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How To Build A Marketing Plan For Federal Government Sales 

By Ashley Neu | Posted on July 29, 2022 | Posted in Planning

The United States Federal Government spends billions of dollars each year procuring goods and services. The seemingly unlimited funds at the government's disposal make it a lucrative target for businesses of all sizes seeking to grow. However, many businesses do not succeed in selling to the federal government often because they fail to speak directly to the federal customer and their unique environments. This is where developing a detailed marketing plan for federal government sales can be a key asset to determining your overall success in this market.

Below are some basic steps you can follow to develop a winning marketing plan that will drive more federal government sales for your organization.

What Is A Federal Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is simply the strategy a business intends to implement in order to sell its solution. At a broad level, a federal marketing plan is no different but it is the details of the plan that can predict success or failure. When it comes to the federal government, a one size fits all approach simply won't work. Two different government agencies can use the same acronym, yet the meanings are completely different. Government speak should be included in your overall messaging and market approach. These nuances, while seemingly small, can actually make or break a sale in this market.

This is where the federal marketing plan comes into play. An effective plan will research and document these nuances and equip your federal sales team with the collateral and lead generation processes that speak uniquely to their customers rather than try to speak to all government employees at once.

Learn How To Integrate Your Federal Sales & Marketing Teams In Our OnDemand Training Course

Register now for our OnDemand Federal Sales Certification Training course! Our course covers everything you need to know about:

• Generating new leads using free and paid tools based on your whitespace
• Leveraging appropriate Fed Speak in your marketing efforts
• Working alongside the Federal Buying Cycle to close more business efficiently

How To Build An Effective Marketing Plan Specific To Federal Government Customers

1. identify your target government customers.

As mentioned above, the need for a detailed federal marketing plan lies in the fact that no two agencies are completely alike. To build an effective plan you need to first understand your customer. This means working with your sales team to develop a targeted list of agencies to pursue in a combined marketing and sales initiative.

The best way to generate a list of target agencies is to first determine your Total Addressable Market and Whitespace . Once identified, you can visually see which agencies or departments are adjacent to ones you are already doing business with and can likely leverage your relationship to get an introduction. You can also crosscheck the agencies within your whitespace with ITDASHBOARD.GOV  to see what they are investing in and whether your solution is one of those investments or you can crosscheck with their own agency-specific strategic plan to see if there is a driving need for your solution.

Other sites that can provide details into what goods and services specific agencies are procuring include:

• Federal Procurement Data Systems (FPDS) : FPDS is a part of the US General Services Administration (GSA) and holds information on Federal contracting . Many agencies, including the executive branch and departments, award over $300 billion annually for goods and services. The FPDS system identifies the client, the contractor, and when particular agencies are looking for private contractors. 
• Contract Opportunities (Formerly FedBizOpps) : Contract Opportunities is the source for federal procurement opportunities for service providers. Vendors need to register to the website so they can browse notices from agencies and departments. 
• Federal Acquisition Jumpstation : Websites like the Federal Acquisition Jumpstation offer Federal procurement information as well. These are arranged according to agency and include announcements of future acquisitions and regulations. 
• Online Government Libraries : Online directories such as these from the Library of Congress or US Army Corps of Engineers provide lists of federal open contracts and announcements regarding renewals and bidding. 

2. Research Your Target Accounts  

Once you have identified your target accounts, you need to develop an understanding of them. A simple strategy for developing this understanding is to answer these questions:

• What problems do they face or may face that your solution can solve?
• How do they communicate about these problems? Are their specific terms they use or scenarios they discuss?
• Where are employees active? (LinkedIn, in-person or virtual events, etc.)

These answers can often be found through their agency, department or office's website or Strategic Plan, by reading related RFPs, SOWs and other contracting documents and by reviewing their social media accounts.

3. Tailor Your Federal Marketing Plan

Now that you understand the problems your target accounts are trying to solve for, you can start building a marketing plan that will not only get in front of your key buyers but also effectively communicate your value proposition. 

When it comes to getting in front of your target government customer, there are a few strategies to consider:

• Maximize Your Organic Web Presence: Increasing your search ranking for the solution you offer as well as the potential problems your target accounts are trying to solve for is key to leading the right government customers to your site.
• Social Media Strategy: Are key decision makers active on LinkedIn or other sites? Then, make sure you are also active on those sites and try to engage with them either through 1:1 messaging or social advertising.
• Online Government Directories: Do your target agencies host supplier profiles on their site? If so, you need to make sure you are registered on it so that internal searches can still populate your solution.
• Event Strategy: Do key decision makers attend or sponsor particular events? If so, make sure you are also attending those events or even exhibiting to get your brand in front of the right people.

Getting in front of a key decision maker is only half the battle, the next step is to ensure your message is tailored to their unique mission, budget, and organizational structure. Use the research from Step 2 and research relevant and timely compelling events to incorporate into all of your messaging, including:

• Online & Print Advertising
• Website Content
• Marketing Brochures & Flyers
• Capabilities Statements
• Past Performance Documents
• Email Marketing Campaigns
• Supplier Profile, SAM Profile & More.

4. Review & Revise Your Plan Annually

As you see success and failings within your marketing approach, you will need to review how you can expand on the successful tactics and revise your failures to hopefully produce continually improving results. Additionally, as agencies shift their focus from one strategic plan to the next, you too will need to shift your plan to address their new or expanded needs. This consistent review of your plan in relation to your target accounts' needs will likely result in a marketing strategy that will grow in effectiveness year over year.

If you are interested in marketing your products and services to the Federal government, then you need to start with a strategy that will propel you towards decision-makers. If you are not sure where to start, request a FREE Consultation with our team below! Our team has successfully built several Federal sales startup practices and secured millions of dollars of revenue directly from the Federal market and our mission is to help other organizations do the same!

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B2G sales: How startups can sell to government agencies

Here's how a tiny company started closing huge deals with federal government agencies—and how you too can get started in B2G (business-to-government) sales.

What is B2G?

B2G stands for business-to-government. It simply means that a business is selling its products or services to the government. (It's also sometimes referred to as B2A, which stands for business-to-administration.)

Anytime a business sells a service or product to a government agency, that's B2G—whether it's a multi-billion dollar defense contractor like Lockheed Martin selling missiles, Insight Enterprises selling IT solutions to administrations, or a tiny company you've never heard of selling office supplies to federal agencies.

What kinds of companies are selling to the government?

If you're curious, you can visit USAspending.gov and go through the list of recipients and see how much money different companies have received from government contracts.

Don't let these numbers mislead you though—getting into B2G sales doesn't mean that you have to chase multi-billion dollar deals. There are literally government contracts that are just a few hundred bucks. So whatever you're selling, as long as it could help a government agency work more efficiently, you could sell it, even if you're running a tiny operation.

Where to find opportunities to sell to the federal government?

The government maintains a Contracting Opportunity Finder to find small businesses contracting opportunities with federal agencies.

You can search or browse their database to surface opportunities specially set aside for SMBs.

However, if you're willing to be a bit more creative, you can reach out directly to federal agencies—we'll talk in more detail about that further down in this article.

How a tiny startup accidentally discovered the B2G business model

SeamlessDocs didn’t set out to revolutionize the way governments digitally process forms. The startup—whose software instantly converts PDF or Word docs into dynamic, smart, cloud-based forms—wasn't even thinking about the government.

They began like many other startups—with a vision, a couple of people, and a rough product. They had found some traction with small businesses , but not enough to achieve the kind of growth they aspired towards.

The turning point came two years ago, as Marc Ende , the company’s Director of Sales, was working late into the night. The phone started ringing: “Hey, can I get a demo? I work for the state of Tennessee. I’m in the HR department, and was wondering if I can use your electronic signatures on my forms.” This call changed the future of the company. (Here's Marc telling the story himself.)

Suddenly, everything clicked. Instead of selling to small businesses with a few forms each, SeamlessDocs looked at the government and saw an industry drowning in permits, registrations, applications, contracts, and surveys. They saw a sector ripe for disruption, and the perfect market for their product.

The whole team sat down and decided to radically shift gears in their sales strategy to dominate one industry: the government.

Why sell to the government?

To most small business owners and startup founders, the idea of selling to governments is baffling. They don’t even know where to begin. If you work in a startup, the things you care about are probably the opposite of a life in public service: potential for growth vs. job security; freedom and autonomy vs. procedural process. The government seems impenetrable, with bureaucratic nightmares, tight budgets, and crazy contracts.

Endless questions pop up that steer most people well clear of pursuing the government. In many ways, selling to the government is uncharted territory for startups. It’s the road not taken.

But because no one really understands how to sell to the government, it’s a massive opportunity to blaze a trail, to go out there and actually do it.

The government is a huge space, ready to be disrupted. Roughly, 33% of government transactions are processed digitally and continue to raise year over year. Once you get your foot in the door, it’s a market that’s waiting and ready to be cornered. Let’s take a look at how SeamlessDocs transformed the trajectory of its business by focusing sales outreach on the government, and how you can do the same.

Four stages of closing the government

SeamlessDocs saw a huge opportunity for its business to grow and thrive by selling to governments. But one of the major obstacles to getting off the ground in the B2G space was that there weren’t a whole lot of precedents for what they were doing. They had a lot of questions, but not many answers. The company took a big risk by focusing on government sales. They set out to sell the dream, and they got there through trial and error. What they learned redefined their business, and they were able to create a scalable, repeatable process for B2G sales that continues to drive growth for the company today.

1. Define your government buyer personas

In any area of sales, it’s important to get your buyer personas right and know who you’re selling to, before doing anything else. This is especially true for the government, where you deal with many different buyers, all of whom affect the outcome of the sale. When selling to the government, list-building is a lot easier than in traditional sales—all the information you need is available to the public. Unlike private companies, the government is transparent. SeamlessDocs started simple: They went online. They found the names, emails, and addresses they needed to start building their personas, and split them into three main categories:

• User buyer: the person who’s going to actually use and implement the product, typically in the IT department.
• Economic buyer : the City Manager-type figure. This buyer controls the budget and signs off on purchase orders.
• Executive buyer : can be the same person as the economic buyer. City Manager, City Clerk, City Administrator, CIO, CTO —people who occupy managerial roles in government. This buyer looks at strategic issues and the long-term effects of a product or service.

What SeamlessDocs learned about buyer personas in B2G sales is that they’re much more fixed and isolated than in other areas of sales. Government departments tend to be siloed, in contrast with startups, where members wear different hats, play many roles, and have a good sense of what’s going on between departments. With governments, the IT department doesn’t really know what’s going on in the Mayor’s Office, and the Mayor’s Office definitely doesn’t know what’s going on in the Department of Records. You have to get a sense of how these different entities communicate with each other—and it’ll be different for each state or municipality.

