Government Procurement
The Office of Government Contracting (GC) works to create an environment for maximum
participation by small, disadvantaged, woman, Veteran and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned small
businesses in federal government contract awards and large prime subcontract awards. GC also
advocates on behalf of small business in the federal procurement arena.
The federal government purchases billions of dollars in goods and services each year. To
foster an equitable Federal procurement policy, it is the policy of the Congress and it is so
stated in the Small Business Act, that all small businesses shall have the maximum practicable
opportunity to participate in providing goods and services to the Government. To ensure that small
businesses get their fair share of Federal procurements, the President has established an annual 23
percent Government-wide procurement goal to small business concerns, small businesses concerns
owned and controlled by service disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small business concerns, small
business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and
small business concerns owned and controlled by women. The individual program goals are: 5 percent
of prime and subcontracts for small disadvantaged businesses; 3 percent of prime and subcontracts
for Hubzone businesses; and 3 percent of prime and subcontracts for service-disabled veteran-owned
small businesses. The SBA negotiates annual procurement preference goals with each Federal agency
and reviews each agency's results. The SBA is responsible for ensuring that the statutory
government-wide goals are met in the aggregate. In addition, large business prime contractors
are statutorily required to establish subcontracting goals for veteran-owned small businesses as
part of each subcontracting plan submitted to the Government in response to a prime Federal
contract opportunity.
GC administers several programs and services that assist small businesses in meeting the
requirements necessary to receive government contracts, either as prime contractors or
subcontractors. These include the Certificate of Competency, the Non-Manufacturer Rule Waiver,
and the Size Determination programs. The office also oversees special initiatives such as the
Women's Procurement program, the Veteran's Procurement program, the Procurement Awards program, and
the Annual Joint Industry/SBA Procurement Conference.
Resources and Opportunities – Contact your local SBA district office of visit:
http://www.sba.gov/GC/indexwhatwedo.html
Federal Agency Procurement Forecast
http://www.sba.gov/GC/forecast.html
SBA Contacts and Representatives:
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Subcontracting Opportunities Directory: Contains a listing of Prime Contractors
doing business with the federal government:
http://www.sba.gov/GC/indexcontacts-sbsd.html
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Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACS): The Defense Logistics Agency, on
behalf of the Secretary of Defense, administers the DoD Procurement Technical Assistance Program
(PTAC). PTA Centers are a local resource available that can provide assistance to business firms in
marketing products and services to the Federal, state and local governments.
http://www.dla.mil/db/procurem.htm
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Procurement Center Representatives: SBA's Procurement Center Representatives
(PCR), who are located in area offices, review and evaluate the small business programs of federal
agencies and assist small businesses in obtaining federal contracts and subcontracts.
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TPCR – Traditional Procurement Center Representative – TPCRs increase the small
business share of Federal procurement awards by initiating small business set-asides,
reserving procurements for competition among small business firms; providing small business sources
to Federal buying activities; and counseling small firms.
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BPCR – Breakout Procurement Center Representative – BPCRs advocate for the
breakout of items for full and open competition to effect savings to the Federal Government.
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CMRs – Commercial Marketing Representatives - CMRs identify, develop and market
small businesses to large prime contractors and assist small businesses in identifying and
obtaining subcontracts.