“THE CIPHER BRIEF” By Hamlet Yousef “Today’s David is armed with drones, software, commercial sensors, open-source intelligence and rapidly adaptable technology. Goliath still has overwhelming advantages in scale, firepower and resources, but the sling has become far more sophisticated — and far cheaper.“ __________________________________________________________________________________ “The most important lesson emerging from the Iran conflict may not actually be about Iran.

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“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “The principal differences between free lancing and small business contracting from the perspective of the market realities that drive success in the venue.“ ________________________________________________________________________________ “Talented free lancers often wish to grow independently as individuals in the government contracting market and face difficulties in doing so. Many have service and product development skills of value to federal a

By Ken Larson The System for Award Management a great source for market research regarding what agencies are buying and who is being awarded new business. But pivoting to bid off SAM.Gov is a lost cause. Someone else has already done the marketing.” _________________________________________________________________________________ Every client I have had in government contracting goes through a front- end-loaded learning process. Below are the best tips I can offer to “Get Out

“BREAKING DEFENSE” By Mark Pomerleau “The Secure Space Network will deploy close to 50 ‘Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities’ around the nation to improve access to classified information for smaller businesses to do work with the military.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Contractors will soon have more options to perform classified work for the Pentagon through the newly announced “Secure Space Network.” The effor

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Regularly review your company labor category rates and fringe benefits for ongoing compliance with DOL Area Wage Determinations. Sample the DOL Wage Determination web site regularly as a normal function of maintaining your labor rates and fringe benefits costs.” ______________________________________________________________________________ MANAGING COMPLIANCE WITH THE SERVICE CONTRACT AND DAVIS-BACON ACTS When pricing government contracts, in part

“FEDERAL NEWS NETORK” By Jason Miller “The Defense Department’s third message to industry since early May is prompting many contractors to strongly doubt whether Secretary Pete Hegseth’s goal of revitalizing the defense industrial base still is a priority. The latest example in the last three months of the Pentagon adding more compliance and complexity to contractors working for the DoD.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Taken

“THE WARHORSE” By M. Tabar “My stepfather, brother, and I served in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are still there, frozen in the suck—a boomer, a Gen Xer, and a millennial—ducking mortars, mourning dead colleagues, and waiting for care packages curated by Mom. For seven years, I was an aid worker outside the wire and embedded with the U.S. military inside the wire. In the mid-2000s, I overlapped with one or both of my family members in each war zone. We rarely speak of it.”...

“MILITARY TIMES” By Natalie Oliverio “The Department of Veterans Affairs is nearly tripling the ceiling on its contract with Oracle to modernize the agency’s electronic health record system, yet lawmakers left a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing without clear answers about why the increase is necessary or how much taxpayers will ultimately pay.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “VA’s original electronic health record con

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“MILITARY TIMES” By Kirk Windmueller “Understand that your passion might be in your work or it might lie outside of it. Know the difference. If your passion lies outside of work, find something you can be happy with that matches your skill and experience and can make you money so you can live your best life when you are off the clock.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “For many, figuring out what to do after your time in the mil

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Alan P. Balutis And Dennis Lucey “There seems to be a few common “truths,” some “givens,” and a whole lot of conventional wisdom spoken as to how to get into the door of government. A quick overview of eight basic (and true) rules to gain your first foothold with the customer.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “Know what the agency does and what it’s looking for. Bring specific ideas, not a panoply of

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Elizabeth Harr “The world of government marketing has been slow to change, but that’s no longer the case, and increasingly, contractors are adopting best practices from the private sector. These five strategies, when executed well, can offer enormous benefits.” “No single strategy can guarantee success in government marketing. But my firm’s recent research reveals five marketing strategies that can significantly benefit government contractors. 1. Ga

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Small Businesses typically have a learning experience growing into government services contracting. Part of that process is undergoing reviews by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). It takes knowledge of the requirements and strategic focus to set up the type of business processes required for accommodating government contract job cost accounting and fit those processes into the way your company does business.” ______________________________

FEDERAL NEWS NETORK” By Jason Miller “The Small Business Administration finalized new rules for the 8(a) business development program in record time. In 60 days, SBA went from proposal to reviewing more than 100 comments to final regulation that will transform the 73-year-old program.” __________________________________________________________________________________ “The fast timeline is one of several concerns experts have about the new 8(a) regulations and why it adds to t

“SMALL TO FEDS” By Ken Larson “Utilize social media to promote your small business. The process requires a front-end loaded investment in time, but it is well worth the effort when using free or very low cost utilities on the Internet. The return may surprise you. Set up a free Google or Word Press blog as an extension of your web site. A blog is quite different from a web site. Provide good, solid information free of charge and use blog searches for synergistic business tea

CBS NEWS” By Gen. Stanley McChrystal (Retired) “Young Americans come together for a year or two and work in efforts as varied as healthcare, education, conservation, the military, or other community projects. They work alongside other serving fellow citizens, learning about each other – and themselves.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “Political divisions are tearing our nation apart. Perhaps not since the last decade before ou

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“FEDERAL TIMES” “If you’re a small business owner looking into government contracting, you’ve probably seen the well-meaning advice: Just go to SAM.gov and search for contracts. If you find one that seems like a fit, bid on it. If you’re the best applicant, you’ll land the contract. Not so fast.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “When Lauren Weiner speaks with business owners who want her advice, she tells them the truth. “Ther

Integrate Long-term Company Strategy With Short Term Proposal Pricing Objectives ‘SMALTOFEDS’ By Ken Larson “Small businesses entering or growing into federal contacting often struggle with developing a pricing approach. They must design a pricing structure to pass an audit and win competitively. A winning strategy for federal services contracting must involve a view of the horizon as well as the instant bid on the table.“ _____________________________________________________