During this time, things are changing on a daily basis. Over the last week there have been a lot of decisions made at the Federal and State level that will hopefully have a positive impact on the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic. While it is a challenging time for so many in the business community, there are ways that companies can be part of the solution while contracting with federal and state governments. Here are some of the things that are going on:

Defense Production Act
Companies are required to accept and prioritize contracts from the government and to prioritize materials, services, and facilities to promote the national defense or to maximize domestic energy supplies. While this provision has historically been used to ramp up military production, in the midst of the COVID19 Pandemic, the act will be used for medical supplies.

This will present opportunities for companies to manufacture a variety of medical supplies and equipment for the US Government in order to assist with the Coronavirus pandemic.

FEMA Level 1 Disaster Level
FEMA has three levels of disasters with Level 1 being the highest, which was declared last week.

A Level 1 Disaster is an incident of such magnitude that the available assets that were designed and put in place for the response are completely overwhelmed or broken at the local, regional, or national level.

Due to its severity, size, location, actual or potential impact on public health, welfare, and infrastructure, a Level I Disaster requires an extreme amount of Federal assistance for response and recovery efforts for which the capabilities to support do not exist at any level of government.

A Level I Disaster requires extraordinary coordination among Federal, State, tribal, and local entities due to massive levels and breadth of damage, severe impact, or multi-State scope.

A Level 1 Disaster requires major involvement of FEMA-full activation of the National Response Coordination Center and Regional Response Coordination Center(s). For the NRCC, approximately 130 staff is activated. The number of staff that the RRCC will activate varies.

Short Term
Both of these moves by the Trump Administration will likely provide short-term contracting opportunities within the federal government. In past cases FEMA has relied heavily on GSA Contract Holders whenever possible. This time around it may even be more so.

Long Term
The effects of Coronavirus could last up to 18 months. Firms that have obtained contracts that wish to keep them should look at investing in a contracting vehicle such as a GSA Schedule to make buying from them easier for federal buyers. The average small business GSA Schedule Contract holder has over $1MM per year in federal sales.

If you are interested in getting on GSA Schedule, are interested in another federal certification such as the 8(a) Certification, or need assistance capitalizing on any previously obtained, I always recommend contacting an industry expert such as Advance GSA or ez8a. Neither charge for an initial consultation.