Understanding how these personas talk to each other allows you to delve deeper into the buying process, and develop a targeted sales strategy for each government.

2. Make a lot of cold calls

SeamlessDocs found cold calls to be the most reliable method of drumming up new business. Emails simply weren’t as effective—90% of the demos that SeamlessDoc sets up are via phone.

Think about your average government employee, with an inbox stuffed with emails from concerned citizens. They’re not going to give your cold email the time of day. Government employees live on the phone—live there with them. Getting someone on the phone is one of the most powerful ways to close deals , and it’s especially true when it comes to B2G sales.

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You want to start by calling up the relevant IT user buyers—for SeamlessDocs, the website manager. They’re going to be the ones who understand the value of your product, and how it actually works. Get them to be your champions . Kick the conversation off with an exploratory process. Find the specific pain points that your product or solution will resolve, and dig into the problem. Here’s how SeamlessDocs' Marc Ende would start the conversation: “Hey, I’m on your website right now and I see 80 different PDF forms that citizens are burdened with printing, faxing, scanning, and emailing. 10 days later, once they submit that form to you, Chuck, what do you do with it?” He knew that governments had huge amounts of paperwork to deal with, but had to find out exactly which pressure points these problems fell under. He’d then ask more questions:

• “So you’re using a filing cabinet to manage thousands of submissions?”
• “Can I e-sign them?”
• “Can I submit them online?”

Governments aren’t inundated with cold callers, and people who are trying to sell to them. They’re open to giving you information—use this to your advantage. Use your cold calls to find out as much as possible about the specific problems you’re trying to resolve and the people involved. “You can find all [the information you need] directly on their website. If I called up and said, 'Hey, I want to know how much the IT Director's salary is?', they’ll have to give it to me. They’re very open to giving information and they’re also not overwhelmed by cold callers. There aren’t many people who are trying to sell [to] them. So for the most part, they might not even know it’s a cold call. They think you’re just simply asking them a question. They have no idea. You’re a concerned citizen because that’s what they do get.” — Marc Ende

3. Demo the problem, not the product

You have to do your homework in B2G sales. But no matter how much research you do, nothing beats the power of the product demo , in terms of actually getting inside the heads of your prospects and figuring out their actual needs and concerns. In your product demo, you’re trying to get all the different buyers—user, economic, and executive—on board to help you push through the procurement process later.

Keep in mind that 70% of local government employees are over the age of 50. You can’t just dive into the technical aspect of your product, because a lot of your audience won’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t expect a City Clerk or City Manager to automatically understand what a “cloud-based form” is—or a “cloud-based” anything is. In your demos , don’t start with your product. Start with the bigger picture. Figure out what the current process for managing things is. Marc Ende would kick off the demo by asking:

• “How are you currently managing the form process?”
• “What are some of the inefficiencies that you see?”
• “Do you have any existing initiatives to redress this issue?”

Get everyone in the room to feel the pain behind the current process, and to see that there is a problem. Once that becomes clear, then you can flick on the product and zero in on how the problem can be solved. Frame your product as a specific solution to a specific problem, rather than just showing off your product. Over time, SeamlessDocs learned that governments don’t tend to like new things—but they love efficiency .

Efficiency is the buzzword that lights up faces during staff meetings. When you sell to governments, sell efficiency. Figure out how you can make things run more smoothly while saving time and money, and you’ll be on the path to success.

4. Midwife the procurement process

Once you’ve aced the demo, your product still has to go through procurement before the deal is actually closed. There’s a gap between the stage of getting people excited about your product and the point when it’s actually purchased. To bridge this gap, you need to stay on top of the procurement process. One of the most powerful lessons SeamlessDocs learned in B2G sales was to never make assumptions, particularly when it comes to procurement. Just because Princeton is next to Jersey City, for example, doesn’t mean their procurement processes look anything alike—and if you make that assumption, you flush time and money down the drain.

Procurement is complicated

Procurement is basically the way that governments buy things. There are two different kinds of procurement situations:

• Single source: there are multiple vendors supplying the product, and they each place a competitive bid on the contract.
• Sole source: there’s essentially no direct competition—there’s only one vendor capable of supplying the product.

Because its product was unique and new, SeamlessDocs fell into the sole source category. They didn’t have to run through the bidding process with other companies, because those companies didn’t exist. Even if you’re fortunate enough to be a sole source provider, though, you still need to do the legwork to let procurement run as smoothly as possible. For example, if a government has a $5,000 dollar threshold for buying the kind of software your company sells, you have to know that. Then you can price strategically at $4,950 and make it easy for an economic or executive buyer to sign off on the purchase, without having to run it up the chain, or put it to a vote—dragging the process out indefinitely. There are all sorts of different checks and balances that regulate the procurement, and they differ from government to government. You need to find out the specific procurement process for the government or agency you’re dealing with, and follow it to the letter each time. The more you know, the more control you have over the entire sales process. In Marc Ende’s experience, government sales cycles, from beginning to end, are an average of 90 days—regardless of deal size.

Increase internal buy-in

The best way SeamlessDocs found to work around the ambiguity of the procurement process was by increasing internal buy-in from the various decision makers and buyers involved in the deal . If you get these buyers invested in the product and vision, and willing to make the deal happen, it becomes that much easier to navigate the red tape. Before a council meeting, for example, or a vote on adopting SeamlessDocs, the company would reach out to the various buyers involved with educational content geared towards showing them the value of their product. They’d point buyers to other governments and cities that they had helped make successful: “Don’t listen to us. Listen to your neighbor all the way in Reno. Our product has a 99% approval rating from its constituents. They’re using it like this. This is how you could potentially use it.” Governments are, by nature, skeptical of new solutions and entities. They hate to be first to anything. Use social proof in your sales process to help alleviate their concerns. Show them how their neighbor increased efficiency and cut spending through your solution, and how they can do the same.

Patience wins in B2G sales

We love to criticize the government—for inefficiency, long lines, and bureaucratic despotism. But SeamlessDocs is just one of the companies actually out there on the ground, trying to help the government-run more efficiently rather than just complaining.

And in doing so, they’ve increased the size of their team 8x, to 32 people—half of whom work in sales. Their list of happy customers is over 200 governments long, with hundreds more in the works. What does it take to sell to the government? According to Marc Ende, it’s patience above anything else. Selling to the government is about much more than just making a transactional deal. It extends beyond the handshake. It’s about pushing innovation on a truly vast scale. It takes salespeople who are committed problem-solvers, who are patient and dedicated to the task at hand.

You need a tool that helps you automatically track every touchpoint with your leads and offers complete team transparency, without burdening the sales process with further complexity.

In general, government employees move more slowly and are not incentivized so it’s vital you do not pressure them into the sale with discounts or other tactics. The pace of the sale is contingent on established norms and the employees reflect those norms. Value sells, discounts don’t. This is a lesson that all salespeople can learn from. Look beyond just closing the deal, and the immediate parameters of the transaction, towards how you can provide real, long-lasting solutions for your customers. Ultimately it’s knowing when to push forward, and when to be patient and bide your time, that will carry you across the finish line.

Further reading:

Govtech: the $400 Billion market hiding in plain sight An article by Ron Bouganim outlining the opportunity that's open to startups selling governments. The accompanying discussion on HackerNews is worth a read as well!

SBA Office of Government Contracting If you want to start selling to federal agencies, the U.S. Small Business Administration offers free counseling and training services via their Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTCAs). They can help you determine if your business is ready for government contracting, get registered in the proper places (e.g. the Department of Defense's System for Award Management), see if you are eligible in any small business certifications and research past contract opportunities.

How to Get Government Contracts by Olessia Smotrova-Taylor A 2012 book by Apress on how to sell goods and services to the government.

Zero to a Billion: 61 Rules Entrepreneurs Need to Know to Grow a Government Contracting Business Written by the former COO of SRA international, this is a how-to guide for entrepreneurs wanting to build a government contracting business.

Want more advice on winning large deals? Get a free copy of our book Enterprise Sales For Startups!

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By: Bradley Wyatt on May 6th, 2020

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Selling to the Government: 5 Tips to Increase Your Government Sales

GSA Schedule | Government Business Development | 6 Min Read

Selling to the government can seem like a daunting task for any government contractor, but focusing on several key tips and strategies can bring some structure to your public sector efforts and help your company excel in the government marketplace. Building your government sales practice is one of the greatest challenges your company may face, and before you can capitalize on the opportunities that exist for your company, you should have a go-to-market strategy in place. We have covered how to find and win government contract opportunities , but today we we’ll focus on how to successfully sell to the government. Here are my top five tips to increase your government sales:  

• Identify What Contract Vehicle is Right for Your Company
• Build Your Government Sales and Marketing Strategy
• Where to Find Government Contract Opportunities
• Identify and Outsell Your Competition
• Build and Establish a Pipeline

1. Identify What Contract Vehicle is Right for Your Company

Understanding the products and services you are selling to the government is extremely important when deciding what contract vehicle is right for your company and it is the first thing you should do. Keep in mind, the contract vehicle your company chooses to utilize ultimately depends on the marketplace you will be selling to. If you are looking to sell to the federal government, you will more than likely utilize a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule . With a GSA Schedule, you can also sell to select state and local agencies that participate in cooperative purchasing. If your company would like to sell to a state or local agency that does not participate in cooperative purchasing with the GSA, you may need to register for their individual procurement portal.

Under the GSA MAS Consolidation, established contractors now have the ability to sell supplies and services through their GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract that were previously out of scope of their Schedule. Contractors also now have access to ALL industry Large Categories under GSA MAS. This is important to note as your company could now potentially sell goods and services that previously were out of scope of your contract. This is a very significant feature of the new GSA MAS consolidated solicitation, and one that offers a huge opportunity for contractors to expand their offerings.

If your company does not currently sell to the government but you believe your product offering would help in the fight against COVID-19, your company may want to consider partnering with a channel distribution reseller to sell your products on their prime contract. Prime GSA Schedule holders usually can add your products to their contract in under a month, helping meet the urgency to provide support to the government. Certain supplies are not eligible for GSA Schedules and may be a better candidate for a VA Federal Supply Schedule . If you are not sure what contract vehicle is right for your company, our team can assist with any questions you may have .

2. Build Your Online Presence and Government Marketing Strategy  

You have established what contract vehicle is right for your company, now what? The next step, which is extremely important, is to build your government marketing strategy . This is done through a variety of ways such as building out your company’s website to include a government section, case studies and whitepapers, and increased presence on LinkedIn. Your website is the face of your company and is often a big investment,  so make sure to include a section geared for your government and public sector offerings as it can greatly increase your brand awareness in the government marketplace. It's a good idea to include case studies and whitepapers on your website, as well as trade shows and other government events when things return to normal. They help present your company as a subject matter expert (SME) and bring great value to the government when deciding how your product offering will help support their mission. The main goal for your website, content, and materials is to make it easy for government buyers to make a case for why you’re the best supplier!

