Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF MAY 30, 2003 FBO #0547
SOLICITATION NOTICE

R -- STUDY STATE PROCUREMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS

Notice Date

5/28/2003
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

Contracting Office

Small Business Administration, Office of Administration, Office of Procurement and Grants Management, 409 Third Street, S.W., 5th Floor, Washington, DC, 20416
 

ZIP Code

20416
 

Solicitation Number

SBAHQ-03-Q-0014
 

Response Due

6/27/2003
 

Archive Date

7/12/2003
 

Point of Contact

Billy Jenkins, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 205-7077, Fax (202) 481-0487,
 

E-Mail Address

billy.jenkins@sba.gov
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Total Small Business
 

Description

The Office of Advocacy has not explored the effect of small business procurement at the state and local level since a report in 1991. That report (see Research Summary #108) stated that small firms accounted for 80 percent of the total state and local contracts with the private sector, and that most of these contracts were with companies within their jurisdiction. The General Services Administration (GSA) has proposed a rule that would implement section 211 of the E-Government Act of 2002. Section 211 would open up the Federal Supply Schedule to the state, local, regional or tribal governments (including local educational agencies or institutions of higher education). This new rule is limited in scope to Federal supply classification code group 70, which includes: ?automated data processing equipment (including firmware), software, supplies, support equipment, and services.? The primary motivation for this rule, according to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, is to ?make ?government? (considering all levels) more efficient by reducing duplication of effort and utilizing volume purchasing techniques for the acquisition of IT products and services.? Approximately 68 percent of GSA schedule 70 contractors are small businesses. However, the top twenty schedule 70 vendors ? all large businesses ? reported $5.3 billion in schedule business in 2002; the three largest schedule 70 firms are: Dell Computer ($1.3 billion in schedule 70 sales), IBM Corporation ($505 million), and Northrup Grumman Information Technology ($406 million). The General Accounting Office (GAO) conducted a study on expanding the GSA schedules similar to this proposed rule in 1996. It found an overwhelming number of state and local procurement managers would use the GSA schedules if it were available to them; however, existing state and local laws might preclude them from doing so (including competitive bidding restrictions, rules limiting purchases to in-state firms, and/or preferences for special groups). Many of the current state and local contractors in this study, especially those that were small businesses, worried that opening up the competition for contracts to include GSA vendors would have a negative effect on their business. This report, though, was less clear on the overall implications for small firms. Questions that should be addressed in any research proposal should include, but are not limited to: What is the impact of this rule change on small business? Does it expand opportunities for small businesses, or would it be a net loss for them (especially those accustomed to receiving state and local contracts)? Would state and local small businesses need to add themselves to the GSA schedules to remain competitive, and is GSA capable of handling the influx of new schedule filers if that is the case? Moreover, while this particular rule limits its scope to information technology products and services, what are the implications if it is expanded to include more schedules? Previous studies have utilized case analysis; however, this research is not limited to that methodology. State procurement managers, associations, or public records might provide ample data. It might be advisable to limit the scope to specific states or localities (rather than exploring all fifty state and numerous regional and local governments). NOTE: The Solicitation document will be posted 5/28/03 on FEDBIZOPS. No other documents will be issued. Provide four (4) copies of your price and technical data. The latter is to be packaged separately. THIS IS A 100% SMALL BUSINESS SET A-SIDE.
 

Place of Performance

Address: 409 3rd Street SW, Suite 5000

Zip Code: 20416

Country: US
 

Record

SN00333746-W 20030530/030528213709 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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