Why vendors may not be paying as much attention to the GSA’s Schedule program as they should.

Last year, business on the Multiple Award Schedule contract was at an all-time high. Allen Federal Business Partners is led by Larry Allen. He explains why schedule contracts might not be receiving the consideration they deserve in an interview. Allen explains that GSA Schedules do a lot of work, but they don’t always get the recognition they deserve from contractors or the media. Other programs, such as GSA Polaris and GSA’s Astro, as well as the NIH CIO-SP4 contract, are all new contracts with specific start dates, and you must submit your bid by a certain deadline to be considered. But it’s still there in the schedules, and you can make a bid at any time. And while that might not make headlines, it does make for good business, according to him, and statistics show that scheduled contracts are more common than ever with federal buyers.

According to Jared Smith, “interest in being on track” could have waned a year ago. “My phone has been ringing a lot more” about people who are trying to get back on track, Smith says. “I believe we’re starting to see some improvement. For a moment, there may have been a lull. However, now is the time for industry to resurface” Smith explains. To get on any IDIQ deal, such as the GSA Schedule, you only need one set of skills: the ability to write a good proposal. Selling in those contracts requires a different set of skills, since they’re all like fishing licenses, and you have to go out and catch the fish. The third part is that you must ensure that you remain compliant, Smith clarifies.

The federal company in Huntsville, Alabama, is growing. In Huntsville, the FBI is taking the lead and extending its operations. For the next few years, Huntsville will have over 20,000 government workers. According to Smith, federal business is conducted in San Diego, San Antonio, and Denver. If you work for the government, you may want to consider any of these locations outside of the Beltway. Jared explains that business is expanding so things are getting more and more clear now. There are places where there are huge concentrations of federal employees like San Diego. But they tend to be company towns for one particular department. Martins-burg, West Virginia, has a large diversity of different federal agencies.

Author: Mariatu Alale

Article source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2021/04/why-gsas-schedule-program-might-not-be-getting-as-much-attention-from-vendors-as-it-deserves/