All social media channels can be valuable to utilize while looking to increase your government sales, however, LinkedIn generally seems to be the main outlet for government customers. Utilizing LinkedIn as a way to build your online presence will help you and your organization to connect and network with government officials, helping your company stand out from the crowd.

3. Where to Find Government Contract Opportunities

If you would like to do business with the United States Government, you must register on the System for Award Management (SAM) . It is important to note that your company can find nearly all government contract opportunities at both the federal and state level of government on web-based eCommerce portals.

One of the most common questions we hear after someone has been awarded a GSA MAS contract is “where do I find government contract opportunities?” We provided some guidance on how to find and win government contract opportunities in this blog , but to stress the importance, here are some of the best vendor portals to find government contract opportunities:

For federal contract opportunities, you should consider using the following resources:

• Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation (FPDS-NG)
• beta.SAM.gov
• USASpending.gov

For state and local contract opportunities, you may want to consider targeting the following resources:

• State Procurement Portals
• County and City Procurement Portals
• State Procurement Forecasts

4. Identify and Outsell Your Competition

You will always have competitors, that is simply avoidable. While a competitor might not offer the exact same solution or service, the variations between your company and your competitor help you stand out in the RFI/RFQ/RFP process by putting similar product offerings into the same level playing field. However, there are many ways to not only identify, but also outsell your competition. One of the ways, as mentioned above, is to build your online presence and government marketing strategy.

Identifying the differentiators that exist between you and your competition can greatly help you outsell your competitor. If you can make your company stand out from the crowd, you will be more likely to win an award as government buyers will have an easier way to identify the best solution possible to meet and exceed their needs. Remember that government buyers are considering several options and vendors when searching for a solution, and they often don’t have time to extensively examine the nuances between all the offerings. Make it easy for them to see how your offering is different from all the others!

5. Build and Establish a Pipeline

Your company has identified an opportunity that was a good fit for your product offering and you have won the award, but what’s next? One of the most important things you can do is to build and establish a pipeline. To do this, you will need track your company’s awards, renewal contracts, government budget forecasts, and recompete opportunities.

One important tip to keep in mind when building and establishing your pipeline is to do your market research. That is, identify what opportunities you think would be a good fit for your company and include them in your pipeline. Being proactive and building a 12-36-month pipeline will help your company maintain success in the government marketplace. Another way your company may grow your current pipeline is to expand on current government contracts with expanded task orders.

Conclusion and Next Steps

There are many different tactics that government contractors should consider when trying to sell to the government. Marketing and selling to the government are no easy tasks, but utilizing these five tips should help increase your government sales. Whether it is general questions you have about your existing GSA Schedule or interest in Winvale's Channel Distribution for Public Sector Program , we are here to help with all of your needs.

About Bradley Wyatt

Bradley Wyatt is a Lead Account Manager for Winvale’s Public Sector department where he currently manages a diverse portfolio of Information Technology, Hardware, Software, and Services Channel Distribution Partner Accounts to accelerate their sales within the Public Sector. Bradley is a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia and a graduate from James Madison University with his Bachelor’s of Science in Public Policy and Administration.

3951 Westerre Parkway, Suite 250 Richmond, VA 23233 Email: [email protected] Phone: (202) 296-5505 Fax: (202) 296-5506

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Government Sales for Beginners: 4 Steps to Get You Started

For businesses looking to diversify their revenue stream or grow their sales, government contracting is a strong path. In 2018, the government posted an average of 2,544 solicitation-related notices per day. (If you’re not familiar with government terms, solicitations are essentially government requests for goods or services.) Additionally, the Government Accountability Office stated that in 2018, more than $550 billion was spent on government contracts for goods and services. To put things into a more recent perspective, the government spent $6.4 billion from February 1 - April 23 of 2020 on COVID-19 response alone. In other words, the government is spending and will continue to spend.

The government has proven to be a reliable customer, and their consistent spending means that government contracting is virtually recession-proof. If you’re considering selling to the government, here are four steps to get you started toward becoming a federal government contractor.

1. Create a SAM User Account.

SAM, or the System for Award Management, is a free website companies use to do business with the government. Businesses use SAM to register their company as an entity, and an account must be made before any business can be done with the government. SAM allows government agencies to search for contractors, or businesses selling to the government, based on information such as size or location.

2. Get Your CAGE Code Assigned.

A Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code is a five-character ID number used within the federal government to identify businesses. Once you register your business in SAM, your information will be submitted to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for CAGE Code assignment. Once your CAGE Code is assigned, SAM applies that ID number to your entity registration.

3. Get Your DD Form 2345 Approved.

The DD Form 2345 is reviewed and certified by the Joint Certification Program (JCP) and allows businesses selling to the government to get access to Department of Defense/Department of National Defense unclassified export controlled technical data. Once your DD Form 2345 is approved, you can bid on a Department of Defense (DOD) solicitation or execute a DOD contract that involves access to this secure information.

4. Obtain a Federal Focus Report.

Once you’ve completed steps 1-3, it’s time to figure out where your company will succeed in government sales. There are 278 different government agencies at the federal level alone. Do you know which ones you will be successful at selling to? That’s where the Federal Focus Report (FFR) comes in. The FFR helps you identify appropriate target agencies, contracting officers, upcoming opportunities, and competitors, leading to a focused government sales plan for your business. With the FFR, your company will have a holistic understanding of how the government is buying your product or service. Need an FFR? Contact us and our research team will put one together for you at a low cost.

These four steps are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to selling to the government. The process can be intimidating, but there can be big payoffs in the long run. If you’re unsure of where to start or need help becoming a federal government contractor, contact us . Our expert team members are here to guide you throughout every step of the government sales and marketing lifecycle.

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About the Author

The JetCo Solutions team is determined. We only win if you win, and we want you to succeed at every step of the government contracting process. View our team .

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ASTI - Advanced Science and Technology Institute

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

The Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) supports research faculty and staff at **State University, University of AnyState, AnyState Health Sciences University and AnyCity State University in its management of new discoveries. This support includes the management of new discoveries having commercial applications, as well as the management of corporate research agreements leading to new discovery.

**(Editor’s Note: Names disguised for confidentiality.)

1.1 Keys to Success

• Building a strong support base with the private sector within State and the Northwest.
• Creating an effective network between researchers to facilitate cross-disciplinary contact.
• Raising the viability of ASTI as the one-stop resource for all transferable technology that is being developed on the campuses of State’s four largest universities.

1.2 Mission

The mission of the ASTI is to bring technologies from **State University, University of AnyState, AnyState Health Sciences University and AnyCity State University into public use; thereby providing economic development assistance to state and federal agencies and companies to benefit State constituents, providing service to the technology transfer staff of each institution by assisting in identifying, protecting, developing and transferring technology to the private sector and generating income. ASTI’s unique perspective is in its ability to link researchers from various institutions to create new technologies that can then be marketed to the private sector.

Historically, State has received less attention from companies that develop long-term relationships with the university research community.  With SouthernState universities to the south and the University of AnyState to the north, State has had a difficult time reaching the level of viability necessary to draw the interest of companies outside the state.

It is a problem of economy of scale. Currently, State University, University of AnyState, AnyState Health Sciences University and AnyCity State University have 128 technologies available for licensing.  One university in SouthernState, The University of Southern State (USS), has over 200 technologies available for licensing.  In addition, USS has received $20 million in corporate research funding last year.  This far exceeds the total for all corporate research funding for the four State schools ($3 million) during the same period. In State, the State Technology Center has secured $91 million in private funding for technology transfer from the University of State. It is critical that the four major universities in State pool its resources in order to be competitive in drawing corporate attention to the excellent researchers working within their institutions.

It is ASTI’s mission to create a resource for the private sector that rivals USC by providing an aggressive one-stop center for all the pivotal research that is occuring in State.

1.3 Objectives

• Establish a 42-member corporate research support council and increase corporate membership in ASTI’s Technology Development Council by 20% each year.
• Facilitate two new industry sponsored research agreements the first year and increase the number of agreements each year.
• Create new research linkages between the four campuses and develop new collaborative relationships between researchers.
• Develop a cross-disciplinary research database that will link researchers throughout the state.

Organization Summary organization overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

ASTI is a focused program that offers a powerful resource to researchers who are seeking corporate support for research and corporations seeking new technologies.  The program also seeks linkages between the four campus researchers in developing new partnerships that will generate additional corporate interest. 

2.1 Legal Entity

State University, University of AnyState, AnyState Health Sciences University, and AnyCity State University are all share holders in ASTI.

2.2 Start-up Summary

Start-up costs and initial financing are shown on the following table.  Each institution will contribute $40,000 to ASTI’s operating budget.

2.3 Program Location

ASTI will be located in AnyCity, AnyState.  This is a good central location for a state-wide program. AnyCity State University is located in AnyCity.  AnyState Health Sciences University and State University are located in NewTown 60 miles to the north. The University of State is located in OldTown which is 40 miles south of AnyCity.

ASTI’s services include:

New Technology Assist in identifying new invention disclosures for new discoveries and evaluation of these new discoveries to determine commercial potential. A research database will be created and maintained by ASTI in order to respond quickly to requests for information from the private sector, especially when it links researchers on multiple campuses. Companies will have a quick and accessible resource that will identify researchers that match their interest areas. ASTI will also assist in the establishment of new businesses to develop emerging technologies.

Research Collaborations ASTI will actively seek cross-disciplinary collaboration opportunities between researchers on the four member campuses.

Technology Conferences ASTI will sponsor two conferences in Portland each year focusing on the areas of Biotechnology, Material Science, Computer Science, and Medical Technology.

Newsletter and Promotional Publications ASTI will produce a monthly newsletter and quarterly promotional publications directed toward the private sector which will focus on current research on the four campuses and researcher profiles. This material will also highlight researchers seeking corporate support.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

The research enterprise at State University, University of AnyState, AnyState Health Sciences University and AnyCity State University is remarkably broad, deep and diverse, spanning activities in twenty-two academic colleges and more than 40 multidisciplinary programs, centers, programs, and institutes.

ASTI will first focus on creating the information base necessary to satisfy high-technology corporations that are currently prospecting for new technologies. These are mostly larger companies, but also include medium- to small-sized companies.

Our most important group of potential customers are the researchers in these companies. They do not want to waste their time or resources looking for a needle in a haystack. It is critical that they find ASTI an excellent tool in quickly identifying technologies and researchers that will lead to profitable products.

ASTI will provide a two-tier service that will correspond to a company’s membership in ASTI’s Technology Development Council. There will be both a full and associate membership option in the Technology Development Council.   We anticipate that larger companies will select the full membership option because it will offer additional research services.  An associate membership is tailored for the medium- to small-sized companies whose contacts will be less frequent.

