Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Resources

The following resources are designed to help businesses pursue and perform under contracts with the Department of Defense, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and government prime contractors.

Developing a Reference Library

• Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Agency FAR Supplements: FARs define the acquisition process, provide contracting guidance, implement special preference programs, and include specific language for many of the clauses found in government contracts
• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): online guide to all rules published in the Federal Register by departments and agencies of the federal government
• U.S. Code: consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States
• Federal Register: published every business day by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)'s Office of the Federal Register (OFR). The Federal Register contains:
  • Federal agency regulations
  • Proposed Rules and Notices of interest to the public
  • Executive orders
  • Proclamations
  • Other Presidential documents
• Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC): responsible for all pricing, contracting, and procurement policy matters, including e-Business, in the Department of Defense (DoD)
• SBA's Directory of Federal Government Prime Contractors with Subcontracting Plans
• Contracts Awarded by the DoD: contracts valued at $7 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m.; many contain subcontracting opportunities
• Procurement Forecasts: buying forecasts for each federal agency
• Introduction to Federal Government Contracting: learn how to grow your business by having the federal government of the United States as a customer
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program: helps small businesses obtain funding for research and development activities

Searching for Opportunities

• Contracting Opportunity Finder: helps your small and/or disadvantaged business find open contract opportunities with federal agencies
• FedBizOpps: search for DLA procurement opportunities for proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000
• DLA Internet Bid Board System (DIBBS): search for items of supply and procurement opportunities; DIBBS Pocket Guide – updated June 2018
• USA.gov: online guide to government information and services
• Forecast of Contracting Opportunities: nationwide dashboard of upcoming federal contracting opportunities.; all projected procurements are subject to revision or cancellation
• GSA Subcontracting Directory for Small Businesses: lists large business prime contractors who, by law, are required to establish plans and goals for subcontracting with small business firms
• General Services Administration (GSA) Schedules Program: responsible for the largest government-wide contracts, and handles 10 percent of the federal government's contract spending
• Doing Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): opportunities to provide a broad spectrum of goods and services required by a nationwide system of hospitals, clinics, Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN), data processing centers, and National Cemeteries

Bidding and Performing

• GSA List of Acronyms: common acronyms used by the federal government when procuring products and/or services
• How To Win Contracts: increase your chance of winning a government contract by researching the federal marketplace and taking advantage of SBA resources
• Guide to Marketing to DoD
• DoD Subcontracting for Contracting and Small Business Professionals (government and industry)
• Doing Business with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Steps to Success: details what DLA is, what DLA buys, and how the federal government buys goods and services
• DLA's Training, Knowledge and Opportunity (TKO) Seminars and Webinars: describes processes and requirements for doing business with DLA

This procurement technical assistance center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency.