Christmas Comes Early – September Spending Spree
For federal agencies and government contractors, Christmas comes in September, the final month of the federal government’s fiscal year. Federal agencies want to make sure they spend what’s left in their annual budgets with a ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ mentality.
For fiscal year (“FY”) 2018 federal agencies spent approximately $98 billion (with a ‘B’) on 509,828 contracts for goods and services in the month of September. This is approximately 18% of their total annual contract spending of approximately $555 billion and marks a September increase of 16% from FY 2017 and a 39% increase from FY 2015.
Federal agencies worry spending less than their annual budget may trigger Congress to allocate lower funding for the next fiscal year. This creates an opportunity for federal contractors who have created relationship with contracting officers to support their immediate needs. When the order comes down from on-high to spend, these contracting officers turn to trusted sources.
One source federal contracting officers turn to is the FedBiz Directory. The FedBiz Directory is a searchable database of small businesses registered for federal contracting that highlights their business to contracting officers and prime contractors.
The database is searchable by keywords, business name, CAGE code, DUNS No., location, socio-economic status, NAICS, PSC, Capability Statement, past performance, FEMA registered, smart cards, points of contact, etc.
FedBiz Access works with small businesses to make sure their SAM registration and DSBS profile are optimized, accurate and complete. A company’s information is then pulled into the FedBiz Directory database directly from these government sources where it is searchable and easy to match verified vendors with the goods and services required.
FedBiz Access also provides clients with access to its Market Intel Database where companies can find open solicitations, expiring contracts, upcoming opportunities, contracting officers’ contact information, etc., and build relationships to position themselves when purchasing starts.
It’s important for small businesses to get positioned prior to September so federal contracting officers know who they are well before ‘Christmas’. Contracting officers like to buy from businesses they know… do they know you?
