I recently tried using an AI assistant to draft the technical approach section for a federal VA Request for Proposal (RFP) for court reporting...

You should hire the consultant for your first federal bid because they will help you understand the entire process, not just the writing. A proposal...

Your firm should refine your search parameters by reviewing the Product Service Codes (PSCs) and keywords used in the actual solicitations you are...

No, a paid tool does not show federal bids before they hit SAM.gov, because proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 must be synopsized...

This is not a normal arrangement for a joint venture on an SDVOSB set-aside; it raises a significant red flag regarding the limitations on...

Contract bundling happens when an agency combines two or more requirements that were previously provided under separate smaller contracts into a...

Nadia is right about identifying mandatory flow-down clauses, and you need to look at the FAR for federal contracts; state and local contracts will...

My firm, a woman-owned engineering company, recently attended a federal small business event in Jacksonville. I met the small business liaison for a...

My firm, an SDVOSB, recently won a federal set-aside for court reporting services, NAICS 561492. We have the court reporters, but this particular...

My small 8(a) firm is looking into the SBA Mentor-Protege Program to help us grow. We read that it can help us form a joint venture with a larger...

Luis, while Priya is correct that there isn't a central federal portal for post-award subcontracting opportunities, you can also look for...

Your county purchasing department likely handled these errors in a similar way to my experience with state term contracts in Georgia; a bid with a...

A local preference clause gives an advantage to businesses located within a specific geographic area, and its exact application depends entirely on...

Yes, a county can legally charge for access to public bid documents; however, you should always check the county's procurement code for specific...

Jordan, the city RFP you found is asking for a full proposal, which is a lot more than just a price sheet. You need to provide a narrative for your...

Your state's procurement portal will have a master list of statewide term contracts and cooperative purchasing agreements that you should check...

Luis, school districts in Texas also use statewide term contracts for services, which means they can buy off pre-approved vendor lists without a new...

Keisha is right, a county can use cooperative purchasing, but you need to check the original contract to see if it allows other government entities...

NASPO ValuePoint is a cooperative purchasing program that state and local governments use to buy goods and services. A small firm can realistically...

You get the full bid tabulations for county and school contracts by following each entity's specific public records request process.

There is no central repository for winning proposals at the state or local level, and you will need to file a public records request for each one....

When a debrief request landed on my desk, it always triggered a scramble. I was the contracting officer for a federal agency, handling services...

You should file an agency-level protest first. An agency-level protest based on an apparent solicitation impropriety must be filed before bid opening...

I'm trying to get ahead of the game on a big federal grounds maintenance contract I found on USAspending. The prime contractor has the current award...

FPDS is still the system for reporting federal contract award data, but it is accessed through SAM.gov. Marcus is right about the reporting...