USFCR Blog

March is Women's History Month, a time to celebrate the significant contributions of women throughout history. This month, we focus on the outstanding achievements of women in federal contracting, a traditionally male-dominated field.

As a woman business owner, you are likely familiar with federal contracting. However, you may need to be aware of the numerous benefits and resources available to women. The federal government aims to award at least 5% of all contracting dollars to Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). The Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) certification program allows women-owned businesses to compete for contracts with corporations committed to supplier diversity.

With winter in full swing, many parts of the Northwest and Northeast United States are still experiencing severe snowstorms. These storms create dangerous conditions, destroy key infrastructure and leave many without power.

You can be part of the relief efforts by providing the services the federal government needs and having the corresponding NAICS code within your registration. Relief contracts are an excellent way to get started as a contractor while helping your fellow Americans.

The federal contracting process is complex and lengthy, often involving multiple steps, stakeholders, and documents. It’s no wonder the government is looking for ways to improve and streamline the process. Luckily, modern technology can help. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the five technologies the federal government uses to improve the processes for federal contracting and contractors.

As the US government continues to explore the possibilities of web3 (next-generation internet technology), it's turning to smart contracts, digital ledger technology, and blockchain to revolutionize the federal contracting process. Smart contracts, written in code and executed without human intermediaries, streamline the process and reduce the need for manual interventions. Blockchain, a digital ledger technology, offers an unchangeable record of all contract-related activities. This provides greater security and transparency and makes it easier to track funds and comply with federal regulations.

In response to the extensive delays seen since April 2022 with the transition from DUNS numbers to Unique Entity Identifiers (UEI), the Department of Defense (DoD) announced in September that it isn't requiring contractors to have a new UEI until October 31, 2022.

As of April 4, 2022, SAM.gov has replaced the DUNS number with the Unique Entity ID (UEI) as their primary means of entity identification for Federal awards government-wide. This change has been made to streamline the entity identification and validation process and to no longer rely on a third-party website to issue the identifying number.

The results are in. The Small Business Administration (SBA) released its FY2019 Small Business Procurement Scorecard. This scorecard serves as an annual report showing if federal agencies met their small business contracting requirements. Although things look dismal in the commercial sector, the federal sector is still strong on small business spending. 

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in April 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

The General Services Administration (GSA) will assign all entities in the System for Award Management (SAM) a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). So what is a UEI, and what should you expect? That's what this blog post is going to cover. 

Here, we'll go over the following: 

• The Purpose of UEIs
• Benefits of the UEI System
• Transition to the UEI
• SAMMI Numbers

In the first quarter of the fiscal year, the Pentagon awarded Microsoft its prestigious $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. 

For now. 

That's because if you've been reading up on this contract, you would know it was riddled with disputes. One of which was a bid protest made by Oracle Corporation. Then, right after Microsoft was awarded, Amazon Web Services was expected to file one as well. 

This blog post will give you a rundown on bid protests.

We are going to answer the following:  

• What is a bid protest? 
• Why are bid protests filed?
• Where do I file a bid protest? 
• How should I approach bid protests? 

Let's begin. 

This November, FedBizOpps (FBO) is set to merge with beta.SAM. 

With that in mind, it's time to discuss past big changes in the federal marketplace. That's because with every major change comes major problems. How you handle these problems will determine your success or failure in government contracting. 

In this blog post, we will cover common issues that contractors face whenever the federal government implements a new policy or system. When you know what issues to expect, you'll be better equipped to handle them.