Doing Business with the Government (APEX)

The life cycle of any manufactured product can be extended by introducing the product into new markets.  Two of the most obvious and underutilized markets are exports and government.  TechHelp has the resources and connections to help you develop both export and government markets. 

Local, state, and federal agencies spend billions of dollars on goods and services each year. That’s a lot of money and a big growth opportunity that is ignored by many businesses. Any size business can bid on government contracts. Most federal purchases under $150,000 are reserved for small businesses.

The Idaho Small Business Development Center (SBDC) helps businesses tap into this market through the APEX Accelerator.  Companies can register for the FREE APEX bid tracking service that tracks local, state, and federal bid opportunities, and alerts companies to those that match a company’s product and service profile. SBDC APEX specialists are available to help Idaho companies access the immense federal procurement market.

APEX Services include:

• Custom bid notification matches your products/services with state and federal bid opportunities with email notification when a match occurs.
• Educational seminars on evolving procurement policies and procedures.
• One-on-one assistance helps you respond to bid opportunities.
• Procurement technical services help you access military specifications, translation of FAR clauses, and e-commerce assistance.
• Online Directory of Buyers lists hundreds of contracting officers from government agencies and large corporations.
• FCC (Federal Contracting Certification) is a list of government procurement classes.
• The annual Idaho Business Symposium is your opportunity to meet with approximately 50 government agencies and large corporate purchasing agents.

Hot Tips from Idaho APEX Specialists:

1. Our mission is to help Idaho businesses with government contracting.  Our focus is on federal contracting, but we can also assist with state and local contracting.
2. We serve all businesses within the state of Idaho regardless of size.
3. We serve by offering a variety of free services and training that familiarize businesses with government contracting.
4. We help by providing a free bid match service that searches over 2,200 websites a day looking for opportunities for Idaho companies to bid on contracts. We also provide assistance in getting a business registered to do federal contracting.  With our resource partners, we conduct training around the state to help companies better understand contracting.  We can also help a business respond to a bid opportunity and help them market their company to a contracting officer.  
5. The “government” is any federal agency (i.e., Department of AG, Department of Interior, Department of Defense, etc), state government, city or county government, school districts, etc that have buying authority for the conduct of their business.
6. A good APEX candidate is a business that has been conducting business successfully for at least a couple of years, one that has a product or service that the government is buying, and one that is willing to provide that product or service outside the state of Idaho.  The fact of the matter is, if a business only wants to do business in the state of Idaho there will be limited opportunities for them.  
7. Someone who is not ready to do business with the government is a new or start-up business or one that doesn’t have a proven track record.  Other poor candidates include companies that are not financially stable or one that thinks the federal government is going to offer work that saves their business.  When federal contracting officers are deciding whom to award a contract to, they conduct a risk analysis on each company and all the things listed above could adversely impact that risk analysis.
8. Examples of companies that have successfully used our services include TAG Historical, Michael Baird Construction, Clear Water Robotics, Diversified Metal Products, Mountain View Construction, and Pharmer Engineering.
9. If a company is interested in government contracting we would suggest they do some research on whether or not the government buys what they are selling.  How often do they buy and how do they buy.  A good resource for this is the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS).  It provides a list of all federal dollars spent, who spent it, and what was bought.  I would also recommend searching out competitors who may be doing government contracting by using the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS).  Both of these sites are in the public domain.
10. Common mistakes include underestimating the amount of paperwork and reporting involved.  Companies also don’t factor in the overhead cost that can be charged to the government when making their bids.  They miss this requirement in the solicitation because they didn’t read it carefully or they failed to submit complete packages.
11. A business that would like to explore government contracting can contact the Idaho APEX at 208-426-1741 or 208-426-1742.  We will be more than happy to talk with any company.
12. Being housed at Idaho Small Business Development Centers gives APEX with greater outreach as we will have a point of contact in all the regional SBDC offices around the state.
13. The federal government awards about $4 billion in federal contracts every year to businesses in Idaho.  There are opportunities for small businesses to supplement their revenue streams by doing business with the federal government. It is not a quick process and it requires effort by the business to market their company to the right agencies and personnel.AP