88 ©2018 WASHINGTON DC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP DOING BUSINESS WITH THE
GOVERNMENT
CONTRACTING
RESOURCES AND
PROGRAMS
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
For a general understanding of Federal Government
contracting programs, visit the GSA website at gsa.gov/
acquisition/getting-started-with-gsa-purchasing-programs.
The Government purchases nearly $500 billion worth of
goods and services each year—everything from uniforms
and computers to general contracting and information
technology services.
The U.S. General Services Administration manages a large
portion of Government purchases, including office furniture,
supplies, and Government vehicles. GSA’s Office of Small
Business Utilization advocates for small businesses and
conducts both online and in-person trainings on how to
obtain a GSA Schedules contract, which provides long-term,
Governmentwide sales opportunities for qualified vendors.
For a description of training offerings, visit gsa.gov/aboutus/
events-and-training/gsa-training-programs/trainingresources
for-vendors.
1800 F Street NW, 7th Floor, 3rd Wing (7300), Washington, DC 20405
(855) 672-8472 · gsa.gov/acquisition/small-business
small.business@gsa.gov
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROCUREMENT
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER (DC PTAC)
The Department of Small and Local Business
Development District of Columbia Procurement
Technical Assistance Center (DC PTAC) offers DCbased
businesses personalized guidance and competitive
insight for navigating the federal and district government
contracting process successfully. The DC PTAC provides
no-cost advisory services, one-on-one counseling,
education, and training to small and midsize businesses
pursuing government contracting and subcontracting
opportunities successfully. DC PTAC functions as the
bridge between buyer and supplier, bringing to bear
the knowledge of both government contracting and the
capabilities of contractors to maximize fast, reliable, and
quality service to government clients.
(202) 727-3900 · dslbd.dc.gov/ptac
LOCAL & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(SBA)
The SBA has numerous programs that provide preferential
treatment to small businesses looking to contract with
the Federal Government. In order to be eligible for these
special considerations, your business must be certified
in one of the ways described in this section. The most
basic certification is the small business certification. A
company’s business size is identified based on its North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code,
number of employees, and annual revenues. Determining
the size of your business is a two-step process: First, find
the NAICS code that best describes your business (visit
census.gov/eos/www/naics/ for more information), and
then determine your industry’s size standard by using the
SBA’s table of size standards at sba.gov/document/support--
table-size-standards.
In addition to meeting the numerical standards to qualify
as a small business, your company must also:
• Be a for-profit business of any legal structure
• Be independently owned and operated
• Not be nationally dominant in its field
• Be physically located and operate in the U.S. or its territories
Businesses outside the U.S. may still be counted as small if
they have an operation in the U.S. that makes a significant
contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or
use of American products, materials, or labor.
Upon determining your company is, in fact, a small
business, you can then register as a vendor with the Federal
Government through the System for Award Management
(SAM) database.
For additional information about the above process,
please visit sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-guide/
basic-requirements.
WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS (WOSB)
FEDERAL CONTRACTING PROGRAM
The SBA’s WOSB Federal Contracting Program targets
small businesses that are at least 51% owned by women and
economically disadvantaged women by setting aside certain
federal contracts each year for competition solely among
WOSBs. This can be an important advantage for your womanowned
company, as the Government must award 5% of its
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