Small Business In Focus

April 2012 Volume 6, Number 29

Small Business 

GWAC Center 

1500 E Bannister Rd

Room 1076

Kansas City, MO 64131

www.gsa.gov/sbgwac

(877) 327-8732

In This Issue

Director‟s Corner

GWAC Training

Small Business GWAC Sales

Program Meetings

Industry Partner Visits

Kudos and Accolades

Selling to the Federal 

Government 101

Employee Spotlight

Upcoming Events

Director‟s Corner

Did you know that 28 million small businesses in America employ more than half of the 

country‟s private work force and create over 70 percent of all new jobs? They also

generate the majority of American innovations by creating 13 times more patents per 

employee than large patenting companies?

As you see, small businesses are vital in today‟s economy, and we 

salute our industry partners for their professionalism, dedication 

and hard work. As the result of opportunities being granted to them, 

the vendors on the GSA Small Business GWACs have been skillful 

at providing Custom Computer Programming Services, Computer 

Systems Design Services, Computer Facilities Management 

Services and other computer related services.

 

We also salute our customer agencies for giving our small businesses the opportunity to 

provide cost-effective, innovative solutions for information technology (IT) requirements. I‟d 

like to highlight a few of the Small Business GWAC Center successes below:

A 23% increase in funding obligated to small businesses from FY10 to FY11.

1,771 task orders issued to small businesses since FY2009.

$1.3 billion in IT services requirements issued to small businesses in FY11.

A task order worth $52 million awarded to a small business to operate the 

Department of Energy‟s National Nuclear Security Administration‟s (NNSA) 

Information Assurance Response Center (NIARC) in Las Vegas, NV. The task 

order represented significant savings over previous procurement methods.

The Small Business GWAC Center will continue its commitment to both our industry 

partners and customer agencies in the areas of acquisition support via our contract 

vehicles and educational outreach. We are currently looking at innovative ways to expand 

our training venues, be it telephone, online conferences, events or onsite at customer 

locations. 

Coming up next month is the GSA Training Conference and Expo, May 15-17 in San 

Antonio, TX. This is our largest annual event featuring more than 650 exhibitors and three 

full days of training for both customers and industry. In addition, we will be hosting training 

on the Alliant/Alliant Small Business, VETS, and 8(a) STARS II GWACs. We will also host 

a joint training session with the IT Schedule 70 team, and participate in multiple panels 

and meetings. We invite all of our customers and industry partners to take full advantage 

of the training being offered and look forward to seeing you at Expo 2012.

Stephen Triplett

Director

Small Business GWAC Center

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Steve Triplett, Director, 

Small Business GWAC 

Center
GWAC Training

8(a) STARS II DPA Training

On February 16th, the 8(a) STARS II GWAC team hosted 

a customer focused webinar. The training, attended by 

30+ individuals, focused on proper ordering procedures 

for the contract and was open to all federal agency 

employees. Following the session, warranted contracting 

officers in attendance were eligible to apply for their 

delegation of procurement authority (DPA). The DPA will 

allow warranted contracting officers to issue task orders 

on the contract.

The 8(a) STARS II team hosted two additional delegation 

of procurement authority training sessions via webinar on 

March 15th and March 21st. Over 30 contracting 

personnel attended the sessions.

VETS GWAC DPA Training 

Jihyun Huyck, Business Development Specialist, 

and Janna Babcock, Contracting Officer, hosted a 

webinar for Ordering Contracting Officers on the VETS 

GWAC, on Thursday, February 16th. The main focus of 

the training was to provide the current VETS delegation 

holders with the necessary updates related to the recent 

VETS option exercise. The session also highlighted 

some of the contract's accomplishments during the base 

period and other important changes that effect task order 

issuance under the VETS contract. Over 50 ordering 

contracting officers participated in the session and were 

given an opportunity to ask questions on VETS and other 

GWACs.

As part of the ongoing DPA training, Janna Babcock and 

Jihyun Huyck held a DPA training session on VETS 

GWAC via webinar on February 22nd. Contracting 

officers and contract specialists from Department of 

Veterans Affairs and Department of Energy joined the 

training to learn about the VETS GWAC including its 

scope, advantages of using GWACs, ordering 

procedures and the contract‟s current mix of industry 

partners.

