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 find out 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.
Remember Registration With The SAM Directory Is The Vital First Step
SAM stands for System Award Management.
To do any 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 like 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 very easy for you.
A Small Business Must Understand FEMA’s Mission
FEMA helps people who have suffered through major disasters. The president will make a declaration of a major disaster which prompts FEMA to get their people on the field. The agency will work with governments on the federal, state, local, and even tribal levels to help those in need. They assist survivors and sometimes get on the ground even before the disaster occurs.
They look for small business contractors who can provide goods and services in the following type of situations:
- Emergency Support Functions
- Mission Assignments
- State Emergency Management Agencies
- National Response Framework
Emergency Support Functions (ESF)
These functions provide the structure for coordinating support across several Federal agencies. They are a way to bring together functions that provide federal support to states and federal-to-federal support, both for Stafford Act (an act that provides statutory authority for FEMA) declared disasters and emergencies and for non-Stafford Act incidents. They include the following:
- ESF #1: Transportation
- ESF #2: Communications
- ESF #3: Public Works and Engineering
- ESF #4: Firefighting
- ESF #5: Information and Planning
- ESF #6: Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Temporary Housing, and Human Services
- ESF #7: Logistics
- ESF #8: Public Health and Medical Services
- ESF #9: Search and Rescue
- ESF #10: Oil and Hazardous Materials Response
- ESF #11: Agriculture and Natural Resources Annex
- ESF #12: Energy
- ESF #13: Public Safety and Security
- ESF #14: Cross-Sector Business and Infrastructure
- ESF #15: External Affairs
The Federal government relies on civilian contractors to provide many of the goods and services needed for many of the Emergency Support Functions.
Mission Assignments
Mission Assignments are defined as the following:
National Response Framework
This is the main guide to how the Federal government will respond to national emergencies. It must be very flexible to handle all the different types of disasters that can happen in a country that is as vast as the United States of America.
The NRF is structured to help all levels of the government to:
- Develop whole community plans
- Integrate continuity plans
- Build capabilities to respond to cascading failures among businesses, supply chains, and infrastructure sectors
- Collaborate to stabilize community lifelines and restore services
The Federal Government Has Government Personnel That Are Strictly Utilized to Help Small Businesses Be More Competitive In Securing Government Contracts
Here are some examples:
- SBA Procurement Center Representative (PCR): Procurement Center Representatives are often located at a major government buying office, even though they technically work for the Small Business Administration. They will identify items and services that could be produced or provided by small businesses and try to get them “set aside” for small businesses, which means that only small businesses can bid for the contracts.
- Competition Advocate: This person is responsible for promoting full and open competition at high management levels in the major buying offices. They are supposed to challenge overly restrictive statements of work and contract clauses that can prove to be burdensome. They also try to expand competition for items by offering challenges to requirements that are not deemed necessary for the performance or essential physical characteristics.
- Small Business Specialists (SBS): The law requires that every government buying location must have a Small Business Specialist. These specialists work specifically with small businesses to help them to business with that office. Larger government offices might have full staff while smaller offices might only have one part-time employee assigned to this role. Major government buying offices have full-time staff, while smaller offices have a part-time person assigned to that task.
- SBA Commercial Marketing Representative (CMR): Commercial Marketing Representatives keep track of large companies doing work for their departments. These representatives are often the go-to person for fantastic subcontracting opportunities for small businesses.
Do Your Research And Reap The Rewards.
One of the best things about being a government contractor is that the knowledge is already out there for the small businesses that are willing to do the work. Look to see what successful government contractors have done and see if you can follow their leads. It is particularly helpful if they have any special certifications or clearances that might let you get a leg up on the competition.
You can also start targeting agencies that will need your goods and services. The first rule of business is understanding what your customer is looking for and then providing it in the most efficient way possible. Putting this time, in the beginning, will give your great benefits in the future when you are bidding on contracts.