4.1 Market Segmentation

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Medium to Small Companies: These companies are critical to the growth of ASTI because they represent the state’s developing high-tech industries.  Their focus in not only on a specific technology that is being developed at one of the member campuses but also on the graduate students that are working on the research. As associate members of the Technology Development Council, these companies will gain greater access to all the research opportunities that will meet their technology and staff needs.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

As indicated by the previous table, we must first focus on all companies that have current relationships with researchers on the member campuses.

4.3 Service Providers Analysis

The private sector’s access to researchers at the member campuses range from excellent in selected disciplines, to completely chaotic and frustrating in most others areas.

ASTI’s goal is to assure access to all critical research through a streamlined process that leaves the company both satisfied with the results as well as the time invested in the search.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

The initial funding from the four member institutions will provide the foundation for launching ASTI.  Its survival will depend on the program’s ability to grow a membership base to its Technology Development Council.  The program will not survive if it is unable to meet its goal of increasing membership in the Council by 20% each year.

ASTI’s information products and services will add real value to the companies search for emerging technology.  As stated before, our most important group of potential customers are the researchers in these companies.  Their input into the kind of services they want will be critical to the evolution of ASTI. Our focus will be to add value in everything connected with ASTI.

5.1 Competitive Edge

ASTI’s competitive advantage is their comprehensive approach to providing unequalled access to researchers. ASTI’s focus is to support the companies in their successful pursuit of emerging technologies. The most critical component is the responsiveness of the program to company inquiries into selected research areas.

The best scenario is the company responding to research highlights provided by ASTI before initial inquires are made.  ASTI will strive to open doors for companies so that long-term relationships will develop and companies will become members of the Technology Development Council. 

The approach is decidedly sales-oriented in focus.  This is a critical advantage when in competition with universities in SouthernState and NorthernState.  Companies will find State research viable and easy to access.

Yet the key to ASTI’s success will be in how the program evolves in response to companies demands.  ASTI’s Technology Development Council was a vehicle for that evolution.  The Council will provide companies with the access to fine-tune services to improve the program’s ability to meet industry demands.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

ASTI’s marketing strategy will be to build the Technology Development Council as a base of support for technology transfer.  The plan is to use existing members of the Council as lead contact for other companies.  The best description of the strategy is the ever-widening ripples when a stone is thrown in a pond.  The first step is to capture all the companies the are currently quite aware of the excellent researchers at the four member institutions. From that base, begin to recruit new companies that current members will invite into the Council.

Though it is possible that fresh contacts to ASTI, from inquiries about technology highlighted in promotional material, can lead to companies joining the Council, it will be the membership of the Council that will drive the success of the program.

5.3 Fundraising Strategy

The fund raising strategy will be the payment of annual membership fees in the Technology Development Council.  A full membership will be $3,000 a year.  An associate membership will be $1,000.

5.3.1 Funding Forecast

During the first year, ASTI will recruit 20 full members and 21 associate members to the Technology Development Council.

5.4 Milestones

ASTI’s milestones are as follows:

• Within the first six months of operation to assemble the Technology Development Council membership.
• Publish the first ASTI monthly newsletter in December.
• Stage high tech conferences in AnyCity during the month of March and September in 2002.
• Achieve two new industry sponsored research agreements with researchers at the member institutions during the first year of operation.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

ASTI’s director is John Doe.  He is excited about the state’s vision of establishing a technology transfer consortium involving the state’s strongest corporate citizens. “These are ideas that many people have shared and promoted,” Doe said. “I’m hoping to work with units around the state to implement these and other ideas related to research agreements with industry.” Doe understands the need for State to strengthen connections with the private sector.

He joins ASTI from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in MoneyCity, State, where he worked as technology transfer manager in the Environmental Technology Division. He has a Ph.D. in low-temperature geochemistry from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., and a post-doctoral fellow from Yale University.

He believes the technology transfer consortium is a natural mechanism to allow large and small enterprises to make use of the expertise at the member institutions and allow faculty to participate in entrepreneurial pursuits. “I will promote ideas such as an entrepreneurial sabbatical for faculty where they could pursue business start-ups and the universities will receive some benefit in return,” Doe said. “I’m excited about the opportunities and look forward to working with the Technology Development Council and promoting the critical research efforts occuring at the institutions that ASTI represents.”

6.1 Personnel Plan

ASTI’s director position is full-time.  In addition, ASTI will also have three full-time employees; a research associate that will be responsible for research data collection, a communication associate who will be responsible for the program’s publications, and a full-time administrative assistant.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The following sections will outline important financial information.

7.1 Break-even Analysis

The following table shows what our break-even point will be to cover our montuhly costs.

7.2 Projected Surplus or Deficit

The following table will indicate projected surplus and deficit.

7.3 Projected Cash Flow

The following table and chart illustrate the projected cash flow.

7.4 Standard Ratios

The following table compares our standard ratios with the Standard Industry Code #8748, Other Management Consulting Services.

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• Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A Guide to Doing Business With The Federal Government

• April 29, 2022

Do small businesses have a shot at sealing a government contract deal with federal agencies in an industry where corporate giants always prevail?

Fortunately, yes!

Mammoth corporations may dominate the government contracting industry, but that does not mean that small businesses don’t stand a chance to win a government contract. With the existence of developmental policies and upcoming industry reforms that aim to further level the playing field for small-time government contractors, doing business with the federal government does not sound too impossible anymore.

Table of Contents

How can the federal government support my business?

The United States government is one of the world’s largest spenders. In 2020 alone, the federal government posted a record-breaking $682 billion worth of awarded federal government contracts, where a significant portion of it went to small businesses. With an industry as massive as this, doing business with the federal government can open up paths to grow your small business like never before.

Opportunity to win big

Finding prime clients is crucial to the growth of any small business. And that is why doing business in this billion-dollar federal government contracting industry can definitely give you opportunities to win big.

Compete for small business exclusive contracts

The federal government recognizes that not all businesses have equal access to government contracting opportunities. And that is why there are certain contracts that are more accessible to small businesses, such as the set-aside contracts . Also called set-asides,

Enjoy long contract periods

One of the struggles of every business owner is finding stable clients who will stay with the company for a considerable amount of time.

Fortunately, the world’s biggest spender also offers longer contract terms to its government contractors! The timeframe for each government contract may vary, but they usually last from one to three years. Additionally, if the federal agency you are working with is delighted with your performance for the contract, they can renew your contract if there is still work left. If there aren’t, they can consider your past performance as a reference when you are bidding on a new contract with them again.

Guaranteed payments

You don’t have to worry about being left in the air by your client. Since federal laws bind the government itself, they strictly adhere to the federal regulations, especially with the terms stated in the contract.

How do I sell something to the government?

Choosing to become a government contractor is a serious undertaking. You will be investing your time and resources to prepare your business to enter the government contracting industry. For your efforts not to end in naught, here is an overview of the things you have to do so you can start selling your products or services to the government:

Know your target market

Blindly entering the government contracting field will only spell disaster. Put in the work and research whether the products or services your business offers are high in demand. You can get an idea of the current state of affairs of the contracting market by looking at the previously awarded contracts at USASpending.gov and current contracting opportunities at SAM.gov and SubNet .

Additionally, don’t forget to utilize this contracting opportunities forecast tool managed by the General Services Administration (GSA). Keeping tabs on these gov websites can give you an edge over the competition.

Learn about FAR

The Federal Acquisition Regulation is a set of primary rules and regulations that guide the federal government’s procurement of goods and services to government contractors using the allocated federal budget.

So to put it simply, FAR is the rulebook of both the federal government and the contractors that they should follow whenever they do business with each other. And with this in mind, you have to be familiar with the crucial clauses stated at FAR so your efforts to thrive in this industry will not be in vain.

Determine your eligibility for small business assistance programs

First and foremost, you have to confirm that your business size falls within the stated parameters that qualify your business as small. You can use this Size Standards Tool by the SBA to know.

Furthermore, different types of contracting assistance are available for disadvantaged small businesses. The Small Business Administration, the official government organization that promotes and protects the rights of small entrepreneurs, offers support programs for small business contractors. By joining SBA’s contracting assistance programs, you can qualify for set-aside contracts , team up with established government contractors to win more federal contracts, and meet mentors.

Upskill constantly 

Government contracting is a consistently evolving industry. And to thrive as a federal contractor, you should be able to keep up with these changes with your innovative business solutions. Aim to earn the necessary licenses and certificates to increase your skill value and always be on the lookout for learning opportunities.

SBA also offers learning opportunities to businesses operating in the government contracting industry. You can drop by your local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), which can provide valuable assistance to your business. Visit this site to see the nearest PTAC to you.

Know your NAICS Codes

Your NAICS Code, or North American Industry Classification System Code, will be used by contracting officers to know the nature and industry of your business. Head over to their self-service website , then select which among the NAICS Codes in the list best describes your business. If your contracting firm offers various products and services, you can choose more than one NAICS Code.

Register your business at SAM.gov

Registering your business at the System for Award Management website means you are now qualified to bid and win federal contracts. Here are the requirements you will need to get your contracting business registered at SAM.gov :

Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Your EIN will prove that your business follows the federal taxation rules. You can request your EIN at IRS .

Get your CAGE / NCAGE Code

If your business is located within the country and its territories, you will be assigned a CAGE Code. You can get this after you complete your SAM.gov registration.

On the other hand, you will need an NCAGE Code if your company is built outside the U.S. and its territories. Request one before your SAM.gov application here .

Unique Entity Identifier

The federal government has transitioned from using DUNS Number into using Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Unlike the DUNS Number where you have to request for it via a third-party website before you register your business at SAM.gov, you can automatically receive your UEI after your finish your SAM.gov registration.

Banking and financial information

This sensitive information will be used to set up Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The federal government will wire the money to you directly using this payment method.

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How to Optimize Your Federal Business Development Workflow

IN THIS ARTICLE

How to Define Your Federal Business Development Strategy

Difficulties in federal business development, tools and intelligence to streamline your workflow.

[Use Bloomberg Government’s focused data sets, proprietary tools, and expert analysis to fill your pipeline and grow your business now.]

Managing federal business development workflows can quickly become an unwieldy process, especially when it involves large government contracts that need input and coordination across multiple parties. Building and monitoring the entire opportunity pipeline, from the initial draft request for proposal to winning the final contract, often requires extensive research on information that’s fragmented across multiple platforms, spreadsheets, emails, and messages.

For business developers, this means a lot of time spent finding and gathering both quantitative and qualitative data on individual opportunities, market trends, government spending, networks and partnerships. Optimizing this workflow is essential to building robust pipelines, closing contracts, and growing your federal business.

Winning Federal Contracts on the Top 20 Contract Vehicles

With the right strategy in place, contractors can find and win new contracts for a predictable pipeline.

