Skyway Wire
September 2025 Update
Well, September was a busy month indeed. I managed to not get the final version of the Skyway Wire done in time #fail. I suppose I can take some relational solace in the fact that Congress could not...
The Growing Role of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) in Government Contracting
In recent years, Other Transaction Authority (OTA) has emerged as a powerful acquisition tool for U.S. federal agencies, particularly the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and the Department of...
Growing as a Contracting Officer
Being a USG contracting officer is a tremendous responsibility. Becoming a warranted contracting officer entails the responsibility of obligating the government to purchase products and services....
Navigating the SOW Process: A Guide to Collaboration Between Program and Contracting Offices
The Statement of Work (SOW) serves as the cornerstone of acquisition success. It is, in essence, the Government’s detailed guide to contractors on how to fulfill the required services....
Targeting Federal RFPs? Don’t fish with a net.
Fishing with a cast net here in Florida is fun. In the right place, at the right time of day (and tide), the net is full of surprises: bait fish, a crab or two, a stingray, or even a mullet....
What the US Government Buys – Part 3
Buying Services The Government buys many types of services. Examples of services include facility support services (e.g., janitorial or food service), administrative support, engineering, and...
What the US Government Buys – Part 2
Previously, I discussed the four basic things the government purchases: Research and Development (R&D), Services, Hardware, and Construction. Purchasing products, from pencils to nuclear...
What the US Government Buys – Part 1
While the Federal Government spends billions annually through contracts with industry, many products and services are purchased, from pencils to spaceships. Most people don't understand that the...
Don’t Drop the Pre-Holiday RFP
As a contracting officer, I remember dropping RFPs on my way out the door for lots of holidays: 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and yes, gulp, even before the Christmas Holiday. In my defense,...
Contracting Officer Communication – What the FAR Now Allows
As a young contracting officer, it was drilled into my head that conversations with contractors were very dangerous. The reason was that any conversation with one contractor could lead to other...
What?! That’s in my contract?
“What?! That’s in my contract?” That is not a phrase any contractor wants to say. However, that’s exactly what a small business owner realized after I reviewed his contract a few weeks ago. I...
Elevate your Results with Functional GovCon Fitness©
What is Functional Physical Fitness Functional Physical Fitness is the ability to safely perform daily physical activities. The idea is to have enough general fitness that we can do more and get...
The FAR is a Rule Book, not a play book.
Every sport has a rule book. It’s hard to win if we don’t know the rules. The pro baseball rulebook is less than 200 pages. The pro football rulebook is less than 100 pages…and within both are an...
The Thinking Part of the (Job)
I enjoy government contracting. The point of a government contract is to meet the mission of the agency through leveraging the resources from the private sector. Contracts do not exist to exist....
GovCon and Tariffs
Tariffs are a tax on goods that enter the country. They are not new. In 1913, the Underwood Tariff Act essentially moved us from using tariffs to raise taxes and instead use federal income tax. This...
Get Curious before you get Furious (Don’t Curse the Darkness Part IV)
This is the next installment of this post: Navigating the Fog of GovCon Ok, confession time. I got sucked into the flow of the river of news yesterday and ending up following one yet another...