“SMALLTOFEDS”By Ken Larson “ The challenges and difficulties for the small business in government contracting are not so much in the areas of barriers as they are in lack of knowledge (which I concede is a form of barrier but one that can be dealt with). Successful Traits in Government Contracting Exclusivity in teaming is one of the most practical ways to go on any given large scale program. Team early and exclusively then give it your all and be a winner. Your reputation i

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Nick Wakeman “Jeff Koses [GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive] says cultural changes will determine the ultimate success of acquisition reform, not just regulatory ones.  We need industry at the table to engage in every aspect of the things that are changing.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “Despite a delay during the government shutdown, the General Services Administration is moving full steam ahead

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “A growing small enterprise can enhance competitive rate development and cost management by effective cost center utilization in federal government contracting.” _____________________________________________________________________________ “A growing small enterprise can enhance competitive rate development and cost management by effective cost center utilization in federal government contracting. A cost center is a single, pricing, accounting, and

SIGAR QUARTERLY REPORT – July 2021 “MILITARY TIMES” By Meghann Myers “Sopko is not, he said, optimistic that the national security establishment will internalize those lessons. “Don’t believe what you’re told by the generals or the ambassadors or people in the administration saying we’re never going to do this again,” he said. “That’s exactly what we said after Vietnam: we’re never going to do this again. Lo and behold, we did Iraq. And we did Afghanistan. We will do this aga

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“DEFENSE ONE” By Peter W. Singer “The math of current battlefields remains literally orders of magnitude beyond what our budget plans to spend, our industry plans to build, our acquisitions system is able to contract, and thus what our military will deploy.” ________________________________________________________________________________   “At the lowest point of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln characterized the core factor between victory and defeat as finding a general who u

“THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS (NAM)”   “ Over the past few decades, world trade in manufactured goods has expanded strongly and in 2020, U.S.-manufactured goods exports totaled nearly $1.2 trillion. However, there is opportunity to continue to grow U.S. manufactured goods exports. “Hear directly from small and medium business exporters and see U.S. Government resources for those looking to expand to new markets “ _________________________________________________

Image: Skyway Acquisition Weights Guidelines “SMALLTOFEDS” – By Ken Larson “ Understanding the weighted guidelines method can assist in achieving a higher profit because a contractor can present a profit position in a contract proposal that logically supports the elements required by FAR Part 215-404-4.”Profit”during negotiation. “ _________________________________________________________________________________ “The accepted template for negotiated procurements with the gove

“ STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE” “Revenues from sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest arms-producing companies rose by 5.9 per cent in 2024, reaching a record $679 billion, according to new data released today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) . “ _______________________________________________________________________________ “Global arms revenues rose sharply in 2024, as demand was boosted by the wars in Ukrai

"SMALLTOFEDS" By Ken Larson " There are approaches to develop a product and/or a service to the point where it can be marketed in the small business federal government contracting venue and gain government participation in growing an idea into a company ." ________________________________________________________________________-_______ "Individuals usually succeed by forming a company, separating it from their personal assets and then developing the company and its product(s)

“ DEFENSE NEWS” By Mac Thornberry “In certain fields, the private sector is far surpassing the government in developing new technologies. We will lose partners quickly if DOD’s culture is not open to working with both traditional and non-traditional suppliers. When the government makes it difficult, costly and unwelcoming in some cases to support our national security, the partners we need to protect the country will point their business resources in a different direction.”..

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson 1. A mix of commercial and government business is good. In fact, most small business federal government contractors who move from commercial to government work, remain in  commercial business.  They separate government from commercial work in unique cost centers of the company for pricing and cost control purposes, recognizing the market and competitive differences in the two venues. Cost Center Strategic Planning 2. Your marketing efforts must be

“DEFENSE ONE” By Phil Zabriskie “ The killing a country does through its soldiers is part of its fabric and identity. The less it is examined, the less a country will know about itself, its impulses, and the impact of what it has trained and dispatched its sons and daughters to do. “ _______________________________________________________________________________ “If a war fails to achieve its stated objectives—as Vietnam did—it can make the reasons for killing even harder to

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“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken larson “ A 19 year Veteran Mentor’s critical review of the SCORE and MicroMentor non-profit small business mentoring web sites and the role of social networking .” _________________________________________________________________________________ SCORE “From 2006 to 2011, I supported SCORE as a volunteer counselor.  During some years I had several hundred clients. The web site was dynamic, fast, easily accessed and fairly simple.  SCORE is a nonprofit orga

Use the search box at the below web site for small business articles : Small Business Federal Government Contracting Download FREE small business books & references in the right margin “Box” at the above site , and download related articles from Academia.edu : https://smalltofeds.academia.edu/KenLarson Locate Ken for free counseling at the Micro Mentor Web Site :   Micro Mentor   Catch the latest in News for the Government Contracting Industry : Government Contracting News Ab

“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

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “For small businesses involved in development and manufacturing efforts under government contracts, or those who are pursing research and development involving large scale systems, the government property topic often arises.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “In general, government contractors are required to provide all that is necessary to fulfill the scope of work on a government contract. However,

WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY By Frank Konkel “The 20 largest civilian federal agencies collectively spent 63% less money in October 2025 — during the government shutdown — compared to October 2024, according to reported spending data pulled from the Federal Procurement Data System by Deltek in mid-November. _________________________________________________________________________________ Reported spending at some large agencies, including NASA and the departments of State and Energ

“ SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Both the contractor and the government must come to an understanding regarding the scope of effort to be performed. Signing off on a poorly written SOW results in a difficult contract to manage and a high probability for disputes during the performance period.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “Part 1, Section C, is where the technical specifications and statement of work are located in your governme