Before you’re able to optimize your workflow, you must first define your business development strategy. This is the plan of action your company will use to identify new opportunities, build out their pipeline, write the proposals, and ultimately win contracts. Accomplishing this goal requires a detailed plan and an immense amount of research into market conditions, government spending trends, and competitor analysis.

To define your company’s business development strategy and optimize your workflow, consider conducting both a Black Hat and White Hat review. These assessments provide valuable insights into the current market size, your company’s current position in it, and your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.

The Data You Need

Gain the certainty you need for your business through key information on all federal budget, solicitation, and spending activities.

Black Hat Review

A Black Hat review is all about the competition. You’ll want to write a proposal from their point of view to gain a better understanding of how they would secure the deal. Make a note of any advantages your competitors might have, either in the products or services themselves or their opportunity funnels, and keep track of their weak points.

This exercise can help you determine how your company stacks up to the competition, the right competitive price point at which to market your solution, and whether or not you can win the contract. You’ll also gain key insights on how to position your company against your competitors while building customer relationships with program managers and contracting officers.

White Hat Review

Whereas a Black Hat review focuses on your competitors, a White Hat review targets your company’s capabilities and solutions. This is when you utilize the actionable information from research and assessments to improve your win probability.

Assess and minimize your own weak spots, and explore how your market solutions compare to the competition. It might reveal that you need a partner for a contract or that a niche is oversaturated. In any case, you can use this time to tackle any internal issues, adjust pipeline goals, and target competitor pitfalls with your solutions.

[Explore the tenth annual  BGOV200 Federal Industry Leader rankings  and download the full report.]

While it might be easy to say “define your business development strategy,” taking the necessary actions to create and implement a detailed pipeline plan is no simple feat. Business developers face many challenges throughout their workflows, from time-consuming research on opportunities to qualifying partnerships and contract leads.

Some common frustrations among business development teams include:

• Identifying areas of opportunity in a niche market.
• A shortage of pipeline opportunities and inaccurate information.
• Aggregating and analyzing accurate, reliable data and contracts to win work.
• Staying up-to-date on government spending trends and market conditions.
• Finding the right agency and vendor contacts.
• Facilitating calls or meetings to gain information and expand their networks.
• Clearly communicating with contracting officers.
• Ensuring accurate release dates for RFPs.

With information buried across a multitude of channels, business developers spend most of their time tracking it down or contacting people. These difficulties often hinder strategic growth planning, resulting in companies falling short of their pipeline goals. However, there are strategies and solutions that can help you overcome these hurdles with numerous added benefits.

Bloomberg Government offers a powerful suite of features designed to optimize your entire federal contracting workflow. With BGOV, business developers can easily create viable pipelines that win task orders on contracts and close deals.

Opportunity Search is the market’s most comprehensive search tool. With fast, accurate, and reliable information and access to a vast database of 31+ million contracts, BGOV provides business developers with the resources they need to save time while pursuing government contract opportunities.

BGOV Alerts offers proactive email updates on opportunities and markets of interest. Based on recompete data, machine learning algorithms can forecast which competitors might bid on the same project. BGOV Workspaces can also help you build your pipeline, qualify potential opportunities, and collaborate with team tools.

Backed by the power of Bloomberg News and proprietary expert analytics combined with powerful market intelligence tools provide business developers with a centralized platform for reliable information on current market conditions, government spending trends, and new contract opportunities. Not only does this present valuable context for current strategies and business decisions, it also saves time researching information by organizing disparate data stored on separate systems platforms.

With enhanced pipeline visibility and access to key market insights and information, BGOV enables business developers to produce accurate forecasting and strong opportunity pipelines. This translates into more contracts won and deals closed, growing your federal contracting business and network.

Market Intelligence to Inform Business Development

Bloomberg Government is your source for news, analysis, and data that covers mission-critical developments. From purchasing trends to supply chain, with BGOV, you’re always a step ahead.

Bloomberg Government helps you streamline the process of taking an opportunity search result from potential to pipeline – and proposal ready. Unparalleled document search capabilities allow you to seek out undiscovered opportunities, gaining a competitive advantage. Track these solicitations and perform competitive analysis to better understand your current market position. Competitive and contract intelligence provides you with accurate, up-to-date information so you can save time on research and focus on business development.

With Bloomberg Government, you receive reliable, actionable data that can propel your opportunities through your pipeline and deliver results. To learn more about how BGOV can help optimize your business development workflows, request a demo .

Find the right opportunities with BGOV’s unmatched data sets.Enhance your view of the market. Opportunity Search enables you to find and exclude keywords in documents attached to solicitation notices to surface relevant opportunities in no time at all.

Request a demo

Reference Shelf

• Report: BGOV200 Federal Industry Leader rankings
• Webinar: Contracts to Watch: GWACs & MACs
• Article: Partnering with 8(a) companies as a large contracting firm
• Article: The Top 10 IT Contractors
• Article: Federal Contract Spending Trends in Five Charts
• Article: How to Build Your Pipeline With the Right Federal Contracts
• Article: How to Size Your Market to Strategically Grow Your Federal Business

Contractor Impacts: FY24 Defense Appropriations

Artificial intelligence market profile, fy24 top 20 federal opportunities.

Beginner’s Guide to the GSA Contract Get the Guide Now

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GSA Schedule Small Business Sales

If your small business has experience selling to the government, whether directly or indirectly as a subcontractor, a GSA Schedule may help expand your government sales.

Over the past five years, sales to small businesses under the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contract have increased by approximately 32%, while total GSA MAS Contract sales have increased by approximately 27%. In fiscal year 2022, small businesses took in nearly $14.5 billion in sales through the GSA Schedule. With roughly 12,000 small business contractors, that equates to nearly $1.2 million in average sales per small business.

The sales data below can serve as a starting point to help you get a high-level overview of the market. After reviewing the small business sales, take our 8-Question Assessment to help determine if you qualify, are ready, and would benefit from pursuing a GSA Schedule Contract .

FY 2022 GSA MAS Contract Sales by Socio-Economic Size Status

Gsa small business sales by category.

The GSA MAS Contract is broken down into twelve Large Categories of product/service offerings. The IT and Professional Services Large Categories consistently account for the highest sales for both large and small businesses.

FY 2022 GSA Small Business Sales by Large Category

Gsa categories with over 45% of sales to small businesses.

Across all GSA MAS Contract Large Categories, small businesses take in approximately 35% of total sales. However, under the seven GSA Large Categories detailed below, small businesses accounted for over 45% of total sales in fiscal year 2022.

GSA Large Category & Percentage of Sales to Small Businesses

• Transportation & Logistics Services 70%
• Facilities 59%
• Security & Protection 56%
• Furniture & Furnishings 55%
• Industrial Products & Services 52%
• Office Management 47%
• Scientific Management & Solutions 45%

FY 2022 GSA Large Categories with Highest Percentage of Sales to Small Businesses

Considering a gsa schedule contract.

Are You a New Company with No Gov’t Sales Experience?

If your company is just getting started in the government space, pursuing a GSA Schedule may not be the best first step. Your local Small Business Development Center  (SBDC) or  Procurement Technical Assistance Center  (PTAC) can help you assess demand and develop a plan for moving forward in the government market.

• Small Business Administration (SBA) contracting guide
• SBA’s Directory of Federal Government Prime Contractors with a Subcontracting Plan
• GSA’s Subcontracting Directory for Small Businesses

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3 steps for developing a federal government sales pipeline.

Many new firms to federal government do not have a clear plan on how to approach the market. They simply assume they can go to Federal Business Opportunities  ( FedBizOpps),  bid on a solicitation, and win.

This certainly seems logical, but by the time a solicitation is listed on FedBizOpps, the chances of a “cold bid” winning, without any upfront capture management or business intelligence, are incredibly low.

For new entrants to the market, or even those firms that are looking to expand their federal footprint, these 3 useful tips will help firms maximize their resources, and improve their chances of winning contracts.

1) Define your target client.  The federal government is the world’s largest customer. It is often daunting to even imagine where to begin. However, beginning somewhere requires focus to establish a “go-to” marketing approach, and to focus scant resources for maximizing return on investment.

This initial phase requires you to start by selecting what products and services you will be offering. It is even a better idea to start with the kind of problems you want to solve. This approach then requires you to continue the research into who is buying this product/service, where (geographically), how (e.g. GSA Schedules, IDIQ task orders, etc.), and from whom.

This vital information can give you an ideal target of agencies and organizations to target, and firms for possible partnering and subcontracting opportunities. Using data from the Federal Procurement Data System Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation or USA Spending is best for this analysis.

2) Differentiation. I always warn clients that they will get sick of me saying the word “differentiation”, as pointed out by Inigo Montoya in the movie Princess Bride .

• Why should a potential prime or buyer be interested?
• What is it about your firm and its capabilities that are special?
• How do you want your firm to be seen in comparison to your competitors?
• What capabilities speak to the unique needs of the targets you have decided to focus on?
• How do these offerings reinforce your positioning?
• If you are positioning yourself as innovative, are your services truly innovative?

Don’t just assume that you are unique, as the truth may be the opposite. Do research to ensure your positioning is correct and honest.

3) Develop an appropriate marketing strategy.  Just as your service offerings should deliver on your brand, so too should your marketing approach align with your target clients’ needs and preferences. Your marketing approach needs to speak their language, address their “pain points”, and most important, how your solutions solve those problems. This approach will be far more effective.

These steps are a great place to start on the road to developing an effective pipeline for federal government contractors. However, any plan must be flexible and current to be successful. Stay current as the market and industry conditions change, and be ready, willing, and able to revise your approach as necessary. Don’t stubbornly continue trying to pump oil form a dry well.

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This workshop and government sales training is designed to give you the equivalent of an MBA level education on government procurements with the necessary education, training, techniques, strategies, and templates required to accelerate and win government contracts.

Every government sales training workshop is conducted onsite (or you can come to us) and is tailored to your company's requirements and solutions. 

The Master Series Government Workshop covers the full spectrum of activities required to succeed in government sales. This includes marketing, prospecting, business development, teaming, proposal development, and dozens of other subjects with hundreds of techniques and strategies.

Our government sales training workshop provides you with significant and effective concepts to engage the government market, influence the acquisition, and win contracts. You and / or your team's individual knowledge and collective expertise serve as the foundation. 

The workshop provides a synchronized, effective, and repeatable approach, tested and proven to deliver results.  We offer workshops in a collaborative and hands-on setting to ensure that you and your team are doing the right activities to create value and increase revenue.

