The Federal Government Offers Great Opportunities For Many Types Of Businesses
The government designates a portion of the contracts for women-owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, companies within historically underutilized business zones (HUBZone), and service-disabled, veteran-owned small organizations. This allows underserved groups to have a real chance to get awarded lucrative government contracts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
FEMA is a government agency that handles disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. They are always hiring government contractors, particularly since much of their work revolves around being able to mobilize a large workforce in a relatively short period of time. These jobs can range from providing temporary housing to the displaced to providing clean water and food to those in need. Go to this site to learn more about small businesses working with FEMA.
FEMA is also part of the Department of Homeland Security. This is another agency that has many contracting opportunities. Just go to https://www.dhs.gov/do-business-dhs to learn more about this agency.
The United States Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
The USDA is in charge of food, agriculture, rural development, and natural resources just to name a few of its responsibilities. They are comprised of 29 agencies and have 4,500 locations across the United States and abroad.
They have a great need for agriculture-based suppliers and services. However, many businesses need to realize that they also have construction jobs, like road repair, for their forestry department. Here is a list of some of their divisions:
- Environment Management Division
Response and Restoration, Sustainable Practices, BioPreferred
- Property Management Division
Real Property, Personal Property, and Fleet Management
- Procurement Policy Division
Policy and Regulations, Acquisition Workforce, and Special Procurement Programs
- Procurement Operations Division
Manage procurement operations to acquire supplies and services for Departmental Management, Staff Offices, and USDA Department-wide procurements.
- Procurement Systems Division
Management of USDA’s Automated Procurement System, Integrated Acquisition System (IAS)
- Safety & Health Management Division
Workers’ Compensation and Safe Working Conditions
- Credit Card Services Center
Purchase, Fleet, and Travel Cards
- Lease Accountability and Strategy Division
Department of Energy
The Department of Energy defines its mission as “…. to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.”
The Department of Energy has a network of 36 Facility Management Contracts. They include the following:
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Office of Environmental Management
- Office of Fossil Energy
- Office of Nuclear Energy
- Office of Science
- National Nuclear Security Administration
This provides many opportunities for contractors that have energy management capabilities and supplies.
The Department Of Health And Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services states its mission “Is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services” This is an agency whose need has only increased due to the current pandemic of Covid-19.
This agency is a great contracting source for small businesses that provide healthcare services and products. Go to https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/index.html for more information. This agency also does a lot of partnerships, so it is a great way for a small business to get their foot in the door with many other government agencies.
Department Of Defense
The Department of Defense is one of the world’s largest consumers of government contracts. Many companies think this agency is only contracting with giant companies supplying tanks and missiles.
Remember, the Department of Defense supplies the Army, Navy, Airforce, and many other defense agencies. They are open to working with small businesses and fully funded for the rest of this year. They try to reward at least 20% of their contract to Small businesses. Companies can go to.
Peace Corps
The mission of the Peace Corps “Is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals: 1) to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; 2) to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and 3) to help promote a better a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.”
This agency needs everything from supplies for rural living to emergency first aid equipment. Go to https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/open-government/contracts/ and contact the Office of Acquisition and Contract Management with any questions about contracting with this organization.
This Is Only The Tip Of The Iceberg
10 other departments in the federal government contain hundreds of agencies. These places have a wide variety of needs that small businesses can easily fill. Working with one agency often opens the door to other departments, making the scope of opportunities endless.
How To Search
We highly recommend you go to FBO.gov (also known as FedBizOpps.gov). This is a centralized search where you can find many government contracting jobs from just about any federal agency.
Remember SAM
To do business with the federal government, you must register your business in the System for Award Management directory. The government will not hire any type of business (large or small) that has not registered in the SAM directory.
Please read one of the helpful blog articles on our site, Everything You Need to Know About SAM for Small Businesses. These blogs will help give you all the information you need to understand how we can help make the process easy for you. Sam Directory will happily guide you through this often confusing process.
The United States Government Is A Very Powerful Client With Deep Pockets
The Federal government usually spends around 500 billion dollars a year on goods and services. This makes the U.S. government an extremely attractive client. There are few other organizations with this type of spending power and clout.
The government also tends to buy goods and services in bulk. If your business has the infrastructure to handle large orders, then the government can help you grow substantially at an accelerated pace.
Government agencies also buy goods and services in large quantities. Large orders can be a double-edged sword for small businesses. However, they can help you grow substantially and rapidly if managed correctly.