Helping businesses find, win and perform on government contracts •
maineptac.org
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COVID-19 PPE Opportunities in Maine
Bryan Wallace, Procurement Counselor
In the last two weeks I’ve had four people reach out to me asking why they haven’t seen/found opportunities related to COVID-19 with the State of Maine. Two of these people were current PTAC clients of and two were businesses from out of state.
The answer is; they probably just aren’t where you’re used to finding things. Within the website of the state’s Division of Procurement Services, there are several key pages. The page first I’ll mention is “
PPE Bids
”. This page includes bid announcements for mask respirators, surgical masks, gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer and additional PPE items.
The second page I’ll mention is the “
Notice of Intent to Waive Competitive Bids
”. This page shows state purchases greater than $5,000 that will be awarded without competition. Each NOI includes an explanation and statutory basis for this kind of procurement. At the bottom of this page you will find COVID-19 Related NOIs. You’re able to see who will be awarded these contracts, and how much they’re worth. That’s good market information! There is also a response form that vendors or other interested parties can comment on.
Need more assistance? Reach out to your local PTAC Counselor. Stay safe and be well!
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Things are Changing Due to COVID-19
Dana Delano, Procurement Counselor
Things are changing due to Covid-19 and it may not be all bad news. For one, Maine PTAC has put together a full schedule of ‘on-line’ webinars using the Zoom platform. Although we do not get the interaction we usually receive at our standard in-person workshops, we are all saving travel time and the webinars are typically shorter and more on point. Interestingly, our attendance has been higher than our in-person event, by 50 percent or more on average. That is exciting news and one that we will be discussing both internally and with you moving forward. Once things get back to ‘normal’, we may offer our clients a combination of both types of workshops.
Another area of positive change is the once feared ‘on-line’ Zoom client meetings. Prior to Covid-19, Maine PTAC counselors visited our clients for the simplest of items, such as contacting Dun and Bradstreet for a DUNs number change or general contracting questions. Over the past eight or so weeks, we have been forced to conduct ‘on-line’ Zoom meetings and have found them to be convenient and a time saving process, not to mention cost saving as well. Once things get back to ‘normal’, we anticipate a certain amount of client meetings will be conducted via Zoom for the easier items. That will leave us with more time to meet on bigger projects like solicitation reviews and bid work, government certifications (HUBZone, 8(a) and WOSB programs) and contract assistance. If for any reason ‘on-line’ Zoom meetings do not work for you, we will always be willing to meet the old fashion way…one on one and in-person. Government Contracting, it is what we do.
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Exploring Joint Ventures vs Teaming Agreements
Miranda Pelkey, Procurement Counselor
Recently, I have been approached by multiple clients who are interested in embarking on a joint venture in order to bid on a specific government contract. While joint ventures are occasionally fruitful and worthy of exploring, at other times, they are simply unnecessary. In order to embark on a joint venture, the two parties must create a new and separate business together. This process can be time consuming and when seeking to respond to a specific contract, time is of the essence. Another large consideration in establishing a joint venture with two small businesses is that the new business must remain within the small business size guidelines.
A better option may be entering into a teaming agreement. The SBA authorizes small businesses to subcontract a portion of their set-aside contracts to large and small companies unless specifically prohibited by statute, regulation or solicitation. Teaming agreements allow small businesses to maintain their small business size standard while obtaining subcontracting assistance from other small businesses or even large corporations. Teaming agreements can usually be done by simply sitting down with the businesses attorneys’ to draw up an agreement.
If you have questions regarding whether a joint venture or teaming agreement is right for your situation, please contact your local PTAC office for guidance.
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PPE and the Government
Katie Bragg, Procurement Counselor
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are all hearing a great deal about PPE, personal protective equipment. Who has it, who doesn’t have it, where can you get it, do you need it? All of these are valid and important questions and for us in government contracting there is another question, is the government buying it, and the answer is yes.
But how are they buying it and what exactly are they buying? FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the one Federal agency that is purchasing these things and they have placed a solicitation in beta.sam.gov,
which you can visit by clicking on this link
. And in this link, you will find the information that tells you exactly what equipment and supplies they are buying.
This solicitation is a bit different than others you may have seen in that it is ongoing, meaning they are continually buying this equipment (that meets their standards) as it becomes available. They are making multiple purchases from different companies to fulfill their needs, on a continuing basis.
While this is a very abbreviated explanation of the situation, it gives you a little insight into how this is being handled. If you have these items listed in the solicitation to sell and would like to talk to someone about this, please contact your PTAC counselor and they will be happy to help you with this. Of course, the first step in this process is that you must be registered in sam.gov to do any business with the federal government, and your PTAC counselor can assist you with that as well.
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Wide Area Workflow (WAWF)
Ed Dahl, Procurement Counselor
Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) electronic commerce method for handling shipping receiving and documents and for processing invoices. You must have an active
www.beta.sam.gov
account and an active DOD CAGE code to use WAWF.
WAWF is used for all services and products procured by the DoD. It is a web-based application that creates invoices and receiving reports (replacing the old manual DD250). Businesses use WAWF to submit their invoices to the Department of Defense (DoD) for products shipped and services rendered.
For supplies shipped to DoD warehouses, WAWF captures and transmits data from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Uniform Identification (UID) via the Advance Shipment Notice (ASN) process.
WAWF sends automated emails to notify users of document and payment status and provides global document visibility to all users via the Internet.
WAWF allows government users to digitally sign documents over the web.
For more information on WAWF, including how to register and use it, please reach out to your local PTAC Counselor.
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