DATA Act Resources

Resources

Reporting and Compliance

1. The General Services Administration Interact community for the Integrated Award Environment is located at https://interact.gsa.gov/group/integrated-award-environment-iae-industry-community.

To learn more about the Federal government’s efforts to transition to an integrated workforce tool for managing Federal awards;
To join the IAE industry community group and provide input into the structure of the new environment;
To ask additional questions about participating in any focus groups email iaeoutreach@gsa.gov.

2. For information on the primary reporting requirements contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, download the Inventory of Reporting Requirements.

3. For information on registering to do business with the Federal government, visit www.sam.gov.

4. For assistance with any of the tools used to register to do business with the Federal government, view contracting opportunities, or report subaward information, visit www.fsd.gov.

Small Business Participation
1. I am new to the federal marketplace, where can I go for help understanding the Federal procurement process, and to get a better sense of what doing business with the federal government entails?

SBA provides free online training that can help you understand the process. SBA’s training is located on their website: www.sba.gov. Click on the tab “Learning Center.” You will find the option for “online training” that includes “Government Contracting 101,” which is designed to help small businesses understand how the government buys goods and services. Other training includes: how to prepare government contract proposals, understanding the small business contracting programs, Business Opportunities, A Guide to Winning Federal Contracts, and other classes to help you build your business.

2. What’s a NAICS code?

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) classifies businesses for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. economy. The NAICS industry codes define establishments based on the activities in which they are primarily engaged. Find your NAICS here: http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/.

3. How do I know if I’m a small business?

SBA uses NAICS codes as a basis for determining the size standard of a business and apply to federal procurement. You can use SBA’s tool, http://www.sba.gov/tools/size-standards-tool?ms=nid4070, to help you determine if your business is considered small in a particular industry or you can review SBA’s Table of Small business Size Standards here: http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-size-standards.

4. I have registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and need to know how I can find government contracting opportunities with the Federal government?

The Federal Business Opportunities website, https://www.fbo.gov/, lists opportunities. The website provides training on its use here: https://www.fbo.gov/demos/vendor-training/.

You may also want to talk with the agency’s director of small business (known as the OSDBU) or the small business specialists. The OSDBUS play an important role in the agency to help small businesses navigate the procurement process. The list of each agency’s Small Business Directors can be found here: http://osdbu.gov/members.html.

5. I would like to talk with a real live person for help in understanding what I need to do to win a government contract, where can I go?

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) provide a wide range of government contracting help such as: Determining Suitability for Contracting, Securing Necessary Registrations, including GSA’s System for Award Management (SAM), SDB, 8(a), HUBzone and other certifications, Marketing, Researching Procurement Histories, Networking, Identifying Bid Opportunities, Proposal Preparation, Contract Performance Issues, and Preparing for Audit. Find a PTAC in your state: (PTACs) http://www.aptac-us.org/find-a-ptac/?state=VA.
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. SBDC advisors provide aspiring and current small business owners a variety of free business consulting and low-cost training services including: business plan development, manufacturing assistance, financial packaging and lending assistance, exporting and importing support, disaster recovery assistance, procurement and contracting aid, market research help, 8(a) program support, and healthcare guidance. SBDCs are hosted by leading universities and state economic development agencies, and funded in part through a partnership with SBA. Find an SBDC in you state: http://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/sbdc.

6. I am an woman owned business and would like to know more about getting WOSB set-aside contracts, where can I get help?

Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) provides entrepreneurs (especially women who are economically or socially disadvantaged) comprehensive training and counseling on a variety of topics in several languages. Find a WBC in your state: http://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/wbc.

7. I own a minority business, where can I go to get help winning government contracts?

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) helps to create and sustain U.S. jobs by promoting the growth and global competitiveness of businesses owned and operated by minority entrepreneurs. MBDA hosts business centers across the country where minority-owned firms seeking to grow their business can access experts who can help you. The list of MBDA business centers are found here: http://www.mbda.gov/businesscenters.

8. How else can I get experience with government contracting?

Subcontracting to a prime government contractor can be a good way to participate in the contracting process. To find subcontracting opportunities, go to SBA’s SUB-Net database, where you will be able to review the site to identify subcontracting opportunities that are in your area of expertise. SBA’s SUB-Net database: http://web.sba.gov/subnet/search/index.cfm.

Archived Campaigns

All Ideas
1. Reporting and Compliance

Campaign 1: Reporting and compliance requirements - Currently, the Federal Government requires businesses to fill out a lot of complicated paperwork to do business with us. We know we can do better. We want to know what you are seeing – where can we reengineer paperwork and systems, eliminate duplicative reporting, reduce the frequency of reporting, and/or change outdated requirements? Please help us with our improvements by providing ideas and input on the following questions:

Question 1: What reporting or other compliance requirements are most burdensome and why?

Question 2: How would you streamline reporting and compliance requirements? (please cite or describe specific examples if you can)

Question 3: What other compliance information are you providing to the federal government outside the procurement process that could be used to reduce duplication?

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Expired on 05/05/2014
2. Procurement Rules and Practices

Campaign 2: Procurement rules and practices - We know entities doing business in the private sector have best practices and we’re anxious to learn about and replicate in the Federal Government wherever possible. We want to hear about innovative approaches to contracting that align with your business practices.

Question 1: What are the most effective ways to encourage innovative offers and best solutions?

Question 2: How can we reduce the cost of transactions for contractors?

Question 3: What are the best ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of acquisitions for information technology?

Question 4: What procurement rules or practices are most effective and which are least effective and why?

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Expired on 05/05/2014
3. Small Business Participation

Campaign 3: Participation by small and minority businesses and non-traditional government contractors - We know many businesses lack the resources and expertise to participate in the Federal marketplace. We welcome feedback – especially by entities that are not participating in Federal contracting – to understand what steps we can take to make your participation possible.

We welcome feedback on how to increase participation in Federal contracting.

Question 1: How can we make doing business with the government easier and less costly for small businesses, minority businesses, new entrants, and non-traditional government contractors?

Question 2: If you are a small business, minority owned business, or new entrant, what features of the federal acquisition system are most helpful and which are least helpful to you?

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Expired on 05/05/2014