Fed Contracting June 26 2009 Final

How to Market and Develop Business with the Federal Government ABC Virginia Continuing Education June 26, 2009 Ashley McCarron Campbell, Marketing Project Lead Balfour Beatty Construction – Washington, DC Dave Carrithers, Vice President of Marketing Centennial Contractors Enterprises - Vienna, VA

A Little Help In Fed Translation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4roXEY8hk

You Can’t Market To Federal Clients

All The Decisions Are Made In DC

You Can’t Talk To Contracting Officers (KOs)

It Is To Hard To Get In The Door & Too Do Work

Myths Of Federal Marketing

You Must Market To Federal “Individuals”

Over 90 Percent Of The Buying Decision Is At The Local Sites/ Zones/ Regional Level

You Must Find And Build A Relationship With The Local Contracting Team

Think Differently, Think Long Term – Must Build A Record Of Past Performance – Start Small

Must Network

The Truth

IDIQ – Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contracts

MACC/MATOC – Multiple Award Construction

Design-Build - (75% or greater of all new construction going this way in Federal environments)

Design-Bid-Build

Job Order Contracting (JOC) – Focuses on Renovation and Repair

GSA Schedule

Types Of Contracts

SAME – Society Of Military Engineers

http://posts.same.org/belvoir/

http://www.same.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3657

DBIA – Design-Build Institute Of America

http://www.dbia.org/conferences/expo/

USACE Small Business Fairs

http://usacesbconf.org/2007/PDF/Presentations/

National Contract Management Association

http://www.ncmahq.org/

Federal Allies Institute

https://www.federalallies.org/

National Institute Of Building Sciences

http://www.nibs.org/AnnualMeeting/index.html

Where To Meet Live Feds

1. Personal Side: Building A Personal Connection To The Organization, The People and Their Needs

2. The Protocol/Tactical Side: Following Procurement Procedures and Processes

Two Sides To The Same Coin

Side Note:

Do Not Debate FARS

Need To Say Thank You Formally, Recognition of KO KEY

Not An Overnight Result

Less Than $25k can award on the spot

Important To Remember

Important To Remember What Is Your Value Statement?

Multiple Federal Agencies

Department of the Navy

Department of the Army

U.S. General Services Administration

Others

Department of the Air Force

Department of Veterans Affairs

Department of Transportation

Department of Homeland Security

And many more (over 100 different federal agencies and branches of agencies)

Federal Clients

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)

Mission is to provide facilities and public works to the Navy, Marine Corps and other DoD agencies

Six business lines:

Capitol Improvements

Public Works

Environmental

Asset Management

Expeditionary

Contingency Engineering

Department of the Navy www. navfac .navy.mil/

NAVFAC Organization

NAFAC Atlantic Command – seven reporting Facilities Engineering Commands

NAVFAC Europe

NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic

NAVFAC Midwest

NAVFAC Northwest

NAVFAC Southeast

NAVFAC Southwest

NAVFAC Washington

NAVFAC Pacific Command – three reporting Facilities Engineering Commands

NAVFAC Far East

NAVFAC Hawaii

NAVFAC Marianas

NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic (MIDLANT)

Headquartered at the Norfolk NAS in Norfolk, Va.

Serving Maine to North Carolina

Commanding Officer Cpt. David Boone

Over $1.5 billion a year in services

Business lines offered

Capitol Improvements (CI)

Environmental (EV)

Asset Management (AM)

Public Works (PW)

NAVFAC Washington

Headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard

Commanding Officer Cpt. James Stader

Over $1 billion a year in services

Serves 11 major claimants, 23 Naval activities and 18 other DoD clients, including:

Anacostia Annex

National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda

NSA Annapolis

U.S. Naval Academy

Marine Corps Base Quantico

NSA Patuxent River

Andrews AFB

Bolling AFB

WHS

NCPC

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

Headquartered in Washington, DC

Mission is to provide public engineering services and strengthen U.S. security and economy, and reduce risk from disasters

Design, construction and management of facilities for the Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air Force and other DoD agencies

Provides Civil Works and Military Programs

Majority of employees are civilian

USACE Organization

Eight permanent divisions

South Pacific

Northwestern

Southwestern

Mississippi Valley

Great Lakes and Ohio River

South Atlantic

Pacific Ocean

North Atlantic

Department of the Army http://www.usace.army.mil/Pages/Business.aspx

USACE North Atlantic Division (NAD)

Headquartered at Fort Hamilton in New York

Maine to Virginia (including the District)

Six districts

New England

New York

Philadelphia

Baltimore

Norfolk

Europe

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

Among other services, GSA provides workplaces by constructing, managing and preserving government buildings and by leasing and managing commercial real estate

Multiple offices (23) under GSA, the most relevant to us is the Public Buildings Service (PBS)

PBS initiatives include:

Design and construction

Leasing

Donate or sell real estate for federal agencies

Support sustainable design initiatives

Preserve historically significant buildings

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)

Regions:

Northwest/Arctic

Rocky Mountain

Pacific Rim

The Heartland

Greater Southwest

Southeast

Mid-Atlantic

Great Lakes

New England

Northeast and Caribbean

National Capital

GSA Mid-Atlantic Region

Serves:

Delaware

Maryland (excluding PG and Montgomery Co.)

