FedGov 101:
How to register your interest
An educational booklet published by the Anne Arundel Tech Council and provided by Somatic Digital
The FedGov: The World’s Largest Buyer
Selling to the federal government, either directly or in partnership with other companies, involves a series of steps. Some are simple, like registering your company and its offerings in a database. Others are more complicated, like researching the market and responding to requests for proposals. But with knowledge, time and commitment, and by taking some training that is offered online, all the steps are manageable and can be successfully executed.
This guide is designed to show you what is involved in the first step of the process: letting the federal government know your company exists. The other steps are addressed in separate guides. Once you have registered your interest in selling to the federal government you have opened the door to a $300/billion-a-year market .
The more vendors in the database, the more it has to choose from when it seeks help. With hundreds of thousands of companies in the database, the government requires all companies to provide certain specific information in specific formats through specific vehicles. Let’s examine those information requirements and where you can get help in meeting them.
The basic information required by the government falls into three categories:
- information about you.
- information about your company.
- information about your products/services.
Aside from providing information simply to comply with the government’s requirements, there is an important business reason to do so. Identifying and categorizing yourself and your company (e.g., are you a woman or service disabled?; is your company small or minority owned?) may give you access to certain procurement (sales) opportunities that, by law, are limited to or “set aside” for companies of particular interest to the government. The companies are ones that share characteristics qualifying them for special designations. To learn more about these special preference programs, and the associated benefits, go to http://www.sba.gov/businessop/basics/identify.html on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website.
What follows is a checklist of the steps you need to take, and information you need to have about your company, to register with the federal government. Also listed are sources of online training to help you in registering.
STEP 1— Get information
North American Industry Classification System code
Standard Industrial Classification code
Small business size standard for your code
Obtain ALL at:
https://eweb1.sba.gov/naics/ dsp_naicssearch2.cfm
SSN or EIN
http://www.irs.gov/
DUNS Number
https://eupdate.dnb.com/requestoptions/government/ccrreg/
STEP 2 — Complete mandatory registration
Central Contractor Registration at: http://www.ccr.gov/
STEP 3 — Learn more about the procurement process and other registrations
OMB—Federal Acquisition Institute at:
http://www.faionline.com/kc/login/ login.asp?kc_ident=kc0001
GSA—Federal Supply Schedule at:
http://www.fts.gsa.gov/doing_business.htm
GSA—Center for Acquisition Excellence at: https://fsstraining.gsa.gov/kc/Securelogin/login.asp?kc_ident=kc0001
DOD—Defense Acquisition University at: http://www.dau.mil/performance_support/RDT.asp
(Select rapid training then training courses then online courses)
As you take this first step toward becoming a federal contractor you undoubtedly will have questions. Some will be answered by information you find on the websites you will visit, but you also may want to speak directly with a person. The following organizations exist to help you through the process and understand the overall federal procurement system. While there are other sources of help that exist, you may find it useful to start with these federal resources, especially (but not only) if you are a small business.
Agencies’ Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization — http://www.osdbu.gov/
DOD’s Procurement Technical AssistanceCenters — http://www.dla.mil/db/procurem.htm
SBA’s Small Business Development Centers http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/
This brochure was prepared by Somatic Digital, LLC, an AATC member. Somatic Digital’s technology enables a person to connect to and retrieve digital content (on the Internet, hard drive or free-standing optical media) just by pressing regularly printed paper . To learn more about this technology, and how it might help you as a vendor to address Sec. 504 and Sec. 508 (Rehabilitation Act) compliance issues that could impact sales, visit www.somaticdigital.com.