Most Valuable Government Sales Training We've Ever Received

We Learned More in TWO Days with RSM Federal than years with other well-respected and well-known experts. Joshua Frank and his team at RSM Federal are the real deal. If you want to win more government contracts, RSM Federal is the best I’ve ever seen.”  Click here for more testimonials Stephanie Parson, President, Crowned Grace International

Customized For Your Business

When you register for our Master Series Workshop, we will ask you for specific areas of interest. It might be mentor protege, IDIQs, GSA Schedules, set-asides, certifications, teaming with larger primes, or a hundred other points of interest. We take your feedback and built it into the workshop. Unlike many workshops that are the same material, regardless of company, we tailor our government sales training specifically to your company, your solutions, your challenges, and your objectives.

No Limit On Number of Employees

The cost of the workshop is the same whether it's just the owner or ten employees. You select who you want to attend. Because the workshop is broken-down into modules, many companies will have their employees attend specific parts of the workshop. However, we strongly recommend that business developers, proposal managers, and executive leadership attend all sessions. From a business perspective, the strategies cross all business functions.

Significant, Effective, and Proven Concepts & Strategies

Ask any of our Clients and they will tell you they are successful because of how RSM Federal integrates advanced-level training and strategies into every engagement. When we are asked, "What is the most important thing we can do to win government contracts?" The answer is:

• The ability to communicate the value of what you sell
• How to differentiate from the competition
• How to position your past performance / past contracts
• 80% focus on pre-acquisition instead of only responding to FBO
• Collecting information and intelligence to be more competitive; and
• Techniques and step-by-step strategies to influence the acquisition

The Master Series Government Workshop is designed to provide basic and advanced strategies that most companies take three to five years to learn. We'll teach you everything y ou need to accelerate and start winning contracts.

Post Workshop Action Plan

The last two hours of the workshop is spent on the whiteboard. Throughout the workshop, we're capturing various activities and requirements. These will include marketing, prospecting, sales, teaming, proposal, and back-office operations. We will list all activities by date and outline priorities. This provides you with a simple and detailed action plan and the confidence to implement it.

"The Professor" of Government Sales

I can honestly say that Joshua Frank is the "The Professor" of government sales. The value he provides and the return is "YUGE.” It's an inspiring combination of government and business acumen. There is no question that RSM Federal can help accelerate your revenue.   Click here for more testimonials Terry Imergoot, VP Sales, Inc. 500 Company

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Achieving success in the federal market requires more than participation; it demands a unique approach that offers fresh insights and provokes meaningful dialogue about change. By helping agencies identify their problems, you position yourself as an integral part of the solution.  

Your Challenges

• Struggling to gain traction in the Federal market as a newcomer?
• Competing in the federal market without significant success?
• Dealing with a federal sales plan that hasn't delivered results?
• Actively pursuing opportunities on eBuy and FBO without winning?
• Having difficulty generating qualified leads?
• Engaging with agencies too late in the buying process?

 Imagine a Future Where You...

• Have a deep understanding of the federal market.
• Know exactly which agencies are interested in what you sell.
• Understand the buying processes and methods of agencies.
• Generate more leads and create more deals.
• Differentiate your firm effectively to stand out in a competitive market.
• Inspire agencies to rethink their processes.

TSelling to the federal government demands a strategy that transcends the typical "me too" federal marketing approach.

• Stand Out : Your unique selling points should distinctly set you apart from your competitors.
• Break Through : Your demand generation campaign must cut through the clutter and make an impact.
• Engage Early : You need to enter the buying process sooner than you currently do.
• Offer Unique Insights : Provide a fresh perspective on agency problems and goals.
• Create Opportunities : Don't just chase RFPs, create meaningful deals with agencies.

Introducing the Standout Go-to-Market Approach

Transitioning from successful B2B marketing to government marketing (B2G) can be a daunting task. But with our Standout Go-to-Federal-Market Strategy, your firm can thrive. We assist in constructing an effective, integrated go-to-market system tailored for success in the federal market. Our strategy helps pinpoint lucrative target agencies and craft value propositions that align your firm’s strengths with those agencies' needs. Our approach fosters a multitude of competencies within your organization. We guide you in understanding and implementing:

Get our Go to Federal Market Strategy Solution Brief

Thanks for your help and coaching. Out of all the things I did after the GSA award, you rank at the top in terms of meaningful benefit.

Not only your advice was realistic but you took the time to understand our business and gave it ample thought before the coaching sessions.

Michael K. President GSA Schedule 70 

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Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

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Creating a solid business plan is essential for any organization, including government agencies. It's not just about setting goals and objectives, but also about efficiently utilizing resources and showcasing transparency. That's why ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies is here to help!

With this template, government agencies can:

• Clearly define their strategic goals and objectives for maximum impact
• Develop actionable plans to allocate resources effectively and drive performance
• Demonstrate accountability to stakeholders and the public through transparent reporting

Whether you're a local council or a federal agency, ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies empowers you to create a comprehensive and compelling roadmap for success—all in one centralized location. Start planning for a better future today!

Business Plan Template for Government Agencies Benefits

A business plan template for government agencies offers numerous benefits, including:

• Streamlining the strategic planning process and ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives
• Facilitating effective resource allocation and budget management to maximize efficiency and productivity
• Providing a clear roadmap for action, enabling agencies to prioritize initiatives and track progress
• Enhancing transparency and accountability by clearly communicating the agency's mission, vision, and performance metrics to stakeholders
• Enabling agencies to adapt and respond to changing priorities and external factors, ensuring long-term success and sustainability.

Main Elements of Government Agencies Business Plan Template

ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies is designed to help government agencies effectively outline and manage their strategic goals, objectives, and action plans. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Easily track progress with four custom statuses - Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do - to ensure that all tasks and sections of the business plan are properly managed and updated.
• Custom Fields: Use three custom fields - Reference, Approved, and Section - to add vital information and metadata to each task, allowing for easy organization and filtering of business plan sections.
• Custom Views: Utilize five different views, including Topics, Status, Timeline, Business Plan, and Getting Started Guide, to gain different perspectives on your business plan, track progress, and ensure alignment with strategic objectives.
• Collaboration and Accountability: Enhance collaboration and accountability by utilizing features such as task comments, mentions, file attachments, and assigning responsibilities to team members.
• Reporting and Analytics: Leverage ClickUp's reporting and analytics features to gain insights into progress, performance, and resource allocation, enabling effective decision-making and demonstrating accountability to stakeholders and the public.

How To Use Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

If you're a government agency looking to create a comprehensive business plan, follow these steps to make the process easier using the Business Plan Template in ClickUp:

1. Define your mission and objectives

Start by clearly defining the mission and objectives of your government agency. What is the purpose of your agency and what do you hope to achieve? This step is crucial as it sets the foundation for the rest of your business plan.

Use the Goals feature in ClickUp to create and track your agency's mission and objectives.

2. Assess your current situation

Take a deep dive into your agency's current situation. Analyze your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). This will help you identify areas of improvement and potential challenges that need to be addressed in your business plan.

Use the Table view in ClickUp to create a SWOT analysis and track your agency's current situation.

3. Develop your strategies and action plans

Based on your mission, objectives, and SWOT analysis, develop strategies and action plans to achieve your goals. Outline the specific steps you will take to address the challenges identified and leverage your agency's strengths.

Use tasks in ClickUp to create action plans and assign responsibilities to team members.

4. Monitor and review

Once your business plan is in place, it's important to regularly monitor and review your progress. Keep track of key performance indicators (KPIs) and milestones to measure the success of your strategies and action plans. Make adjustments as needed to stay on track and ensure the continued success of your government agency.

Use Dashboards in ClickUp to visualize and monitor your KPIs and milestones.

By following these steps and utilizing the features in ClickUp's Business Plan Template, your government agency can create a well-structured and effective business plan to guide your operations and achieve your objectives.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

Government agencies can use the Business Plan Template for Government Agencies in ClickUp to streamline their strategic planning process and ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

To get started, hit "Add Template" to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you'd like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a comprehensive business plan:

• Use the Topics View to outline and organize key sections and topics of your business plan
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section, with statuses such as Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do
• Utilize the Timeline View to set deadlines and visualize the timeline of your business plan
• The Business Plan View provides a holistic overview of your entire plan, allowing you to easily navigate between sections
• The Getting Started Guide View offers step-by-step instructions and guidance to help you kickstart your business plan creation process

Additionally, customize your business plan template with the following custom fields:

• Reference: Add references or sources to support your business plan
• Approved: Indicate whether each section has been approved or not
• Section: Categorize each section of your business plan for easy organization and filtering

With this template, government agencies can efficiently create, manage, and update their business plans, ensuring transparency, accountability, and successful execution of strategic initiatives.

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Required templates for a MAS offer

You will need to use our templates and then upload the files to your Multiple Award Schedule offer.

Don’t forget to read the entire solicitation — plus the applicable large category attachments that relate to your offerings. SCP-FSS-001 Instructions Applicable to All Offerors under Section I of the solicitation has comprehensive information about applicability of attachments or templates.

SIN-specific templates

You also need to look for resources and templates by searching the special item number(s) in the look-up table . Some are optional, but others are mandatory.

You will also need to compile the following information to input into eOffer.

Financial statements

You need to have the previous two-year period (audited, if available) with at least a balance sheet and income statement. You can explain anything that could reflect negatively on your business. If your company is new, and you don’t have two years of financial statements, you might be able to substitute other information .

Technical proposal

You must address the four technical proposal factors outlined at SCP-FSS-001 Section II – Technical Proposal of the solicitation . Note that Factors One (Corporate Experience), Three (Quality Control) and Four (Relevant Project Experience) must be completed via a 10,000-character-limit narrative in eOffer. We will not consider uploaded documents to address these factors.

Professional compensation

If you are proposing to offer services, you must submit a Professional Compensation Plan that explains your company policies on salaries and fringe benefits for employees who will work under your contract. You don’t have to disclose individual compensation, and general compensation practices that are printed in your employee handbook are often sufficient. Read FAR Part 52.222-46 for more info.

Previous notification of determination not to exercise an option letter

If you previously had a MAS contract that was canceled or allowed to expire due to low sales, you need to provide a copy of the cancellation letter or notification of determination not to exercise an option along with your detailed description of the steps you plan to take to generate sales through a new contract. See SCP-FSS-001 Section I – Administrative/Contract Data (iv) of the solicitation for more info.

Commercial supplier agreement

If you have any commercial supplier agreements from your manufacturer, submit them with your offer. If you are the reseller of a product, changes to the end user license agreement must have a signature of approval from the manufacturer. The agreements must be editable, preferably with portions that are federally non-compliant already removed.

Commercial Sales Practices Format (CSP-1)

If your SIN(s) are eligible, you can opt to participate in transactional data reporting . We will compare your pricing to like or similar items. You do not have to submit discounts your company provides or be evaluated under most-favored customer pricing.

