CCR UPDATE RE: FAR CASE 2008-027

There is an update in CCR that you will want to be aware of.  When you log into CCR, you will notice a yellow exclamation mark indicating missing or invalid data.  This new request for information is due to the National Defense Authorization Act Section 872 and implementation through FAR case 2008-027. This new requirement is meant to improve the Government’s ability to evaluate the business ethics and expected performance quality of prospective contractors and protect the Government from awarding contracts to contractors that are not responsible sources. The information will be accessible by authorized Government officials through the Federal Awardee performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) which will also include information from contracting officials about your firm’s performance on past contracts as well as links to the Excluded Parties List System.  FAPIIS is designed to improve the Government’s ability to evaluate the business ethics and expected performance quality of prospective contractors and protect the Government from awarding contracts to contractors that are not responsible sources.  You can view the FAPIIS information for your firm through the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) at www.ppirs.gov .

Although this rule is not effective until April 22, 2010, it appears it has already been implemented. You can view the regulation at  http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docuamentDetail?R=0900006480ac6199

USDOE 11^TH Annual Small Business Conference & Expo

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization will host the 11^th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA.  May 10-12, 2010.

An exhibit hall with 200+ exhibitors/sponsors, as well as business matchmaking sessions, over 1600 attendees will represent all levels of federal, state, and local government agencies, the small business community, large/prime contractors, minority  educational institutions, and many more.

The largest civilian contracting agency within the Federal government, DOE spent over $30 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2009.  The 11^th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo is a great opportunity for Small Business owners, large companies, and universities alike to network and partner.

For more information, visit the official Department of Energy website @ http://smallbusiness.doe.gov/business/index.htm

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Are you wondering where all the stimulus money has gone?  Want to know who has paid all of it or any of it back?  Do you know if any stimulus money came to your community?  The good news is there are answers out there.  

To find stimulus projects in your neighborhood, check out http://stimuluswatch.org . You can find, discuss, and rate the projects in your city.  Search by state or city, recipient, or federal agency. The website offers tutorials to help you navigate the information.

A site that was set up to offer transparency and accountability is http://www.fedspending.org .  The ‘recovery’ tab allows searching of over 160,000 reports from recipients of the 159 billion dollars in contracts, grants and loans awarded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

The U.S. Government’s official website related to Recovery Act Spending is http://www.recovery.gov .

Why Outsource Your Invoicing?

The short answer is, so you can concentrate on your business. After all, you probably did not get in to government contracting to monitor invoices or learn the federal finance systems, design comprehensive fund tracking reports or to continually consult with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).

By outsourcing your invoicing to Federal Resource Solutions, you maximize efficiency with experienced federal invoicing professionals doing all the research, the paperwork, the discussions and everything else involved with keeping your companies federal government account receivables running smoothly.

REGISTERING IN CCR

Following are the four key items you will need before beginning registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) site. 

1)      Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number provided by Dun and Bradstreet (D&B), if requested over the phone, DUNS is provided immediately.  Webform requests take 1-2 business days.  Request a DUNS number at www.dnb.com .

2)      Tax Identification Number (TIN) and taxpayer name used in Federal tax matters.  A TIN is either an Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a Social Security Number (SSN) assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are registering as a sole proprietor.

3)      Statistical Information about your business.  You will be required to provide the receipts and number of employees on a world-wide basis, which includes all affiliates.  Information on your organization’s profile location is optional.  Organizations that sell or generate electricity, refine petroleum, or that are financial institutions will be required to provide additional data. 

4)      Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Information for payment of invoices.  You will need to provide your bank routing number, account number, Automated Clearing House (ACH) point of contact, Remittance point of contact and Accounts receivable point of contact.     

CCR registration will take 3-5 business days to complete.

If you are looking for contract opportunities with the Federal Government, check out www.fbo.gov. The site now contains Recovery and Reinvestment Act actions. You can search more than 31,000 active federal opportunities. The site provides demonstration videos to familiarize you with features and functionality of the FBO site for vendors such as finding Recovery Act funded opportunities, general overview & searching for opportunities and more.

Registering is made simple as the fields populate by pulling the information from your CCR registration when you enter your DUNS number.  When you have completed your registration you will receive an email approximately 4 hours later.  Click on the link at the bottom of the email and you will be ready to sign in as a vendor on the FBO site.

Some of the more advanced functionality of this site are the watch lists and search agents to assist you in your searches.  The watch lists allow you to develop lists of specific solicitations you are interested in so that you can check back at any time without having to perform searches again.   With saved searches, once you set up the parameters of a search you can save it so that you can run it again without having to take the time to set it up again.

Procurement Fair

Federal Resource Solutions attended the 1^st Annual Interior Regions Procurement Fair March 22, 2010 in Fairbanks Alaska sponsored by Procurement Technical Assistance Centers of Alaska.  Federal Resource Solutions, President, Heather Knowlan, headed up the breakout session for Wide Area Work Flow.   Heather presented to a full house regarding the navigation of WAWF for Department of Defense contractors, helping them to recognize some of the ‘gotchas’ that may hold up payment from DFAS.  The feedback from the session was very positive.

Federal Resource Solutions was honored to be invited to the conference and is looking forward to future PTAC events.  Carolyn Pratt, Program Manager, Gary Bushor and Jody King, Procurement Counselors and all the coordinators did a fantastic job making this conference very successful.   PTAC, SBA, Small Business Development Center of Alaska and the Associated General Contractors of Alaska all contributed to a powerful networking event and sharing of invaluable information.  These are events that you can rub elbows with other small businesses in your area and Contracting Officers.  The insight the Contracting Officers provide can be the leg up you need to get that next contract.

While in Fairbanks, the FRS team visited the World Ice Art Championships Ice Art 2010 presented by Ice Alaska.  Ice is harvested from the local O’Grady Pond for the competitors to sculpt in either the single block or multi block classics.  The sculptures are absolutely amazing.  Should you ever have the opportunity to visit Fairbanks, perhaps for the 2^nd Annual Interior Regions Procurement Fair, make sure to make time to visit the Ice Sculptures.

The Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) is a federally funded agency that provides assistance to companies that want to contract with federal, state and local government offices.  I like to think of them as the Small Business Administration (SBA) specific to government contracting.  They can help you assess what programs your business qualifies for and help you navigate the application and certification processes.  They also work with local businesses to provide informative free or reduced rate classes specific to operating a business (i.e.…payroll, Insurance and bonding, WAWF training).

Local PTAC and SBA offices are typically the first points of contact from various agency Contracting Officers looking for qualified contractors.  Building a relationship with your PTAC Procurement Counselors is a great step to having an advocate that knows which projects might be a good fit for your business.  Their assistance can be an invaluable tool. 

There are PTAC offices all across the United States and their national website link is http://www.aptac-us.org.

FRS is excited to post this maiden voyage blog to kick off our daily posts and get the conversations started.  Our team is constantly reading and learning about different federal contracting programs and innovative business management.  We want to provide relevant information that keeps our clients and associates well informed and a forum to have knowledge building conversations.

Why a blog? :  Blogs provide a conversation that is available to you when you want to join in.  It is also a targeted vehicle for specialized information.  You chose which blogs you want to read, that is the beauty of social media versus your email box being inundated with information that is not of interest or informative to your daily work or personal life. 

What will be in FRS’s blog? : Our clients span the various contractor categories from Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOB), Veteran Owned (VOB), Woman Owned (WOB), 8 (a) and small to medium sized Businesses.  We will be providing information and updates to new opportunities.  As well as providing small business insights. 

Join in the conversation.