Tag: RESOURCES

State and Local Contract Funds Are Increasing, Find Out Where’s the Action Here!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Find out how to take advantage of the money going into state and local contracts!

BILLIONS ARE GIVEN TO CITIES AND COUNTIES

Just this month, Route Fifty reported that the Treasury Department has begun the distribution of $350 billion in federal aid for state and local contracts. 

What’s interesting is that the article didn’t only talk about the spending, but it also highlighted that a total of 1,100 metropolitan cities are going to receive $45 billion and 3,200 counties will also receive $65 billion.

That’s a lot of money! But what does it mean and why do you need this information? 

Well, in the past, we have already highlighted that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is giving more aid to state and local areas across the U.S. 

This means that contract projects will also be funded and the state and local government will be able to give these a go. 

In this case, these projects may include public health needs such as coronal virus mitigation efforts, cleaning, PPE supplies, and medical supply transportation, as well as other projects that state and local government needs. 

But before celebrating, how can you take advantage of this opportunity? Well, read further for state and local contract hacks!

STATE AND LOCAL CONTRACT HACKS

1. Go to your local small business office.

For these contracts, it is better to go to your local small business office.

For instance, if you’re in Chicago, then you may want to go to your website, chicago.gov, and look for the vendors page or procurement services page. 

All you can do is just type the name of your city and add key terms such as “small business” and “procurement,” then your search engine will show you the particular page that you’re looking for. 

Aside from that, you can also look for resources within that page for the process on how to do business with that city and contact information of key individuals. 

“For a lot of the folks who’ve tried this, who haven’t had any success, you don’t want to go to the PTAC, you want to go directly to the actual cities where this is being impacted.”

2. Look for your local procurement department.

Another thing that you can do is look for the procurement department section of your city or county’s website. 

Why? Because in this section, you will surely see resources that you can use in doing business with your county or city. 

For instance, it may list down the contracts that you can pre-qualify, the contracts awards, the vendors, and the suppliers. 

3. Communicate with your small business person. 

If you are just starting out, then you might want to talk to your small business person. 

Consider that these people are there to help you, so if you have problems in starting your state and local contracting journey, consider talking to these people. 

“If you get stuck, if you’re concerned, start with the people there. Honestly, I can’t help you get registered in Chicago… I can’t help you get registered in Scottsdale, I can’t help you get registered in Baltimore, but the people there, they have resources there that assist you for free.”

ADVICE FOR STATE AND LOCAL CONTRACTORS

1. Don’t just focus on one location.

Be smarter than 99% of the people. Do business with agencies in your state and in different areas. 

For instance, if you’re a contractor in Miami-Dade county, why stop in your county when you can also work in the city of Miami and in other states, right?

Unfortunately, there is no one single place you can go and register for all these states. You need to literally register in every single state or location that you want to do business into. 

Still, this is much better than just focusing on one location. 

2. Hand-deliver your product. 

In the past, we actually highlighted Mebz Manji, a millennial contractor that started his govcon journey by hand-delivering clay shooting discs to a small area in New York.

Although he’s already in Africa, he’s business is still thriving. Why? Because he knows what his customers want and they already know his capabilities. 

He did it by hand-delivering those clay shooting discs directly to the government buyer, which led to that buyer stop doing business with their former supplier and start doing business with him. This is the kind of stuff that happens when you start getting out from behind a computer and start going out and talking to folks.

“You’ve got to get from behind a computer and start going out and visiting these people because they are human.”

DON’T LET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKE THESE BACK

Do you know what happens when the federal government can’t spend this money because no one decided to show up and deliver?

Well, they take these funds back and it goes into the general pool of funds.

We don’t want this to happen. 

So, instead of not doing something, take a look at the mirror and say to yourself, “Where do I want to be and what is it that I want to do?”

“Truthfully, there are more contracts and more money and more funds than people that are able to do them.” 

RESOURCES

If you want to find out how to take advantage of the money going into state and local contracts, then check our full video.

You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

State and local contracts are about to go berserk | Find out where’s the action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQP468TDmw

Mastermind Monday: DOD Contractor Cybersecurity Requirements

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Adam Austin, CTO & Cybersecurity Lead of Totem Technologies, shares Department of Defense’s (DOD) Contractor Cybersecurity requirements!

RESTRICTIONS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

When you win a huge contract, you have the freedom to share and brag a little bit about your numbers on social media. 

However, consider that there is some information in our contract that is not allowed to be shared in public. 

These include delivery orders, invoices, engineering drawings, and other technical information that is not publicly posted on sam.gov or any govcon database.

“All information generated by or for a contract that you would not publish to the general public, it can’t be on your website… on LinkedIn. You can’t be taking pictures of it and putting it on Instagram, Facebook. None of that.”

THE LIFE CYCLE DETERMINATION OF INFORMATION

Because we are working with different federal agencies, we need to consider that there is critical information that should not be read by the public. 

In order to make sure that this information is not publicly-shared, we need to analyze how we handle the information. 

We call this the life cycle determination. It helps determine the scope and the footprint of your IT system that has to be protected. 

