Last week I attended an event held at TechPlace on Brunswick Landing that kicks off the development of the Maine SpacePort. The U.S. Economic Development Administration was onsite to announce a grant award being made to the Maine Space Grant Consortium. This grant will fund the development of a strategic plan for Maine’s Spaceport and iron out the specifics involved in the creation of an innovative hub with research, development, and manufacturing facilities, all to be located at Brunswick Landing.

 

I’m more than excited to have this happening in Brunswick, where I was born and raised! Their headquarters are going to be right down the hall from me at TechPlace.

Click here for information about the Maine Space Grant Consortium and click here for a recent article in Mainebiz.

Dancing in the dark, sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Well, the movies make you think it is anyways. In real life, unless you are dancing on an open beach or an empty ballroom size room, it can be dangerous. Put yourself in a classroom full of desks and chairs and try your dance…in the dark…and see how you make out. I’m thinking stubbed toes, bruised hips and hurt egos. Sometimes, government contracting feels like you’re dancing in the dark. You can watch videos, attend webinars, and read instruction on how to complete tasks and work through registrations and bidding processes only to find that when you try to actually complete the task, it doesn’t work. Misinformation, poorly written instructions, and unintended incorrect information can become frustration.

 

Case in point, I recently had a client get locked out of their State of Maine account just as they were ready to place a bid on a solicitation. They called the number provided for assistance and the ‘help desk’ provided inaccurate information. It was unintentional, but it happens. Once they contacted their PTAC counselor, we contacted the right agency personnel and were able to place the bid in time. Another client was told by a well-meaning ‘Prime Contractor’ that they were a Disadvantaged Small Business and a Woman Owned Small Business when in fact, they were not ‘certified’ for either of these small business programs. Unintentional misinformation, but information that could have gotten the company in trouble if they made those claims before certification. Luckily, they contacted their PTAC counselor to double check the information.

 

Government contracting can be fun and rewarding, but you can’t do it in the dark. Contact your PTAC counselor to assist you whenever a question or situation arises. It’s what we do.

For as many clients as we see who are exploring becoming prime contractors with government agencies, we see an equal number of small business owners who are interested in subcontracting for those primes. While acting as a subcontractor for a government job, many of the same rules apply for subcontracting in the private sector. However, one of the major differences when dealing with a prime who is working on a government contract, is you must be aware of any and all ‘Flow-Down’ Clauses.

 

Flow-Down Clauses are FAR clauses included in a contractor’s prime contract with the government, which the prime contractor is required to (or sometimes chooses to) flow-down to their subcontractors. There are many mandatory flow-down clauses that primes must pass on to their subs but others may be at the discretion of the prime so being aware of every flow-down clause is exceedingly important. Many times flow-down clauses are risk-shifting provisions, intended to protect to the prime contractor who is taking on most or all of the responsibility with the government agency. However, you as the subcontractor, must protect your interests as well so reading the contract completely and thoroughly and asking for clarification on any flow-down clauses is important. In federal contracting, flow-down clauses may be a little different and potentially more important where the prime contractor has very little wiggle room to negotiate with the federal agency and therefore will offer little to no flexibility with their subcontractor.

 

Maintaining effective communication with your prime contractor throughout the course of the contract will be important for clarity and mutual understanding. Should you be interested in subcontracting for a government contract and would like some guidance on reading through the flow-down clauses, reach out to your local PTAC Counselor for assistance.

AdvantageME VSS is the Vendor Self Service portal that vendors that want to sell to the State of Maine need to register in. This is the system that you are going to use to submit your bids or proposals for some of the solicitations that the State of Maine put outs. It is a fairly straight forward process that your PTAC counselor will be happy to help walk you through. There are a few things that you are going to need in order to register in the AdvantageME VSS system.

 

 

While this is something that is used for the State of Maine, there are other opportunities that can stem from this. If you enter into a contract with the State of Maine, they may ask if you are willing to extend the same goods or services at the same prices to the municipalities and counties throughout the State of Maine. This give you additional sales/work that you may otherwise not had. You can visit the website by clicking here.

 

For more information and assistance in registering, contact your PTAC counselor and we will be happy to help you!

Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Primary Portal for electronic commerce to support the DoD's goal of moving to a paperless acquisition process. WAWF is a component of the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE). A government vendor must have an active SAM 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. Businesses use WAWF to submit their invoices to the DoD for products shipped and services rendered. WAWF sends automated emails to notify users of document and payment status and provides global document visibility to all users via the Internet. It also allows government users to digitally sign documents over the web.

 

These days all billing is electronic. The Federal Government will either pay by credit card or electronic funds transfer. All invoicing must be entered into WAWF. Click here for some great information on WAWF.

 

Like everything else related to government contracting, we are here to help. For more information or assistance on using WAWF, please reach out to your PTAC counselor.

Are you taking full advantage of the opportunities out there? 

 

Small business owners and managers keep a lot of balls in the air while facing infinite diversions and interruptions. Setting time aside is difficult but necessary if you want to control your business rather than allowing it to control you. Establishing a sustainable, repeatable process for business planning can make a big difference when it comes to profitability and growth. We provide research on what governments buy, provide assistance writing and revising capabilities statements, deciphering government lingo and a lot more. This will make you stronger and more attractive not only to government buyers, but to other buyers and commercial lenders as well.

 

I've always said that government contracting is like learning a new language: It doesn't make any sense at first but you become fluent with practice. Doing what others can't or won't do is what can set you apart from your competition and help propel you forward. Using a sustainable, repeatable process helps keep you on track.  

 

Your PTAC Counselor is there to help.