Skyway Blog
Why be a Contracting Officer – Reason 5: You get to be creative
Being a contracting officer (CO) is a unique position. I’ve been asked over the years to describe what it’s like to be a CO. While my opinion may not align with every CO, this is my attempt to help...
Should You Ask for a Debriefing?
Misconception 8 – "If I lose the competition, I shouldn’t bother to ask for a debriefing. The Contracting Officer won’t share any helpful information with me." WRONG! Unsuccessful offerors should...
Are you afraid to talk to your Contracting Officer?
Pending actual courtroom litigation (which in all actuality is pretty rare, considering), I don’t think that there is really ever a time that you cannot talk to your contracting officer. Even during...
Why be a contracting officer – Reason 4
Being a contracting officer (CO) is a unique position. I’ve been asked over the years to describe what it’s like. While my opinion may not align with every CO, this is my attempt to help people...
Should an Offeror Tailor their Proposal to the Specific Solicitation?
Misconception #7 – “To develop my new proposal, I don’t really need to tailor my solution to the specific specification since the government won’t read my proposal that closely anyway.” When I read...
Why Am I Not Winning? A SBIR Story
In my early career, I managed research and development contracts under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program as a contract specialist. One of the programs I worked on was for the...
Exceeding Small Business Contracting Goals – Good News
Based on reports released after the end of FY14, for the first time, the Pentagon has exceeded departmental goals for small-business contracting. Small businesses made up 23 percent of the...
Competition is not supposed to be Efficient
I have to be honest. When I was a contracting officer, there were plenty of times I really liked the contractors I had. The acquisition team and I often would have preferred to have long-term...
Exceeding Small Business Contracting Goals – Bad News
Based on reports released after the end of FY14, for the first time, the Pentagon has exceeded departmental goals for small-business contracting. Small businesses made up 23 percent of the...
Do Agencies Share Contract Pricing Info with Other Agencies?
Misconception #6 – “Agencies have an obligation not to share information about their contracts, such as prices, with other agencies, similar to the obligation they have not to disclose proprietary...
Why be a Contracting Officer? Reason 3
Since the early whispers of sequestration back in 2010, I’ve been warning companies that more competition would be the theme in the federal market for the next decade (or longer). The rules that...
Impact of COFC’s Ruling on Non-Manufacturer Rule (NMR)
In its simplest form, the Small Business Non-Manufacturer Rule (NMR) states that for an acquisition exceeding $25,000, using a manufacturing NAICS code, small businesses must either manufacturer the...
Why be a Contracting Officer – Reason 2
Why be a Contracting Officer - Reason 2 Being a contracting officer (CO) is a unique position. I’ve been asked over the years to describe what it’s like to be a CO. While my opinion may not align...
What is a Small Business “Reserve”?
One of the most enduring principles of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) is that the federal government use its resources to direct as many contract awards as practicable to small...
Why does anyone want to be a Contracting Officer?
Being a contracting officer (CO) is a unique position. I’ve been asked over the years to describe what it’s like to be a CO. While this post is not going to align with every other CO’s perspective,...
Court of Federal Claims Invalidates Key component of the SBA’s non-manufacturer rule
For the 33 years I’ve done Federal contracting, it’s been understood that the SBA’s non-manufacturer rule applies only to supply buys. It was never considered to cover services even if the service...