With COVID-19, the government has never needed more help from the private sector. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is always looking for new FEMA contractors and now more than ever. If you have goods or services that could help during this pandemic crisis, we can help you contract with FEMA.
Federal Contractor Registry Can Help
In order to do business with any government agency, including FEMA, contractors must first complete their registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). This system is a huge database listing all government contractors, large and small. Once you complete SAM registration and are approved, you will receive a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code. This code is the unique identifier for your business within SAM.
How do you register with SAM? That’s where we come in. We are a third-party registration service, and we can handle your entire SAM registration quickly and correctly. While the government does not charge companies to register with SAM, the process is extremely time-consuming (often 10+ hours) and confusing.
Many people start the SAM registration process only to become frustrated and simply give up. Likewise, many people complete the process only to find that they have filled out sections incorrectly and have to go back in, fix the issues and then resubmit the application, costing them precious time when they could be applying for government contracts.
At Federal Contractor Registry, we complete hundreds of registrations and renewals each year. We are SAM experts and we can quickly complete your registration and we ensure that every section is filled out correctly, which speeds up the process. In many ways, we are just like accountants. After all, you could fill out your tax forms yourself, but the tax code is very complicated, so it just makes sense to hire a professional to handle it. It’s just the same with SAM registration.
After SAM Approval
Once your SAM registration is approved, you can provide goods or services to the federal government. FEMA, which is in charge of the emergency response to COVID-19, is especially in need of FEMA contractors.
To find contracting opportunities with FEMA or any other agency, go to Beta.SAM.gov. This homepage has a link to where you can search for possible contracts. Under the section “What Can I Do Here?” simply look under “Contract Opportunities” and click on “Search Contract Opportunities.”
This leads you to what basically amounts to the federal search engine for contracting. You can search by keywords, date, federal organizations, NAICS codes, set-asides and more. We did a quick search to gauge the number of opportunities for FEMA contractors and found hundreds of possibilities.
Some were related to medical supplies, such as providing masks and gloves for use as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Other needed items included IV pumps, non-contact thermometers, hand sanitizer, CPR training, cleaning & disinfecting services, cots, boxed or bottled drinking water, portable showers and wash stations. These were just a few of the hundreds of requests from FEMA.
However, FEMA contractors aren’t just needed to provide medical supplies. FEMA has other needs as well, including suppliers of copy paper, companies that create temporary walls, food services providers and even media and advertising services.
While you can search directly for FEMA offerings, we often think it makes more sense to search using your NAICS codes. This stands for North American Industry Classification System. Your NAICS codes, which we will decipher for you during the SAM registration process, are the codes that describe precisely what goods or services your company provides.
When you search using NAICS codes, you will end up with more specific hits that relate to your business. You also will find that the government needs more than FEMA contractors. Every agency and sub-agency of the federal government needs contractors, so while you might have thought about just working with FEMA, there are plenty of other opportunities out there.
Additionally, don’t forget about working with your state and local governments. State governments also have emergency response needs right now, and sometimes these state contracting opportunities are easier to attain than the federal contracts. Although, we have found that during this crisis, the government is working faster than ever to approve vendors as equipment as there is so much immediate need.
To register with your state, simply do a google search for your state with the word “procurement,” next to it. This is the official term for providing goods or services to a government agency.
For instance, if you search for “Oregon procurement,” the website procurement.oregon.gov comes up and there’s even a link that states “Get Started as a Supplier.” Keep in mind that any time you sign up for a state government procurement system, you will need to provide that CAGE code, so your SAM registration is truly the first step you take into the world of government contracting.
Once we complete your SAM registration, any potential FEMA contractors are encouraged to use Beta.SAM.gov, but we also found some helpful information at https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus/how-to-help.
If you look under the section marked “How To Help – Private Sector,” there are some helpful links. These can be used for FEMA contractors with an active SAM registration. If you already have an active registration but are close to your renewal date, contact us as soon as possible and we can complete your SAM renewal.
FEMA cannot work with FEMA contractors that do not have an active SAM registration, and if your registration is only a month from expiring, it’s possible that it might expire during a contract and then FEMA can no longer work with you or pay you for goods and services. SAM registrations must be renewed every year, and we highly recommend that you renew several months in advance.
To get started as a FEMA contractor or as a contractor with any agency, just click on the New Registration tab on our homepage or give us a call at (800) 985-7658 and speak with one of our helpful registration specialists.