GSA Shakes Things Up a Bit - A Small Business Quake
In an effort to encourage more small businesses to participate in the GSA’s multiple award contracts, it is instituting an interim rule that permits procurement officers to set aside a larger share of the awards to small, veteran owned, disadvantaged, minority, women owned businesses. This new rule took effect in November 2, 2011, advising agencies to seriously consider setting aside task and delivery orders for small businesses. Changes in the FAR make clear that agencies can set aside orders for small businesses on blanket purchase agreements (BPA's), under the GSA's Multiple Award Schedules and Contracts.
Trying to Maximize your GSA Schedule? Consider a CTA
Contract Teaming Arrangements (CTA's) allow for GSA holders to respond to a GSA contract requirement which they would otherwise be unable to do were they to respond to the requirements on their own. By using a CTA, ordering activities can procure a total solution rather than making separate buys for each part of a requirement and satisfy socio-economic procurement goals.
By forming a CTA, GSA contractors on different schedules can compete for orders for which they wouldn’t otherwise qualify, increase their market share, become more competitive, reduce risk by sharing responsibilities with other team members, focus on the products and services that best match their company’s resources and strengths, and find greater success as a small and/or disadvantaged business.
The differences between a CTA and a prime/subcontracting arrangement, are that each member of the CTA is considered a prime and receives direct payment and performance evaluations from the GSA purchase agency. Once member is designated as the team lead for streamlined communications.
For small businesses, there are many perks for using the CTA. The table below describes the differences between the new Contractor Team Arrangements and the Current Prime Contractor/ Subcontractor Arrangements. Take a look and find out what works best for your organizational needs:
| CTA |
Prime Contractor/ Subcontractor Arrangement |
| Each Team Member must have a GSA Schedule Contract. | Only the prime contractor must have a GSA Schedule contract. |
| Each team member is responsible for duties addressed in the CTA document. | The prime contractor cannot delegate responsibility for performance to subcontractors. |
| Each team member has privity of contract with the government and can interact directly with the government. | Only the prime contractor has privity of contract with the government and can interact with the government. The prime contractor is responsible for its subcontracting activities. (Ordering activities are encouraged to specify in the Request for Quotation (RFQ) that the use of subcontractors requires prior approval by the ordering activities.) |
| The ordering activity is invoiced at each team member's unit prices or hourly rates as agreed in the task or delivery order or GSA Schedule BPA. | The ordering activity is invoiced in accordance with the prime contractor's GSA Schedule contract, including any applicable price reductions. |
| Total solutions, otherwise impossible under individual GSA Schedule contracts, can be put together quickly and easily. | The prime contractor is limited to the supplies and/or services awarded on its GSA Schedule contract. |
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