When you are just getting started with government contracting, it can be easy to become confused about the process and the requirements. You might hear terms such as CCR, ORCA, CAGE Code, federal award management registration, SAM registration and more. But what does it all mean? Here are a few facts to help you get started.
1. SAM Registration Is Required
SAM stands for System for Award Management, and this is the huge database that contains information about every government contractor. In the past, there were different databases, such as CCR (Central Contractor Registration) and ORCA (Online Representations and Certifications Application). You will still hear the acronyms CCR and ORCA used occasionally, but these are obsolete, all you need to worry about is SAM registration.
At Federal Contractor Registry, we provide SAM registration and SAM renewal services. SAM registration can be a difficult and frustrating process, and while the government does not charge a fee to register with SAM, it can make sense to just hire someone else (such as our service) to complete the process. SAM registration can take 10 or more hours to complete and it’s full of complicated government jargon.
Once we’ve completed your SAM registration, it will take a few weeks (usually) for your registration to be approved by the Federal Service Desk, which is the agency that manages SAM. Once approved you will be given a unique identifier known as a Corporate and Government Entities Code, or CAGE Code.
2. SAM Renewal Also Is Required
Your SAM registration will expire one year from the date that your initial application was approved. We can provide you with SAM renewal services, but whether you hire us or do it yourself, it’s crucial that you start the process several months before your SAM registration is set to expire.
Every government agency has employees known as procurement agents, and these individuals are the ones that you will deal with when trying to acquire a government contract. If you bid on a contract, but the procurement agent sees that your SAM registration is set to expire in a few months, they might be wary about selecting your company for the contract.
This is because government agencies can only work with companies or individuals with active SAM registration. If your registration expires in the middle of a job, technically, they cannot work with you anymore. While the renewal approval process usually is fairly fast, it’s best not to wait until the last minute. In some cases, it can take weeks for the government to approve your SAM renewal, so it’s always smart to renew two or three months ahead of that expiration date.
3. Sign Up With The SBA & Determine Your Set Asides
The Small Business Administration, or SBA, was created to support small businesses throughout the United States and its territories. They can provide you with business loans and helpful advice, but that’s not the only reason to sign up with SBA.
Every government agency sets aside a portion of its contracting budget for small businesses. For instance, just about any contract valued at $150,000 or less automatically is set aside for small businesses, but larger contracts also can be set aside for small businesses. Additionally, prime contractors, or large businesses that win large government contracts, often are required to use small businesses as subcontractors.
Subcontracting can be a great way to get started with government contractor jobs, as the prime contractor will kind of act as a guide throughout the whole process. You’ll learn a great deal about contracting but still have someone else doing the heavy lifting, so to speak.
At any rate, when you sign up with SBA, you also can determine if you qualify for any special “Set Asides.” For instance, if your business is located in a HUBZone, or historically underutilized zone, you might qualify for the HUBZone set aside. There are also set asides for women-owned small businesses, veteran-owned businesses and more.
If you qualify for a set aside, it can be much easier to earn government contracts. For instance, according to SBA, the federal government hopes “to award at least five percent of all federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses each year.” Thus, if 51% or more of your small company is women-owned, you qualify for this set aside.
4. There Are Several Ways To Find Contracts
If you own a small business, you can find many contracting opportunities at https://web.sba.gov/pro-net/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm. This database is run by the SBA and includes only contracts designated for small businesses.
You also can head to Beta.SAM.gov, which lists all government contracting jobs, for all types of businesses. There are several ways to search for contracts, such as searching by keyword or by government agency. We find that the easiest way to find contracts is to search using your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes or your Product Service Codes (PSCs). We can determine which codes apply to your business when we handle your SAM registration.
When you search using your NAICS codes or PSCs, you generate results specific to the types of goods or services you can provide to a government agency. There are NAICS codes for any business imaginable, and if you don’t see any contracts for your specific type of business, keep checking back as new jobs are loaded up often.
Additionally, once you complete SAM registration and get your CAGE Code, you also can sign up with state and county governments to provide goods and services. In the past, state governments also host many events for government contractors where you can learn more about contracting and meet with procurement agents. Obviously, with the current pandemic, in-person events aren’t an option, but there still may be helpful webinars taking place, so be sure to sign up with your state’s procurement system.
We hope this provides you with some basic information about federal award management registration and government contracting in general. If you would like to get started with the process and your SAM registration, contact us at any time, and one of our government contracting specialists will be in touch as soon as possible.