Find Government Prime Contractors for Government Subcontracting

Marketing your business to a government prime contractor is much like selling to any other entity. You have to find customers who can use your goods or services and convince them that your company is a capable vendor.

When preparing to pursue government subcontracts, a company must examine its strengths and weaknesses and determine its competitive advantage. A quick way to evaluate your potential strengths for government subcontracts is to find similar companies already doing work for government prime contractors. Compare their operations to your capabilities. Make sure you have the necessary credentials required of government contractors: licenses, proof of insurance, worker’s compensation certificates and reference contacts. Also, acquire any necessary professional certificates and accreditations that might help build your credibility for government subcontracts.

Questions to Ask When Preparing to Subcontract for Government Prime Contractors

• What are your company’s main strengths and weaknesses?
• Where is your company most efficient and cost-effective?
• How well known are you within your industry and with government prime contractors?
• What are your customer service strengths and weaknesses?
• Can you demonstrate to government prime contractors that your products or services are of the highest quality?
• Can you provide support for your products?
• Can you meet government prime contractors deadlines?
• Can you handle unusual rules and regulatory red tape?
• Will subcontracting for government prime contractors take resources away from your existing customers?
• Can someone within the company be the lead contact person for government prime contractors?

How to Find Government Prime Contractors For Government Subcontracting

Once you have a clear idea of your company’s infrastructure and goals, it’s time to start hunting for government prime contractors.

Contact government agencies that may benefit from your product. Try to locate a small-business liaison who can answer your questions on government subcontracting. Agencies often maintain lists of their prime contractors, sometimes even posting these lists on the Internet.

Business development organizations and small business agencies will offer valuable advice and contact information. The Small Business Administration (SBA) publishes a Small Business Subcontracting Directory that lists large federal government prime contractors along with contact information. The SBA also has commercial market representatives who help small businesses find government subcontracting opportunities with large government prime contractors.

Don’t forget your own industry resources. Often government prime contractors are obligated by their contract with the government to actively recruit small businesses for government subcontracts. To locate potential partners, government prime contractors often contact trade associations, business development organizations, industry conferences and trade fairs.

Talk to big government prime contractors. A handful of massive government prime contractors control large amounts of the government contracting trade. Often they have their own small-business liaisons and provide materials explaining how to do business with them. If a government prime contractor has a liaison, make sure you talk to that person before you attempt to contact a contracting manager.

Surf the Net. Often contractors, agencies, and other entities post details about government subcontracts online, including current contract awards, sample contracts, subcontracting plans, contact information and other valuable data. A time efficient way to find comprehensive government subcontracting data is to subscribe to Onvia’s government business intelligence data. Through tools like Onvia’s, you can quickly access government business intelligence around government contracts that fit your specific business.

Network. Do you have friends or colleagues who have worked as government prime contractors or government subcontractors? Use them as resources for leads and insight on government subcontracting.

Make sure you’re in the know when it comes to government subcontracts. Check your local papers regularly for news about upcoming public sector projects and contracts. If the county needs a new recreation center built, the prime that wins the job will undoubtedly need subcontractors. Many local, state, and federal governments now post news about upcoming projects and recent contract awards on their Web sites. Once again, searching a lot of web sites can be time consuming. A government business intelligence company can send you a daily email that notifies you of all government contracts that contain your product or service. Click here to get five free leads tailored to your business.

Michael Haltman said,

March 12, 2009 @ 6:01 am

My firm is a woman owned small business, and we are exploring ways in which to help prime vendors meet their small business set aside requirements for their government contracts. This is our situation:

We do not have a specific product that we manufacture, but through our many years in business have strong partner relationships with both distributors and manufacturers of a wide range of products. We are specifically looking for opportunities to help Contract Officers fulfill their micro-purchase and simplified acquisition purchases while helping the vendors meet their own requirements..

We are looking to become problem solving solutions providers to both Contract Officers and Prime Vendors, and are trying to determine the best way to go about this.

Thank you for any thoughts on this.

Mike Haltman

Linda Haltman, CEO Cage#: 5BT57
Michael Haltman, President DUNS#: 619003200
Exeter Commercial LLC

editor said,

March 13, 2009 @ 10:19 am

Hi Mike,

First of all, it’s important to remember that your firm will most likely not be eligible for many government contracts or subcontracts directly - there’s a mandatory requirement that a subcontracting company perform a certain % of the work with its own workforce.

I’d suggest using the SBA’s Federal Procurement Scorecard to find agencies that aren’t currently meeting their set-aside goals. For more on this, read Small Business Opportunities with the Federal Procurement Scorecard. Once you’ve targeted your agencies, start building marketing relationships with the procurement officers.

You can also use vendor research to find prime contractors who regularly compete for contracts at your target agencies. Most primes are looking to improve their proposals by including small business. Onvia’s Vendor Research tool might be a good fit for you - I’ll make sure to pass your dilemma on to someone who can tell you a bit more about the tool.

Emrah Seyhun said,

March 14, 2009 @ 11:40 am

To Whom It May Concern,

We have been working at Incirlik US AB for nearly 20 years. We accomplished variety of works for US Air Force, U.S. Army and Halliburton, AMEC at Iraq ( Camp Speicher, Tikrit),KBR at Iraq(Camp Spiecher, Tikrit, Tallil AFB, Tallil Camp Warrior, Kerkuk) and VBR at Turkey, Incirlik NATO and U.S. Air Force Base) as well as Turkish government and private contracts.
Artek Cons. Co. have opened a branch in Kabul and registered our company to AISA(Afghanistan Investment Support Agency) and Bagram Contracting Office .

We are looking for Prime contractors in AFGHANISTAN and GEORGIA.
Repectfully,

editor said,

March 16, 2009 @ 8:15 am

Hi Emrah,

Onvia’s database currently only covers opportunities in the U. S. However, many of the tips from the article above still apply on an international level. Make use of the contacts you’ve made during your previous contracts - good customer service on a government contract is a great way to win more government contracts.

Sayed Mansoor said,

April 26, 2009 @ 9:35 pm

Dear Sir:
I would like to work as a subcontractor in your projects like General
construction, Design, Survey, Geo technical and Transportation in all
provinces of Afghanistan.
My Company has a professional Staff like Designer, Surveyor, Civil
Engineer, Road Engineer and etc.
and modern equipments.
If you need please contact to me.

Thanks

Sayed mansoor (Sayed Zada)

GCEC president

Anonymous said,

July 18, 2009 @ 5:38 pm

may i pls ask if subcontracting is allowed?

editor said,

July 20, 2009 @ 10:37 am

Not sure exactly what you mean - subcontracting is almost always allowed on government projects, though.

HCV MEDICAL said,

September 5, 2009 @ 8:20 pm

To whom it may concern;

We are a medical waste disposal company, and a document shredding company looking to find the prime contractors for each of these business in hope to establish a sub-contracting relationship with them. If you could steer us in the right direction in finding out who the prime contractors are we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank You

editor said,

September 10, 2009 @ 7:49 am

Thank you for your interest! An Onvia Government Contracting Specialist will be in touch with you to discuss how Onvia can help your company find and market to government prime contractors.

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