On June 9th, 2008 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled to increase the burden of proof on the government’s side when prosecuting subcontractor fraud under the False Claims Act.

On June 9th, 2008 President Bush amended Executive Order 12989, which has to do with federal contractors’ compliance with immigration laws. Under the new amendment, all federal contractors must electronically verify their employees’ immigration status in order to do business with the federal government. This can be done using E-Verify, a free internet-based system run by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration; federal contractors can validate new employees’ Social Security numbers against the SSA’s databases to ensure their workers are eligible for employment in the U.S.

We’ve added a new feature to Government Contracting Best Practices! Moving forward, readers will be able to submit comments on Government Contracting Best Practices posts. We’ve also enabled comments on the over 200 pre-existing posts. If you have a question about a topic discussed in a particular post, or would like to [...]

Higher educational institutions such as colleges and universities are often a good source of contract opportunities, especially in industries such as construction and maintenance. However, many government subcontractors overlook the fact that university departments are often themselves pursuing government contracts. Increased competition in the public sector can make subcontracting opportunities scarce. Having a solid working relationship with relevant departments in your local higher learning institutions can be a hidden wellspring of subcontracting opportunities.

Many companies, especially small businesses, make the all-too-common mistake of surveying market data once and assuming it will stay the same. A surprise might be nice on your birthday, but when it comes to your business opportunities, a surprise is the last thing you want. With adequate market intelligence, it’s entirely possible to plan ahead so that your business is primed to rise to any upcoming challenge – or seize any upcoming opportunity.

The GSA is always trying to streamline and simplify the procurement process, for agencies and contractors alike. Part of that ongoing effort is centered on making sure that GSA Schedule users know how to use the program, and use it well. To that end, the GSA created the Center for Acquisition Excellence.

The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) has declared the week of April 13 – 19, 2008 to be Contract Management Week. The NCMA announced Contract Management Week in an effort to recognize the thousands of hard-working individuals working on both the contracting and procurement sides of contract management.

A small business owner recently wrote in to Fortune Small Business’ “Ask FSB” column asking for advice on penetrating the federal market. She was the owner of a software-as-a-service company that was looking for some best practices to start their government contracting efforts. Fortune Small Business tapped Onvia, along with Austin-based Strategic Partnerships, to share our federal marketing expertise.

In 2005, the Office of Management and Budget released a mandate requiring all federal agencies to switch from Internet Protocol version 4 to version 6. As the June 2008 deadline for the switch approaches, the mandate provides an excellent example of how government technology mandates are a jumping-off point for contractors to find government IT jobs.

A lot of businesses enter the government contracting arena with the expectation of the “$1000 mousetrap” – that is, the idea that government work is a cash cow that can be milked by exorbitant over-pricing. They are often given a rude awakening when they find that profit margins on government contracts are often quite slim, and may have a cap as low as 10%. In a slow economy or a competitive industry, bidding wars drive prices and profit margins to new lows. With this kind of bid environment it becomes more and more important to track your government bid efforts, your successes and your failures, in order to run the tightest ship possible.