If your SIN(s) are not eligible, or you choose not to participate in TDR, you will need to complete a price proposal template (see above table for templates) that indicates any discounts you currently provide to the commercial marketplace and what you are offering the federal government. We use this information to verify that you are offering equal or better pricing to us as the most-favored customer under the same or similar terms and conditions.

Commercial price list or market rate sheet

We use these documents to evaluate your company’s pricing. These show prices you provide your current customers, and they are different from the CSP-1.

Pricing support documentation

In addition to the price proposal template you submit, we need information to validate the accuracy of the data you input. Here are some examples of acceptable pricing support documentation:

• Published and publicly available catalogs.
• Price lists.
• Copies of invoices.
• Quote sheets.

Make sure there is a clear and relevant relationship between the supporting document and that you label each supporting document with the corresponding proposed product or service. If your current commercial price list or market rate sheet do not cover the period of past sales reporting on the CSP-1, you must provide a copy of the ones that covered the majority of that period.

Price narrative

If you provide a CSP-1, you need to demonstrate that the pricing is the same or better than what you currently offer your most-favored customer. If it isn’t, you must explain the rationale for proposing your price so the contracting officer can determine if the price is fair and reasonable. You must explain deviations from your CSP-1, including the circumstances and frequency of deviations.

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Per diem look-up, 1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

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How Does Paris Stay Paris? By Pouring Billions Into Public Housing

One quarter of residents in the French capital live in government-owned housing, part of an aggressive plan to keep lower-income Parisians — and their businesses — in the city.

By Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller, a former European Union and Paris correspondent, returned to the French capital to interview public housing tenants and officials from Paris City Hall.

The two-bedroom penthouse comes with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower and just about every other monument across the Paris skyline. The rent, at 600 euros a month, is a steal.

Marine Vallery-Radot, 51, the apartment’s tenant, said she cried when she got the call last summer that hers was among 253 lower-income families chosen for a spot in the l’Îlot Saint-Germain, a new public-housing complex a short walk from the Musée d’Orsay, the National Assembly and Napoleon’s tomb.

“We were very lucky to get this place,” said Ms. Vallery-Radot, a single mother who lives here with her 12-year-old son, as she gazed out of bedroom windows overlooking the Latin Quarter. “This is what I see when I wake up.”

Public housing can conjure images of bleak, boxy towers on the outskirts of a city, but this logement social was built in the former offices of the French Defense Ministry, in the Seventh arrondissement, one of Paris’s most chic neighborhoods. It’s part of an ambitious and aggressive effort to keep middle- and lower-income residents and small-business owners in the heart of a city that would otherwise be unaffordable to them — and by extension, to preserve the ineffable character of a city adored by people around the globe.

This summer, when the French capital welcomes upward of 15 million visitors for the Olympic Games , it will showcase a city engineered by government policies to achieve mixité sociale — residents from a broad cross-section of society. One quarter of all Paris residents now live in public housing, up from 13 percent in the late 1990s. The mixité sociale policy, promoted most forcefully by left-wing political parties, notably the French Communist Party, targets the economic segregation seen in many world cities.

“Our guiding philosophy is that those who produce the riches of the city must have the right to live in it,” said Ian Brossat, a communist senator who served for a decade as City Hall’s head of housing. Teachers, sanitation workers, nurses, college students, bakers and butchers are among those who benefit from the program.

Making the philosophy a reality is increasingly hard — the wait list for public housing in Paris is more than six years long. “I won’t say this is easy and that we have solved the problem,” Mr. Brossat said.

Paris is being buffeted by the same market forces vexing other so-called superstar cities like London, San Francisco and New York — a sanctum for the world’s wealthiest to park their money and buy a piece of a living museum. The average price for a 1,000-square-foot apartment in the center of the capital today is 1.3 million euros (about $1.41 million), according to the Chamber of Notaries of Paris .

The Fondation Abbé Pierre, an influential charity, was unusually emphatic in its annual report, published in February, calling France’s affordability crisis a “social bomb,” with rising homelessness and 2.4 million families waiting on public-housing applications, up from 2 million in 2017. Still, the measures that Paris has taken to keep lower-income residents in the city go far beyond the initiatives in most other European cities , not to mention American ones.

Every Thursday, Jacques Baudrier, the Paris city councilor in charge of housing, scrolls through the list of properties being exchanged by sellers and buyers on the private market. With some exceptions, the city has the legal right to pre-empt the sale of a building, buy the property and convert it to public housing.

“We are in a constant battle,” said Mr. Baudrier, who wields a 625 million euro annual budget.

The fight, he said, is against forces that make buying Parisian real estate impossible for all but the well-to-do, including buyers who snap up apartments as pieds-à-terre and then leave them empty for most of the year. Paris has also sharply restricted short-term rentals, after officials became alarmed when historic neighborhoods, including the old Jewish quarter, the Marais, appeared to be shedding full-time residents as investors bought places to rent out to tourists.

At the same time, the city has built or renovated more than 82,000 apartments over the past three decades for families with children. Rents range from six to 13 euros per square meter, depending on household income, meaning that a two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot apartment might go for as little as 600 euros ($650) a month. It has also built 14,000 student apartments over the past 25 years; monthly rents at one complex currently nearing completion in the 13th arrondissement start at 250 euros a month.

For City Hall, social engineering also means protecting the petits commerces, the small shops that contribute to the city’s sense of timelessness. When visitors here meander through what seems like a series of small villages, with boulangeries, cheese shops, cobblers and mom-and-pop hardware stores, it is not entirely organic.

City Hall has a direct hand in the types of businesses that take root and survive in Paris because it is the landlord, through its real estate subsidiaries, of 19 percent of the city’s shops. Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, the city counselor who oversees the city’s commercial landholdings, said his office is constantly studying neighborhoods to maintain a balance of essential shops and limit the number of chains, which can usually pay higher rent.

“We don’t rent to McDonald’s, we don’t rent to Burger King and we don’t rent to Sephora,” said Mr. Bonnet-Oulaldj. He acknowledged that in some neighborhoods where private landlords have rented to chains the battle has been plainly lost.

The city is deliberate in what shops it chooses. In an area that had become thick with hairdressing salons, City Hall rented to a boulangerie and a cheese shop. In other neighborhoods it has chosen to rent to bicycle repair shops, in part to reinforce the city’s push to reduce the number of cars in favor of bikes. It doesn’t rent to massage parlors on the grounds that they are sometimes fronts for prostitution.

A few minutes from the Place de la Bastille is one of the beneficiaries of the city’s retail policies. Emmanuelle Fayat, a luthier who restores and services violins for orchestra musicians, sits surrounded by maple and spruce and the tools of her trade: neatly organized rasps, planes and chisels. She rents her shop for “a modest amount” from a city-owned real estate management company.

“I have no knowledge of marketing and I’ve never asked myself how to become rich,” Ms. Fayat said on a recent afternoon. “I just want to do my job. I like my profession more than money.”

About a mile away, in a neighborhood rich with cafes and restaurants, Librairie Violette and Co, a feminist and lesbian bookshop, is another beneficiary of Paris’s retail diversity program. When the bookshop’s previous location was bought by an insurance company and the original owners retired, a group of women that wanted to keep the business going struggled to find a new home and announced they were closing the store.

City officials reached out and offered a new space at below-market rates. “Banks refused to lend us money,” said Loïse Tachon, a co-manager of the shop. “They didn’t think it would be lucrative enough.”

Further north, near the Buttes-Chaumont park, the city rents a storefront to Desirée Fleurs, which specializes in flowers grown in the Paris region. Audrey Venant, the co-founder of the shop, sees the program as a necessary and protective guiding hand.

“Local businesses are very, very fragile,” she said, surrounded by narcissus, ranunculus, snapdragon, all perfumed by eucalyptus. “I see a lot of bankruptcies.”

Ms. Venant and her husband, a painter and sculptor, live in a 750-square-foot loft that is also part of the city’s public-housing program. Her monthly 1,300-euro rent is well below market rates, she said.

The French statistics agency, Insee, reports that Paris is home to more than 10,000 nurses, 1,700 bakers, 470 butchers, 945 garbage collectors and 5,300 janitors. The push for more social housing and other programs to make the city more affordable has coincided with the dominance of left-wing political parties, who came to power in 2001 after decades of right-wing rule.

But François Rochon, an urban planning consultant, said there is a functional consensus between right and left in France today on the need for public housing that mirrors some other European nations, but not the United States. “Living in social housing is not stigmatized,” said Mr. Rochon, who pointed to its roots a century ago in France, when companies built apartments for their workers.

As a measure of the left-right alignment on the issue, Benoist Apparu, a former housing minister who served in a conservative government, described social housing as “absolutely essential.”

“A city, if it’s only made up of poor people, is a disaster,” said Mr. Apparu, who now works for a property developer. “And if it’s only made up of rich people, it’s not much better.”

Paris’s housing program is part of the trade-off of the welfare state: affordable health care and education in exchange for some of the highest income-tax rates and social charges in Europe. Public housing, however, is increasingly available only for those lucky enough to get it.

There also is vestigial cynicism in Paris about public housing after a series of scandals in the 1990s, when some conservative politicians were revealed to be paying cheap rents for luxury city-owned apartments. Today, the city awards public housing through a system that strips the names of applicants and prioritizes them through a points system that factors income and family circumstances.

Mostly, resistance comes at the local level, Mr. Rochon said. Residents in central arrondissements, for example, have often pushed back against building public housing, and the neighborhoods remain bastions of the wealthy. There is also disagreement about how far the government can or should push public housing in the future. The current goal is for Paris to have 30 percent public housing for low-income residents and 10 percent for middle-income residents by 2035.

Mr. Baudrier, the Paris City Council member, said he believes that in the long term, 60 percent of housing in the city should be public and reserved for low- and middle-income families.

But building new public housing has been particularly challenging because so much of the city is already so densely packed — and often protected by landmark status.

City planners have negotiated with the public railways to buy old train yards and rights of way. They’ve also seized on opportunities like the one that arose in 2018, when the French Defense Ministry consolidated its offices in Paris and the city negotiated to buy the l’Îlot Saint-Germain for well below market rates. The ensuing construction of 253 apartments was financed by the sale of part of the building to a Qatari investment fund, which is building a luxury hotel, as well as low-interest government loans that have durations as long as 50 to 80 years, according to Emmanuelle Cosse, a former housing minister.

City Hall has also taken over condemned buildings. Fabrice Chaillou, a father of two who manages computer networks, lives in public housing on the northern edge of Paris that was built from the ruins of a dilapidated neighborhood. He pays 980 euros a month for a three-bedroom apartment that he waited 10 years to get. Among his neighbors are a janitor, teachers, a car salesman and a police officer.

The program has allowed Mr. Chaillou and his wife to raise their two children in the city. But he knows that the future of social housing will always face at least one big challenge: “The problem is that once you get in, you never want to leave.”