On March 22nd, Jihyun Huyck and Janna Babcock 

conducted a DPA training session on VETS GWAC via 

webinar. Contracting officers and contract specialists 

from GSA and Department of Interior joined the training 

and learned about its scope, advantages and ordering 

procedures.

GSA CAR’s Virtual Marketing Conference

Dean Cole, Business Development Specialist, attended 

the 2012 GSA Customer Accounts and Research (CAR) 

Virtual Marketing Conference. The conference was 

conducted on January 25th through January 26th. The 

SBGWAC Center, along with other Federal Acquisition 

Service (FAS) organizations, were given the opportunity 

to design and work a virtual booth, which housed links to 

videos, websites and electronic marketing collateral. 

There was a chat feature for the booth visitors who had 

questions. Kudos to the CAR organization for blazing a 

trail toward green conferencing.

USDA and the Broadcasting Board of Governors

Jean Oyler, Business Operations Manager, Todd 

Tekesky, Contracting Officer, and Lori Hanavan, 

Business Development Specialist traveled to 

Washington, D.C. the week of March 5th to provide GSA 

GWAC training to USDA and the Broadcasting Board of 

Governors. The team provided GWAC delegation training 

to over 50 contracting personnel during the sessions, 

which were coordinated with the help of local GSA 

Customer Service Directors, William Clayton and 

Theresa Giasson.

Alliant and Alliant Small Business GWAC Refresher 

Training Webinar

On Tuesday, March 6th, Greg Byrd, Contracting Officer

for Alliant Small Business (ASB), Mimi Bruce, Alliant 

Customer Support Director, and Richard Blake, Alliant 

Business Management Specialist, held the third 

installment of Alliant and Alliant Small Business Next 

Generation Refresher Training. All federally warranted 

Contracting Officers delegated to use Alliant and ASB 

were invited to attend one of four webinars highlighting 

the success, growth and evolution of GSA‟s Alliant 

program. To date, over 60 participants have attended the 

training. The fourth and final webinar was conducted on

March 20th.

New Videos added to SBGWAC Bootcamp

GSA's Small Business GWAC Center recently 

announced the publishing of three new Small Business 

GWAC Bootcamp videos. GWAC Task Order Proposal 

Preparation, GWAC 101, and GWAC Nuts & Bolts are 

the center's newest video offerings designed to support 

and foster the growth of nearly 700 Small Business 

GWAC contract holders. The Bootcamp is hosted on 

GSA Interact, a place for government employees, their 

customers, and industry partners to connect, 

communicate and share information. The Bootcamp may 

be accessed at http://interact.gsa.gov/sbgwacbootcamp
Small Business GWAC $ales

Total obligated order value as of March 31, 2012:

 8(a) STARS $3,892,635,682.88

 8(a)STARS II 43,606,477.13

 Alliant Small Business $607,501,993.65

 VETS $1,124,025,437.98

For additional sales data visit www.sbgwacsource.gov.

Program Meetings

8(a) STARS II Semi-annual Program Meeting Webinar

The Small Business GWAC Center, 8(a) STARS II 

GWAC Contract Team, recently hosted its semi-annual 

industry partner program meeting on February 9th. Over 

400 8(a) STARS II contract holders participated in the 

session, which included a briefing on contract 

responsibilities, outreach activities, and contract actions. 

The session also included a briefing from Jim Ghiloni, 

Assisted Acquisition Services Director of Business 

Operations, on how industry partners can work with 

GSA's AAS. Following the session, industry partners 

were asked to complete a survey on future 8(a) STARS II 

activities.

VETS GWAC Semi-annual Program Meeting Webinar

The Small Business GWAC Acquisition Division hosted a 

Program Meeting with the current VETS GWAC prime 

contract holders on February 23rd. This Program 

Meeting was the first contract review meeting with the 

current 32 contract holders since VETS exercised its 

Option on February 1st. Steve Triplett, Director, shared 

opening remarks with the participants. He congratulated

them on their contract extension and explained the new 

partnership model that GSA intends to build among the 

current industry partner mix. There are nine other than 

small companies in the 32 contractor pool, who are 

encouraged to subcontract with the 23 small companies 

on the contract. During the meeting, Jihyun Huyck along 

with Janna Babcock updated the participants on VETS 

outreach, contract reporting, and other contractual 

requirements and facilitated a Q&A session.

