System for Award Management (SAM)
The System for Award Management (SAM) is a Federal Government owned and operated free web site that consolidates the capabilities in Central Contractor Registration (CCR)/Fed-Reg, Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). Future phases of SAM will add the capabilities of other systems used in Federal procurement and awards processes.
Both current and potential government vendors are required to register in SAM in order to be awarded contracts by the Government. Vendors are required to complete a one-time registration to provide basic information relevant to procurement and financial transactions. Vendors must update or renew their registration annually to maintain an active status. SAM is also a marketing tool for businesses. SAM allows Government agencies and contractors to search for your company based on your ability, size, location, experience, ownership, and more. SAM allows users to search for firms certified by the SBA under the 8(a) Development and Hubzone Programs. SAM also incorporates the ORCA system which is web-based system where the vendor provides required information about the firm (e.g., accounting procedures; travel policies) and verifies that the firm meets certain Federal requirements (e.g., complies with equal opportunity legislation).
SAM validates the vendor’s information and electronically shares the secure and encrypted data with the Federal agencies’ finance offices to facilitate paperless payments through electronic funds transfer (EFT). Additionally, SAM shares the data with Government procurement and electronic business systems. A vendor only needs to input business information in one database), which will then automatically populate the SBA database. Please note that if you are interested in receiving Small Disadvantaged Business, HUBZone, or 8(a) certifications, you will need to refer separately to SBA to complete that process.
Small Business Building Big
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) Bonding Education Program (BEP) partners with The Surety and Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) to help small businesses become bond ready. Becoming bondable is a challenge for many disadvantaged businesses and this program aims to help businesses grow by obtaining or building bonding capacity. The BEP is a hands-on, multi-component program designed to address what businesses need to do to become bond-ready, as well as one-on-one sessions with local surety bonding professionals to help in assembling the materials necessary for a complete bond application. This program is tailored to businesses competing for transportation-related contracts.
The Bonding Education Program’s mission is to increase small businesses’ economic competitiveness to maximize opportunities by becoming surety bonded and compete for transportation-related contracts through education and resources to understand risk management, safety, workforce development and company capabilities. The BEP is offered through DOT’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and its network of Small Business Transportation Resource Centers (SBTRC) around the county.
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA), an independent agency of the United States government, was established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies and other management tasks.
GSA employs about 12,000 federal workers and has an annual operating budget of roughly $20.9 billion. GSA oversees $66 billion of procurement annually. It contributes to the management of about $500 billion in U.S. federal property, divided chiefly among 8,700 owned and leased buildings and a 215,000 vehicle motor pool. Among the real estate assets managed by GSA are the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. – the largest U.S. federal building after the Pentagon – and the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center (which had previously been the Battle Creek Sanitarium run by John Harvey Kellogg).
GSA’s business lines include the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) and the Public Buildings Service (PBS), as well as several Staff Offices including the Office of Government-wide Policy, the Office of Small Business Utilization, and the Office of Mission Assurance. As part of FAS, GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) helps federal agencies improve delivery of information and services to the public. Key initiatives include FedRAMP, Cloud.gov, the USAGov platform (e.g., USA.gov, GobiernoUSA.gov, and Kids.gov), Data.gov, Performance.gov, and Challenge.gov.
GSA is a member of the Procurement G6, an informal group leading the use of framework agreements and e-procurement instruments in public procurement.
As the federal government’s landlord GSA’s Public Buildings Service, buys everything building-related: construction services and supplies, infrastructure, facility supplies and maintenance. Also, professional and technical services and consulting.
GSA is America’s only source solely dedicated to procuring goods and services for government. As an integral part of GSA, the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) possesses unrivaled capability to deliver comprehensive products and services across government at the best value possible.
The new Technology Transformation Service applies modern methodologies and technologies to improve the consumer’s experience with government by helping agencies make their services more accessible, efficient, and effective, and by itself providing services that exemplify these values. The Service builds, provides, and shares technology applications, platforms, processes, personnel, and software solutions to federal agencies in an effort to help them better serve the public.
Most GSA contracts require a company to be in business for at least two (2) years and show revenue of at least $25,000 per year. Other contracts require specific skills and experience (especially in technical and service contracts).
DNB
The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses.This number is assigned once our patented identity resolution process, part of DUNS Right methodology, identifies a company as being unique from any other in the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud. The D-U-N-S Number is used as the starting point for any company’s Live Business Identity, the most comprehensive and continually updated view of any company in the Data Cloud.
D-U-N-S Numbers are often referenced by lenders and potential business partners to help predict the reliability and/or financial stability of the company in question. D-U-N-S, which stands for data universal numbering system, is used to maintain up-to-date and timely information on more than 300 million global businesses. The D-U-N-S Number also enables identification of relationships between corporate entities (hierarchies and linkages), another key element of Live Business Identity and commercial risk assessment practices. The D-U-N-S Number has been likened to a Social Security Number for businesses. Although it is not issued by the government, it can be used similarly.
The D-U-N-S Number is used around the world to identify and access information on businesses. A D-U-N-S Number identifies a company’s Dun & Bradstreet business credit file, which may include firmographic data (company name, address, phone number, etc.), corporate family relationships (headquarters, branches, subsidiaries, etc.), and scores and ratings that assess different financial health indicators. Taken all together, this profile of information is called the Dun & Bradstreet Live Business Identity. Potential partners and lenders can request a business credit report about your business using your D-U-N-S Number or other business identifiers. Equally, you can use the D-U-N-S Number to access the same information about any company with which you might wish to work.
The information in your Dun & Bradstreet credit report comes from the Live Business Identity of your company, enabling informed decisions about whether or not to work with your company and to what extent or under what terms. D-U-N-S Number assignment is FREE for all businesses that are required to register with the US Federal government for contracts or grants.
