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Region One Reaches Out To Help Educate Small Businesses

The Region One Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) hosted a collaborative webinar on Thursday, April 21, 2022- Accessing Procurement Opportunities: The Tools Available To You. Jerry Smith, Region One Small Business Specialist, facilitated the event which covered the following topics:

  • Overview of OSDBU
  • Where to locate procurement opportunities
  • Tools to conduct market research
  • Subcontracting
  • Resource partners

As the federal government’s procurement expert, GSA’s Office Of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization provides monthly webinars for all categories of small business.

"GSA OSDBU constantly engages the small business community to provide access to GSA acquisition opportunities. GSA collaborates with local, state and national business organizations to educate small businesses on the federal acquisition process,” said Smith.

blue and white text slide about small business leads

These virtual opportunities help businesses connect, get answers in real-time, and provide a streamlined approach gathering necessary resources for getting started in order to do business with GSA.

The discussion also focused on how businesses can best refine their strategy by using data and navigating multiple GSA platforms:

  • Sam.gov Lists all open contracting opportunities over $25,000 across multiple Federal agencies.
  • GSA eBUY An online Request for Quote (RFQ) system that allows ordering organizations to post a Request for Information (RFI), Request for Quote (RFQ), and Request for Proposal (RFP) notice via email to all sellers in the specified category.
  • GSA Forecasting Tool Focuses on acquisition planning and increases awareness of potential prime and subcontracting opportunities. The goal is to help both GSA buyers and vendors easily communicate around potential contracting opportunities.
  • Acquisition.gov Provides insight to forecasted procurements outside of GSA and the Department of Interior.
  • GSA eLibrary Lists latest GSA contract award information and allows you to assess your competition.
  • USAspending.gov Repository of all government transactions and receipts reported from over 90 agencies.

The presentation also covered the importance of understanding both the The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS codes) and the Product and Services codes (PCS codes), clarifying that NAICS codes are a broad classification that talks about what you do. While the PCS codes are reflective of how you do business, are more specific, and can yield better data for market research and analysis.

The event ended with a robust question and answer session where all participants got a chance to highlight their company’s offering(s), as well engage in virtual networking. 

Visit the GSA Small Business page for additional information on accesing procurement opportunities with GSA.

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Last updated: May 2, 2022
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