Skyway Blog
The Changing Landscape of Federal Supply Schedules
If you are a company trying to decide if you want to get on a GSA schedule or a Federal contracting professional who uses GSA schedules, you need to be aware there are many changes coming to the...
Make Your Proposal Better: (Part 1 of a Series) Write to Achieve the Highest Score
Writing a compelling and persuasive proposal can significantly improve your chances of winning. In this series we will provide some tips professional proposal writers use to make sure their proposal...
Why It’s Important to Monitor and Respond to CPARS/PPIRS
It used to be that if you won a government contract and performed badly for one agency, no one else knew about it. There was little emphasis placed on past performance because there was no good way...
Cost Proposals – Three Critical Steps
Due to diminishing DOD budgets, the Government is focusing on cost control in contracts. Since time and materials contracts are becoming increasingly difficult to get approved, the Government has...
Agency Protests
Protests are a sensitive subject with government contracting officers, because they too often carry an air of failure. All young contract specialists are indoctrinated with the ideal of awarding...
Reviewing a Proposal against an RFP
As a CO reviewing a proposal, three main questions are always asked: 1. Does the proposal comply with the Instructions to Offerors (ITO)? 2. How does the proposal stack up against the Evaluation...
International Traffic in Arms Regulations
SUMMARY: The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITARs), controlled by the US State Department, are regulations and processes used to oversee the U.S. defense industry and contracting firms...
Where should I focus my limited proposal resources so that I have the best chance to win?
Where you should focus your proposal resources to optimize your chances of winning actually differs depending on a number of variables. For example, if the procurement is a sealed bid, then focusing...
Unauthorized Commitments
Unauthorized commitments are orders placed by persons lacking the proper authority to commit that amount of funds. Specifically, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) defines the term as “an...
REDUCING YOUR PROPOSAL WRITING COSTS
You just got an estimate of $10,000 for a consultant to manage and write a proposal for your company. It’s a staggering amount for a small business, and essentially unaffordable to most companies...
“I’m Not Happy” – the Sad Mantra of Federal Government Millennials
I am not picking on younger government workers. On the contrary, I have seen some fantastic young folks who came in and really surprised me with their work ethic and capacity and willingness to...
Managing Your Subcontractors during the Proposal Process
I just got done managing a proposal with 18 subcontractors (subs) on it. Luckily, I had a guy on the team whose only mission was to manage the subcontractors. (Thank goodness!) But that job often...
If you win a large dollar contract, you may lose your small business status (Well, DUH!)
DOD issued a final rule effective 26 May 15 amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to clarify that entering into a contract award may cause a small business to...
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO WRITE A “TYPICAL” PROPOSAL?
As a Proposal Manager, writer, consultant and trainer, I get this question fairly often. And, it’s really hard to answer! There are so many variables in company capabilities, proposal requirements,...
DOD COs are told to stay out of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) offset costs
DFARS Part 225 covers Foreign Acquisition. The rules regarding purchasing items and services for foreign ally nations have always been pretty simple. Even though the foreign country is financing all...
Issuance of a COC Does Not Guarantee an Award
In the case of Jay Shapiro & Associates, Inc. (JS&A), GAO file B-411174, decision dated June 5, 2015 (http://www.gao.gov/products/B-411174), JS&A, a small business, protested the...