321 olivet ave.cleveland,ohio 44108.

editor said,

October 23, 2009 @ 12:44 pm

Now is a great time to be targeting government contracts for increased revenue. I’ll have an Onvia contracting expert contact you.

Seliofferse said,

November 25, 2009 @ 2:37 pm

Credit you for details. It helped me in my responsibility

editor said,

November 30, 2009 @ 11:20 pm

@Seliofferse Thanks for the comment. Glad we could help.

Anthony Coates said,

January 3, 2010 @ 6:53 am

list of textile contracts with u.s. government

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