Thomas Fuller , a Page One Correspondent for The Times, writes and rewrites stories for the front page. More about Thomas Fuller

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Nine states plan to ban gas-powered car sales by 2035

Advanced clean cars ii rules look to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars in next decade.

Electric vehicles can't be imposed on middle America: Sen. Cynthia Lummis

 Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wy., says the Biden administration doesn't have regard for the law on 'Kudlow.'

Nine states are planning to ban new gasoline-powered vehicle sales by 2035 as part of an initiative to cut climate-warming emissions.

The Advanced Clean Cars II rules originated in California with the state Air Resources Board. The regulations in California look to phase out the sale of new gas vehicles beginning with the 2026 model year, scaling back over time until 2035 – when a total ban on the sales will go into effect.

Since the rules were first adopted in California in 2022, eight other states have followed suit, with several others considering the plan.

So far, the other states that have implemented the plan to hit the goal of selling zero new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 include Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware and Maryland.

BIDEN ADMIN SET TO FINALIZE MAJOR GAS CAR CRACKDOWN OVER WARNINGS FROM AUTOMAKERS, ENERGY INDUSTRY

Nine states have undertaken a plan to scale back the sales of new gas-powered vehicles over the next decade, with the goal of completely eliminating the sales by 2035. (Fox News / Fox News)

The rules do not stop residents in these states from owning or using gas-powered cars, nor do they force consumers to buy electric vehicles (EVs). Dealerships can still sell used cars powered by gas, and consumers in these states can purchase the gas-powered vehicles in other states – as long as they meet certain emissions standards. 

Not everyone, however, supports this effort.

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) led a campaign last year to try and stop New Jersey's adoption of the Advanced Clean Cars II rule.

Ray Cantor, the chief deputy government affairs officer at the NJBIA, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the plan ignores the cost to consumers and lack of current infrastructure.

"The ban on new gas-powered cars in such an expedited time does not take costs or feasibility into account," Cantor said. "It does not take the lack of local and highway infrastructure into account. It does not take grid capacity into account. It ignores consumer choice. It doesn’t take New Jersey residents into account, especially low- and moderate-income families. And it doesn’t take the lack of actual environmental benefit into account."

Under the action, residents can still own and drive gas-powered vehicles and purchase new gas-powered cars in other states. (iStock / iStock)

Cantor urged New Jersey to "apply the brakes" to what he called an obvious "bureaucratic overreach" before the mandate starts to affect consumers.

"There's nothing wrong with working to reduce carbon emissions," Cantor said. "And the marketplace would have likely seen a natural increase of EV users with an organic time frame to build appropriate capacities. But the near-term, targeted mandates will increase the prices of both new and used gas-powered cars."

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS UPHOLD STATE'S EV MANDATE DESPITE GROWING OPPOSITION: 'DEFY COMMON SENSE'

In support of the action, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Terry Gray has called the rules a "major step" in the fight against climate change in the transportation sector.

"In terms of economic impact, states joining together to send a clear signal to the market will result in greater economies of scale, driving down the prices of ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles), and ensuring that Rhode Island dealers and customers have full access to electric vehicles," Gray said.

The rules come as the Biden administration has sought to push the transportation sector from gas-powered vehicles to EVs as part of its climate agenda.

Last year, the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  unveiled its own plan to increase vehicle pollution standards that will impact car model years 2027 through 2032. 

If the EPA’s regulations are finalized, a staggering 67% of new sedan, crossover, SUV and light truck purchases could be electric by 2032, the White House projected. In addition, up to 50% of bus and garbage truck, 35% of short-haul freight tractor and 25% of long-haul freight tractor purchases could be electric by then.

Hybrid cars 'are the future' of the auto industry: Mike Caudill

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However, the push toward EVs has faced multiple setbacks in the industry.

Earlier this month, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr resigned after the car rental company's big bet on EVs went bust due to its struggles to keep up with the higher repair cost and lower demand for EV rentals.

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Ford's EV division, Ford Model e, posted a net loss of $4.7 billion last year — with $1.6 billion of that in the last quarter — and Ford's chief financial officer John Lawler explained during the company’s earnings call last month that both "the quarter and year were impacted by challenging market dynamics and investments in next-generation vehicles."

Fox News' Thomas Catenacci and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

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Why is Japan changing its ban on exporting lethal weapons, and why is it so controversial?

FILE - Britain’s Defense Minister Grant Shapps, right, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, left, and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, center, attend a joint press conference after a signing ceremony for Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) at the defense ministry on Dec. 14, 2023, in Tokyo, Japan. Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles. (David Mareuil/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Britain’s Defense Minister Grant Shapps, right, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, left, and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, center, shake hands after a signing ceremony for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) at the defense ministry, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tokyo, Japan. (David Mareuil/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara speaks during a news conference at the parliament building in Tokyo on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, following the Cabinet’s decision to ease Japan’s strict defense equipment transfer rules. Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles. (Keisuke Hosojima/Kyodo News via AP)

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TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet OK’d a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on Tuesday, its latest step away from the pacifist principles the country adopted at the end of World War II.

The controversial decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in a year-old project to develop a new fighter jet together with Italy and the U.K., but it’s also part of a move to build up Japan’s arms industry and bolster its role in global affairs.

For now, Tokyo says that it doesn’t plan to export co-developed lethal weapons other than the new fighters, which aren’t expected to enter service until 2035.

Here is a look at what the latest change is about and why Japan is rapidly easing weapons export rules.

WHAT’S CHANGING?

On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a revision to its guidelines for selling defense equipment overseas, and authorized sales of the future jet. The government says that it has no plans to export other co-developed lethal weapons under the guidelines, and it would require Cabinet approval to do so.

Japan has long prohibited most arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, although it’s begun to take steps toward a change amid rising regional and global tensions. In 2014, it began to export some non-lethal military supplies, and last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change, which was made in December, cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it co-produces to other countries for the first time.

WHAT IS THE NEW FIGHTER JET?

Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.

Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program, is based in the U.K., and hasn’t yet announced a new name for its design.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer better sensing and stealth capabilities amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

WHY IS JAPAN CHANGING ITS STANCE ON ARMS EXPORTS?

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the ban on exporting finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sells of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps has repeatedly said Japan needs “updating” to not cause the project to stall.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

Exports would also help boost Japan’s defense industry, which historically has catered only to the country’s Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military. Japan began opening the door to some exports in 2014, but the industry has still struggled to win customers.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Japan sees China’s rapid military buildup and its increasing assertiveness as threats, especially growing tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas. Japan also sees increasing joint military exercises between China and Russia around Japan as a threat.

WHY ARE ARMS EXPORTS DIVISIVE?

Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense and long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Opposition lawmakers and pacifist activists have criticized Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

Recent polls show public opinion is divided on the plan.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of co-developed lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars. If a purchaser begins using the jets for war, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said, Japan will stop providing spare parts and other components.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Potential markets for the jet include the 15 countries with which Japan has defense partnership agreements, such as the United States, Germany, India and Vietnam. A defense official said Taiwan — a self-governed island that China claims as its own territory — is not being considered. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to briefing rules.

More weapons and components could be added to the approved list under the new export guidelines.

When Kishida goes to Washington in April, he’s likely to talk to U.S. leaders about potential new defense and weapons industry cooperation. The new policy could also help Japan push for a bigger role in alliances and regional defense partnerships like Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.'s AUKUS.

Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

Thousands of student-loan borrowers got their debt wiped through a new repayment reform. 11 GOP states just filed a lawsuit to block that relief.

• Eleven GOP state attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block the SAVE income-driven repayment plan.
• They argued that the shortened timeline for debt relief through the plan is unconstitutional.
• An Education Department official said Congress allows the authority to set terms for income-driven repayment. 

The lawsuits to block President Joe Biden's student-debt relief efforts are back.

On Thursday, 11 state attorneys general — led by Kansas' Kris Kobach — filed a lawsuit to block Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan , implemented over the summer to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments with a shorter timeline for relief.

The lawsuit, filed in Kansas' district court against Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, stated that the "lawsuit is now necessary to prevent Defendants from continuing to flout the law, which includes ignoring Supreme Court decisions," referring to the high court's decision at the end of June to strike down Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness using the HEROES Act of 2003.

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"Once again, the Biden administration has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich," Kobach said during a Thursday press conference. "He is forcing people who did not go to college, or who worked their way through college, to pay for the loans of those who ran up exorbitant student debt. This coalition of Republican attorneys general will stand in the gap and stop Biden."

Last month, the Education Department implemented a provision of the SAVE plan ahead of schedule: $1.2 billion in debt relief for 153,000 borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less and made as few as 10 years of qualifying payments. The lawsuit argued that the relief was "in defiance of the Supreme Court" and asked the federal court to declare the SAVE plan unconstitutional and require borrowers to make payments.

An Education Department official told Business Insider that while the department does not comment on pending litigation, "Congress gave the US Department of Education the authority to define the terms of income-driven repayment plans in 1993, and the SAVE plan is the fourth time the Department has used that authority."

"From day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has been fighting to fix a broken student loan system, and part of that is creating the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever that is lowering monthly payments, protecting millions of borrowers from runaway interest and getting borrowers closer to debt forgiveness faster," the official said. "The Biden-Harris Administration won't stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us." 

While the lawsuit makes several comparisons to the debt relief plan the Supreme Court struck down, the legal basis for the two plans differ. Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness would have canceled up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers making under $125,000 a year using the HEROES Act — a law that allows the education secretary to waive or modify borrowers' balances in connection with a national emergency, like a pandemic.

The SAVE plan, on the other hand, went through a process mandated by the Higher Education Act known as negotiated rulemaking, which requires negotiations with stakeholders and public comment before its final implementation. The Education Department is currently undergoing the negotiated rulemaking process for its second attempt at a broader form of debt relief .

The Education Department has not yet filed its response to the lawsuit. For now, borrowers who received relief through SAVE are not impacted, and enrollment in the plan can continue.

Watch: Why student loans aren't canceled, and what Biden's going to do about it

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The AI Race:

Amazon Bets $150 Billion on Data Centers Required for AI Boom

Spending spree is a show of force as the company looks to retain cloud computing edge over Microsoft and Google.

An Amazon data center under construction near homes in Stone Ridge, Virginia.

Amazon.com Inc. plans to spend almost $150 billion in the coming 15 years on data centers, giving the cloud-computing giant the firepower to handle an expected explosion in demand for artificial intelligence applications and other digital services.

The spending spree is a show of force as the company looks to maintain its grip on the cloud services market, where it holds about twice the share of No. 2 player Microsoft Corp. Sales growth at Amazon Web Services slowed to a record low last year as business customers cut costs and delayed modernization projects. Now spending is starting to pick up again, and Amazon is keen to secure land and electricity for its power-hungry facilities.