The first thing to do is ask which agency did you receive this information from? Is it directly from the DOD, is it from the prime contractor, or do you generate it internally?

If you generate it internally, what IT components are being used and which of your staff members handle and generate this information?

Then, after receiving it, ask these questions: How do you store it? Do you store it on premise or in the cloud? How do you process it? Who comes in contact with it? Do you share it with 3rd parties, like your suppliers and vendors?

Finally, at the end of the information life cycle, how do you dispose of it? If it is on paper products, then you have to shred that paper. If it is on digital media, what do you do with those?

Once we have an idea or footprint of our IT system and where that information resides within our organization and how it’s handled, we can then look at the safeguards which we can use for our cybersecurity practices. 

“The very first step to our cybersecurity journey is to develop that catalog and then begin to manage that configuration to establish what looks normal in your environment.”

MSP AND MSSP

In order to make sure that we are following our cybersecurity practices and we are not leaking classified federal information, we should consider hiring MSPs and MSSPs? 

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) ensure that your IT systems are operational. Their jobs include the day to day IT stuff, like unlocking user accounts, resetting passwords, and managing your catalog of IT components. 

Meanwhile, Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) perform monitoring and maintain security operations analysis and security operations centers. They should be highly specialized in anomaly detection and incident response.

Most importantly, in hiring one, make sure that they at least have an idea of 800-171, DFARS, CMMC, and other federal government cybersecurity measures.

TARGET AT LEAST ONE LEVEL OF CCMC CERTIFICATION

 All DOD contractors will have to at least target a CMMC level 1 certification.

This includes lawn maintenance crews that mow the grass of the Pentagon or the waste management crews that have contracts to empty dumpsters at Idaho National Labs. 

We should target this because we all process some kind of contract information which is not available for the general public and deserve some minimum protections. 

Still, the level of CMMC you have to target depends on the type of information you process in your organization.

For instance, if you process controlled unclassified information, you’re gonna have to target CMMC level 3. 

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about the DOD cybersecurity requirements for contractors, then check our full video below. 

You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

DoD Contractor Cybersecurity requirements with Adam Austin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K_Man02VZQ

Miguel Sanchez: Embracing Inexperience and Taking One Step at a Time

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Get inspiration on how Miguez Sanchez embraced inexperience, but still took one step at a time towards his success in the govcon marketplace!

BACKGROUND

Miguel Sanchez is a military veteran from the U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Division in Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. 

After fighting for the country, he then started going to night college in 2013 while working for a company. 

Meanwhile, his internship at a company in Wall Street introduced him to the govcon marketplace. He then pursued different industries until he decided to follow the consulting route in the IT space. 

“It wasn’t a matter of quitting. To me, it was a matter of pivoting.”

Currently, he is the Key Principal at SGC GROUP, a company he established to provide consulting and business development services to government contracting clients. 

LEARNING ABOUT GOVCON

Sanchez first learned about state and local government contracting when he’s doing an internship at a service-disabled veteran-owned investment bank at Wall Street. 

As the business development person, he traveled and did business with different Fortune 500 companies while also doing state and local contracts. 

However, Sanchez also knows that ownership is extremely important and he wanted his future to align, so he decided to learn about govcon— from having an SDVOSB certification to joining GovCon Giants. 

LOOKING FOR CLIENTS AND WINNING CONTRACTS

In looking for a client to provide his consulting expertise, Sanchez started looking within the areas nearest to the DC area.

Then, to fully specify the companies he wanted to do business with, he looked for clients that have some kind of leverage among others, including having certifications.

After his research, he found a handful of companies and started picking up the phone. His plan was to call at least 25 companies a day. Sanchez didn’t even get to 10 when he got his first client. 

The first opportunity that they looked after was a market research that the client already responded to. He just made a simple follow-up and after almost a year talking to the government buyer, they were awarded the IT contract worth 800 grand. 

“The conversation went on for almost a year of just talking to the client. That’s another thing. You have to understand the arena that you’re playing in. You know, with the governing space, it’s not like short and sweet. It’s not from one day to another.”

Although in the IT space that contract seems small, Sanchez understood that it’s a good starting point with him and his client. 

He was thankful when he found that they won and currently, he decided to go full time with the client, with the promise to also continue to be part of GovCon Giants. 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Know what you need to say. 

Before calling his prospects, Sanchez prepared himself first. He made a little script that highlights the things he needed to say. 

He even researched about the buyers that may buy the services that the prospects have and the opportunities that the prospect might like. 

“Sometimes, you get one shot, you know. These people are getting voicemails and calls left and right every single day, so if they give you a minute of their time, you better know what you, you know, you’re gonna say.” 

Be reactive and proactive. 

Be prepared for everything. Consider that, in this govcon marketplace, opportunities may come knocking, but that only happens when you do the work. 

“I think that it’s important for people to understand that in this business, you need to be reactive, right, but you also need to be proactive. You need to be both, right?”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how Miguez Sanchez embraced inexperience, but still took one step at a time towards his success in the govcon marketplace, then be sure to click the resources below.

You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

Learning and Overcoming Setbacks – Miguel and Maria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2OR6VTZRic