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SAM.GOV – INTERESTED VENDORS LIST
Is your business looking for subcontracting opportunities on federal government contracts? Targeting specific federal opportunities that you can subcontract on helps identify your business directly to the winning Prime Contractor when you use the SAM.gov Interested Vendors feature.
Some SAM.gov solicitations include an Interested Vendors list where businesses registered in SAM.gov can add themselves on the opportunity. When the government awards to the prime contractor the list of Interested Vendors is made available for the prime contractor to review. Getting on the Interested Vendors list communicates that your business is AWARE of the opportunity and PRIMED to respond as a subcontractor.
Looking for assistance using the Interested Vendors list in SAM.gov? Click Here to learn how to list your business as a potential subcontractor OR contact Michael Steger at MichaelS@wispro.org or at (414) 270-3600 for assistance. Michael can also help you sign up for WPIs no cost bid matching services.
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Upcoming STOPfakes Roadshow - April 18, 2023
The STOPfakes.gov Roadshow delivers critically important information about intellectual property to the audience that needs it most—start-ups, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses, independent creators, and inventors. The information is presented by experts from multiple government agencies that deal with intellectual property issues. Participants will learn: how to identify and protect the various intellectual property assets they have; the mechanisms for obtaining IP protection in overseas markets and strategies for determining where they should seek protection; how to record their mark with Customs, with on-site help, in order to exclude counterfeit goods from entering the United States; how to combat counterfeits on international e-commerce sites; and about government resources available to help U.S. businesses with intellectual property issues. In short, participants will learn information vital to competing in an increasingly global environment.
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OFCCP Launches Mega Construction Project Initiative
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today launched its Mega Construction Project (Megaproject) Program, an initiative to promote equitable hiring and fair workplaces by federal contractors in the construction trades on large federally funded projects. The landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is creating new good jobs in communities across the country. To deliver on America’s promise of equal opportunity for all and the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to building an economy where no one is left behind, OFCCP will bring together the public and private sectors in a comprehensive effort to remove barriers to opportunity in the construction trades and utilize the full talent across our communities.
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Looking for Guidance on AI Governance? NIST Releases AI Risk Management Framework 1.0 (and Companion Documents)
In the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to work with public and private organizations to create a voluntary risk management framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence systems. Following up on that Congressional directive, NIST has released Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework 1.0 (AI RMF 1.0) to “offer a resource to the organizations designing, developing, deploying, or using AI systems to help manage the many risks of AI and promote trustworthy and responsible development and use of AI systems.” And the framework could not be any timelier since the discourse surrounding AI recently reached an inflection point following the introduction of ChatGPT, an advanced, conversational AI chatbot. While ChatGPT has made AI, and its potential, more tangible to the masses, AI is already a pervasive and heavily utilized technology in virtually every industry. In recognition of the seemingly limitless potential of AI, but also the risks that come along with it, governmental authorities across the world, over the last several years, have addressed calls for regulation of AI by introducing (and in some cases, passing) legislation (e.g., the EU’s proposed AI Act) and releasing voluntary AI governance standards (such as the White House’s AI Bill of Rights). In addition, dozens of industry bodies and standards-setting organizations have introduced AI standards, guidelines, and frameworks, some of which are industry/technology agnostic, and others that are industry or technology-specific.
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OFCCP Notification to federal contractors to certify through the Contractor Portal by June 29, 2023
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will open its Contractor Portal on March 31, 2023, for existing covered federal contractors to certify compliance with Affirmative Action Program (AAP) requirements for this year.
Covered federal contractors and subcontractors must use the Contractor Portal to certify, on an annual basis, whether they have developed and maintained an AAP for each establishment and/or functional/business unit, as applicable. For 2023, existing covered contractors must certify their compliance through the Contractor Portal between March 31 - June 29, 2023. The Contractor Portal’s certification feature has been enhanced and contractors must now provide the start date of their AAP Coverage Period when certifying.
