Getting Jobs From US Agencies With Rebuilding Of America

PMI

Hey all,
I haven't had any direct results yet, but still continue to be interested in this topic.
Has anyone used these services before?
http://www.carrollpub.com/online.asp

__________________
Phil Tonks
For all your Remodeling & Home Improvement needs in South Florida visit www.pmi1call.com

MOTB

Just read a story at CNN Money that talks about a contractor looking to get jobs from the government's stimulus plan. I just had to chime in since I wish they would tell everyone how the heck is the guy going to do it being a first timer.

Here is the link, would be nice to hear if you posted your opinions.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/28/real...ion=2009072816

Brian

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Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet

Phillip Arnt

We are a Fed Biz Ops prime bidder of a year, I have not bought into nor needed to buy the enhanced services solicited at me daily to find the work. The FBO website is fairly clunky to navigate and after a year of working with it notice a pattern of instability in the daily updates functionality. To overcome several inherent weakness's in the FBO website we internally developed a tool that navigates around the need for
daily email notices that never arrive, Codes that Bid Clerks forget to assign, etc..

Anyway
On my last bid on a FBO project a scope change order was issued at 5:03PM the day prior to bid close "5PM EST End of Bus."
The Scope change issued added an entire new level of scope to the overall bid.
@ 5:08PM ---5 minutes after the scope change was issued I had an email from my Internal application with the Scope update notification in my blackberry.

The Crux
I redefined the final bid to include last nights scope change by 8AM the next morning, no big deal, just business as usual right.
At 3PM I faxed and emailed the Bid as required and dropped off a hard copy in the mail to the bid clerk. "2 hours early"
I had two free hours before bid time, so I started calling prime bidders from the Opp list to fish for sub numbers if possible and other info.
The Biscuit
Of the 12 Primes who I spoke with, none of them received the previous days 5:03PM scope change notice, all were turning in a bid without
a correct scope of work bid.

Apples to Oranges.

Phil Arnt
Manington Group

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Phillip Arnt
+++phil@maningtongroup.com+++
"Leave the plus off"

PMI

__________________
Phil Tonks
For all your Remodeling & Home Improvement needs in South Florida visit www.pmi1call.com

MOTB

Phil,
Sorry I didn't have time to give the details when talking. I am trying to take a proactive approach but it is as hard as skiing uphill. First, is that the President has surrounded himself with way too many people who are isolated from the daily challenges, so there will be ideas thrown in all directions, but not by people who actually touch the problems. Second, most of the places I go to participate require a payment to join an annual program, and then, just maybe, you will be listened too. Unfortunately a portion of the information I can provide comes across as selling, but then again we are the only ones with a potential answer that is already in practical use. It is a very hard balancing act, so all I keep doing is propose solutions and wait to see who is actually listening. For now it is good to point to this forum and the views on the topic to show that there is an interest. Will keep you posted on any progress.
Brian

__________________
Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet

MOTB

This is something that I am not pursuing as I intended to. I really have nothing positive to say so I am just going to move on. It's unfortunate becuase it is unbelievable how much of a political process it is to get the government to be open minded. I just feel that the average small business person will never benefit from all the hype that is promoted by others. I have learned a lot in the last few months, and at the end of the day it is extremely exhaustive to work within the political channels. Feel free to connect with me privately if you are trying to promote opportunities to the government and wish to understand what you will be up against. It is not appropriate for me to post all the specifics here in an open environment, mostly due to competitive reasons.
Brian

__________________
Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet

lgschwarz

I ran across these old post and wanted to pass along some information. While Federal Government Contracting is not for everyone that is one reason why it is so profitable for some, less competition. I know from personal experience that there is money out there every year that the Government does not spend because they can't find Contractors to do the work.
I want to share some basic steps in getting ready to bid Government Contracts and how to find the projects that are right for you and it is free. The Government posts the information on their website.
Here's the information for anyone interested in looking at Federal Projects:
To look at projects go on fbo.gov and click the Advanced search link to look at available jobs in the areas of work that you would feel comfortable bidding.
1. To narrow the list this first time, pick the Small Business choices and Veteran Owned Small Business, if this applies to your company.

2. Move down the page to the NAICS codes and look for areas of work you are interested in. For instance the companies I have worked with would definitely look at jobs under the NAIC codes beginning with 236. Don't worry about any of the rest of the boxes for now unless you wish to really narrow things down, this will give you an idea of the magnitude of projects available. Click search and look at all of the jobs it brings up. The Government fiscal year begins October 1st so they are just getting started

3. Pick one you are interested in and double click on it and it will take you to a page that shows all of the documents available on the job.

4. If you pick one that doesn't have the plans and specs posted yet then keep choosing until you find one that does. If it says it is a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation there are rarely any plans and specs issued, they just give you the description of the job in the Synopsis.

5. When you are looking at the Solicitation documents search the document for the word damages. Some jobs have liquidated damages and you will want to be aware of that when bidding the job.

6. Also be aware that if it a job that has been funded by ARRA there will be extra paperwork that needs to be done for this so take that into consideration when bidding.

7. Davis Bacon Wages apply to these jobs and there will be a wage rate schedule within the paperwork to assist you in bidding the job.

8. Follow the job until it actually bids and see how you would have done compared to what the job was awarded for. To be notified on any changes on the job (the Government frequently issues clarifications or changes and they are called Amendments or Modifications) click on Watch this Opportunity at the top of the page where the job information is and you will be prompted to Log In.

9. You then need to register and login, you will need a DUNS number for this. If you don't know if you have one, or don't have one, the instructions are there on how to proceed. Once you are registered and click on "Watch this Opportunity" you will be sent an email when any changes are issued.

10. You should check periodically for any changes just to be sure and always check before sending in a bid. There are many Government acronyms and you can find lists on the internet that you can refer to or give me a call.

11. When bidding jobs you should know that if you bid on an IFB, once it is awarded you will be able to get an abstract of the bids and see what all of the bidders amounts were.

12. If it is an RFQ or RFP all you will be able to get is the amount of the bid for the Awarded Firm.

If you want to bid Government jobs there are a couple of registrations you need to complete. This is all just a learning curve like any new venture. It is not as difficult as it seems once you learn the ropes.