The second govmates institute, GovCon Lifecycle: Purgatory to Paradise met at the Northrup Grumman location in McLean, VA. In an authentic meeting-of-the-minds, industry experts discussed topics pertinent to growing the local govcon footprint.

Highlights from the institute include:

Purgatory: That Awful Time Between Submission and Award

• BAFO’s, How to respond to government requests, FAR compliance, “Gotcha’s”“Proposals are rarely won at submission, but they are lost. If you get an EN – correct, don’t defend.”
  Barry Landew – Wolf Den“To mechanically lower your price during ENs make sure you revisit trends to see where you can adjust.”
  Avantika Singh

30-60 Day Transition & Ramp-Up

• Recruiting & Operations (Transition planning, Re-badging, Quality Planning, Customer interaction) –
  “Be sure to stay in touch with your key personnel and others that you bid after you submit your bid.  Fostering this relationship will cut down on your recruiting time.”
  Mary Holmes – BOOST
• Contracts (Sub-K’s, Negotiations) –
  “Best advice that is not only the most obvious but the most overlooked – did you read the entire contract award and do you know what you are signed up for?  Make sure everyone on the team is aware.”
  Amanda Tyson – BOOST
• Accounting (Accounting system set-up, Billing requirements, Types of contracts)
  “Make sure you get the labor category paperwork done up front because you could lose money if they don’t meet the qualifications.”
  Giacomo Apadula –  BDO

Opportunities in Loudoun County

• “Insider baseball on AWS is coming to Northern Virginia. There is still a ways to go, there will be another downselect based on sites.”
  Steven Hargan – Loudoun Economic Development

Now That You’ve Won – How Do You Pay for It?

• Have your contracts folks review the financing document.  It’s a contractual document – CEOs make sure you know what you’re getting into and completely understand the terms.“Be careful and read the fine print to make sure you’re actually getting the rate you think you’re getting from your financial providers.”
  Matt Stavish

Capture & Business Development for FY2019

• Be strategic about your capture process – make sure it’s a rolling 36-month pipeline.
• Focus on both getting onto some of the larger IDIQs (hello Oasis!  GSA Schedule 70!) and on agencies that award independently – who buys from you? 
• Yes, there seems to be less direct sole sourcing opportunities and more competitively bid set-aside work for 8a’s.
  Kim Pack, Wolf Den

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