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Recent Market Volatility Shows Value of Government Funding, DOD Official Says
Government partnerships with early-stage companies can strengthen the production of innovative technologies vital to national security, even in times of economic uncertainty, according to the head of the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, or OSC.
During an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Friday, Jason Rathje—whose office is tasked with connecting firms developing critical products and devices with private capital—said that market volatility caused by the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature Bank last week demonstrated “the value of government partnerships and the value of government-guaranteed financing when it comes to the things that are vital to national security.”
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SAM Minor Name and Address Changes Fix Coming Soon
In July, we shared an Interact post informing you of an issue related to the entity validation process and certain minor punctuation (periods, commas, etc.) and abbreviations in a business name; or the address may have changed. These minor changes resulted in a mismatch between an entity's name in SAM.gov and our MAS systems. This mismatch then triggered a Name Change/Novation and/or Address Change modification notification.
The MAS PMO has been working on a system solution to correct minor name and address changes in our systems. We are excited to share that in April the solution will be implemented!
FAS' position is that SAM.gov reflects the legal business names of an entity, and as such, our systems should reflect that legal business name. The solution is to do a robomod that will replace the name when there are minor discrepancies between the name and address in SAM.gov and our systems. The system will also send you a copy of the modification that updated the name and/or address.
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DoD, GSA Sign MOU to Bring More Environmental Innovators to Federal Marketplace
This week, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. General Services Administration to help expedite bringing environmental innovations into the federal marketplace. Under the agreement, GSA will use DoD's Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration Program information on product performance and pricing to streamline the acquisition process and make sustainable technology alternatives more readily available to federal agencies.
The STED Program coordinates with military installations to prove the performance of the sustainable alternatives. Once the STED program ensures a more sustainable alternative meets or exceeds DoD requirements, GSA then provides assistance to vendors to help them secure a new Federal Supply Schedule, and in some cases, a National Stock Number.
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Defense Production Act Title III Presidential Determination for Printed Circuit Boards and Advanced Packaging Production Capability
President Joe Biden signed a presidential determination (PD) authorizing the use of Defense Production Act to support the nation’s domestic Printed Circuit Boards (PrCB) and Advanced Packaging industrial base.
The PD allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to utilize its Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities to invest in advanced microelectronics capacity and ensure the production of state-of-the-art integrated circuits in the United States.
President Biden’s Executive Order 14017 on “America’s Supply Chains” prioritized the need to support and advance the domestic PrCB and Advanced Packaging industrial base to addresses strategic vulnerabilities to U.S. military readiness and challenges to American economic competitiveness.
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Acquisition Hour
The Acquisition Hour webinar series is presented by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Wisconsin Chapter and the Wisconsin Procurement Institute.
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Cyber Friday
For Department of Defense Contractors and Subcontractors: Join Marc Violante, WPI’s Director, Federal Market Strategies for the Cyber Friday series starting at 11:00am – a series of one-hour webinars focusing on critical topics in cyber security, data security, and CMMC.
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April 17-19
9:00 am - Noon
Join us at this three-hour event that includes a Prime Contractor presentation on current and upcoming opportunities for DBE and small firms, Capital Assistance / Business Development presentation by area and state-wide resource providers, Certification Program overview by WisDOT – Certification Assistance by WPI, and Small Business networking.
The purpose of this event is to build awareness for Northwestern Wisconsin stakeholders and communities of the contracting and workforce development opportunities available to small and DBE businesses created in road construction by upcoming highway construction projects in the NW region of the state.
Three locations:
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May 5
Statewide In-Person
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The conference will provide entrepreneurs and startups with opportunities to learn from and connect with business leaders and technical and financial resource providers and to identify the tools they need to start and grow their businesses. | |
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Be sure to follow WPI on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) for regular updates on events, news and opportunities.
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WPI 10437 Innovation Dr. Suite 320, Milwaukee, WI 53226 414-270-3600
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