Southern NJ

Pennsylvania

Virginia (excluding Northern Virginia)

West Virginia

Europe, Africa and the Middle East

U.S. General Services Administration http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_OVERVIEWandcontentId=8106 http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?P=FX8&contentId=11887&contentType=GSA_OVERVIEW

GSA National Capital Region (NCR)

Serves Federal agency clients in:

Washington, DC

Montgomery and PG counties Maryland

Cities of Falls Church and Alexandria Virginia

Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties

LOCATING OPPORTUNITIES

www.CCR.gov – primary database for the Federal government to store data for all agencies

www.defenselink.mil – official website of the DoD and a good starting place for finding information regarding the military

www.defenselink.mil/contracts - a listing of $5M+ contracts updated each day

www.acq.osd.mil – DoD Dept. of Small Business Programs website; excellent source of information regarding small business contracting

www.NAVFAC.navy.mil

www.USACE.army.mil

www.GSA.gov

www.BRAC.gov

Informational Websites and Resources

Federal agencies procure contractors through a single source – the Federal Business Opportunities website

www.FBO.gov

Also contains American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA aka stimulus projects) opportunities

Extremely powerful tool if utilized correctly

Locating Opportunities

Getting started with FBO

No registration is required, but by doing so you can use search agents, have a watch list and see interested vendors lists

To register you’ll need:

DUNS number

To be registered in the CCR

TIN / MPIN

Create a username and password

Log in as a Vendor / Citizen

FBO.gov

Quick Search – you can use this function for a simple search without logging in.

FBO.gov – Searching Without Registration

Type in key words. The most recent results will show first.

construction

Quick Search results

Click on an opportunity to view details

Note basic elements of a notification

Synopsis provided

Complete view of all information and modifications provided

General information is provided on the right

Further down the screen you’ll notice points of contact

If you have questions regarding a notice, the Contracting Specialist or Officer (CO) will assist you

Side Note: Excellent Way To Build A Starting Point For A Contact– Maybe Not On This RFP But It Is OK To Call And Ask About Past Awards, Future Needs, Introduce Your Self

Perform an advanced search

Return to your results page

Click on the Advanced Search tab

Type in key words

Choose document type (active)

If you want to search by a specific agency, click the option button and choose a specific Federal agency; you will then have the option to choose a specific office location

Choose the opportunity/procurement type

Narrow by dates

Zip code can be set

Choose a set-aside code if you are a small business

Check all classification codes of interest

Choose your NAICS Code

Choose whether or not to include ARRA opportunities

Search for opportunities by agency

FBO.gov – Full Utilization

Home page, once logged in

View Watch List

Allows you to mark projects that you are interested in

FBO will send you updates if the notices of these projects are modified

You can add any notice to your Watch List by clicking the Add to Watch List button

Set up search agents

Allows for quick access to frequently used searches

FBO can auto-run your search agents as directed

TIPS FOR PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Parts and Pieces of a Standard RFP

Each Federal agency uses a specific format for Request for Proposals (RFP), also referred to as a Request for Qualification (RFQ) in Phase I of a two-phase procurement

RFPs differ not only by agency, but by delivery method and procurement type

Design-Build vs. DBB vs. Construction Manager for Construction (CM@Risk)

Best value vs. price only

Typical components include:

Contractor qualifications

Past performance on relevant projects

Technical approach

Organization charts

Key personnel

Subcontracting plans/utilization of small business

Tips for Developing a Winning Proposal

Identify “win themes”

What are the differentiators that make your firm stand out from the competition?

Experience

Price

Approach

Relationships

Teaming experience

Give them what they want!

Lay out your proposal response strictly following the structure of the RFP

Include all information, even if it is requested in multiple areas

Be clear, concise and to the point

Sell your firm, but remember this isn’t a “sales pitch” – use hard evidence of success, not just boilerplate

Respect all page limits, guidelines and due dates – no late proposals!

Use graphics and visual aids where possible

Always check your references before including contact information

Submit RFIs if the RFP is unclear, always respecting FAR

Tips for Non-prime Contractors

If you are a subcontractor interested in working on design-build pursuits with a Prime contractor:

Identify a target team early in the procurement

Reach out to strong, existing relationships

Don’t make your first contact with a Prime be a phone call to request to be on their team – design-build is about relationships

Establish your qualifications – why should you be a key team member?

Understand the project and identify unique value-added services you can bring to a team, as well as your scope of work

Identify possible interested firms, both prime and non-prime, by networking and through the Interested Vendor tab of FBO

Understand the level of commitment (are you going to be exclusive?)

Be positive and persevere. Get your foot in the door by going above and beyond on a pursuit and you could become a go-to team member.

If you’re a small business, consider your status a benefit to the team and position your firm accordingly

To pursue opportunities with Balfour Beatty, please register with us to be prequalified.

http://www.balfourbeattyus.com/Subcontractors.htm

If you are a small business and need assistance, please feel free to contact our Small Business Administrator, Layli Pietri. She can also provide you with information on how to become SB certified with the Federal government if you meet the requirements and need guidance.

Layli Pietri Small Business Administrator 703-218-1338 [email_address]