USFCR Blog

If you work for a federal contractor and your contract is coming up for recompete, someone in your office is probably nervous. Maybe that someone is you. You've heard the term "recompete" and you know it means something is changing, but you're not sure what it actually means for your paycheck, your clearance, or whether you'll still have a job in six months.

What Is a Security Clearance?

If you hold a federal contract or you're planning to bid on one this year, the rules you learned are changing underneath you. Not eventually. Not theoretically. Right now.

The federal government is in the middle of something called the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul. That's the official name. The Federal Acquisition Regulation, the rulebook that governs how the government buys everything, is being rewritten from the ground up. The first wave of changes already took effect on February 1, 2026. More are rolling out every few weeks. And the biggest shifts hit by June 30.

This isn't a minor policy tweak. It's the most significant rewrite of federal buying rules in decades. For small businesses, some of these changes are genuinely good news. Others require immediate attention.

This is your guide to unlocking a wider range of opportunities and increasing your cash flow from federal contracting.

After reading this, you’ll have everything you need to write a winning capabilities statement.

Let’s go.

You've registered in SAM, checked all the boxes, and set up your email alerts. Now you're waiting for the perfect opportunity to land in your inbox. Months pass. Maybe you bid on a few things and hear nothing back. Meanwhile, you're watching companies with similar capabilities win contracts you never even knew existed.

You've probably heard that federal contracting is competitive. And in IT services or professional consulting, that's true: dozens of companies fighting over the same contracts, racing to the bottom on price.

But here's what most contractors don't realize: there are entire industries where government agencies struggle to get even a single bid. Not five bidders. Not three. One.

You've built websites for years. You know React, you know UX, you ship projects on time. Somewhere along the way you heard that the federal government needs websites built, and now you're wondering if there's real money there for a small shop like yours.

Here's what nobody tells you: every federal agency has web presence needs. Not just the Department of Defense building classified systems, but the National Park Service updating their visitor portals, the Small Business Administration maintaining their resource pages, and dozens of other agencies that need exactly what you already do. The work exists. The question is whether you're positioned to compete for it.

If you have been searching SAM using IT product service codes from a training you took two years ago, there is a good chance your market research has gaps in it right now.

In April 2024, the federal government restructured its entire IT services PSC framework. Sixty-eight legacy codes were end-dated. Forty new codes replaced them. The naming convention changed completely. And most small IT contractors have no idea it happened.

This guide explains what PSC codes are, what changed, and exactly how to update your market research so you stop missing opportunities coded under the new system.