GWAC Industry Partner Visits

VETS Visitors

CSSS.net, GS-06F-0512Z 

Centuria Corporation, GS-06F-0541Z

8(a) STARS II Visitors

Namtra Business Solutions, Inc.,GS-06F-0681Z

Saicon Consultants, Inc., GS-06F-1016Z

Bering Straits Information Technology, LLC, 

GS-06F-1080Z

Professional Technologies Group, Inc, GS-06F-1139Z

Kudos and Accolades

Lyons Receives Master’s Certificate 

Herman Lyons, Business Development Specialist, 

received a Master‟s Certificate in Project Management on 

March 29th. The Master‟s Certificate in Project 

Management, offered by the George Washington 

University School of Business, is awarded to those who 

successfully attain the knowledge and experience to 

oversee all aspects of project management, including 

initiation, scheduling, quality, procurement and 

communications issues. Congratulations Herman!

GSA EXPO

Mark your calendars for the 18th annual GSA Training 

Conference and Expo. Register Today!
Selling to the Federal 

Government 101

How to run a query on GWACs in FPDS:

Some of the frequently asked questions by the GWAC 

companies include: How to look up all the tasks on 8(a)

STARSII/ASB/VETS? Who is the incumbent on xyz task 

or when is xyz task to be finished/re-competed? In 

addition to our Center‟s data page, SBGWACSource.gov, 

FPDS-NG (Federal Procurement Data System – Next 

Generation), www.fpds.gov, is a good resource to help 

you find detailed task order information on our GWACs. 

First, to get a task order list on a particular GWAC, you 

can run a query in FPDS. You can set your query, for a 

group of contract numbers such as, between 

GS06F0507Z-GS06F0552Z, to include all the contract 

numbers on VETS for example. Once you have a report 

showing task order numbers, you can find detail 

information on individual tasks by task order number 

using ezSearch in FPDS or www.ffata.org. 

Here are some basic steps for creating a task order list:

Login to FPDS-NG, https://www.fpds.gov. If new 

to FPDS, register and create an account.

Under “Reports” click “Ad Hoc Reports” If this 

option is not shown, click on Help to contact 

FPDS user support.

Click New to create a report. Select the metrics 

that you want included in the query. Then, select 

attributes you want. You can view a description 

of each metric and attribute on the screen when 

they are selected. Be sure to select the „PIID‟ 

attribute for task order number under „Contract 

Identification‟, and „Referenced IDV PIID‟ to 

narrow down by GWAC contract number. Once 

all metrics/attributes are selected, in Step 3, filter 

„Referenced IDV PIID‟ to show values only 

between GS06F0507Z and GS06F0552Z.

Select a date range for your query, e.g., for „date 

signed‟, you can filter it to show values only 

between 10/01/2010 and 09/30/2011.

Once your query has run, you can save the 

report and/or send it to your email in Excel or 

PDF format.

Besides the Ad Hoc Report creating capability, FPDS 

also posts standard reports including Agency Small 

Business Goaling Report by Fiscal Year under Reports. 

This report shows which agencies are meeting their small 

business goals and which are not. So if you haven‟t 

already, consider registering in FPDS and start exploring 

this important market research tool!

VETS GWAC 2012 Ordering Guide Now 

Available

The VETS team recently updated the VETS ordering 

guide, which is now available and posted to the website 

at: http://www.gsa.gov/vetsgwac

Revisions were made to terminology and the processes 

involving ordering, training, and reporting past 

performance data.

Customers are encouraged to discard previous versions 

and download the most recent version that is currently 

posted.

Reminder to all Industry Partners

Please reference the contract number instead of the 

offer number on all correspondence.
 Spotlight

Photo of Pam Scott, Program Analyst

Pam Scott joined the SBGWAC Center in April as a 

Program Analyst. Prior to joining, she worked for 

GSA‟s Public Building Service (PBS) in the 

Organizational Resources Division as a Program 

Coordination Specialist. Pam has a Bachelor‟s Degree 

in Management and Human Relations from 

MidAmerica Nazarene University. Pam has been a 

devoted wife for 20 years, a mother, and grandmother, 

who spends a lot of her time traveling to see her son 

who is a professional entertainer currently in the 

Broadway show Anything Goes. Welcome Pam, to the 

SBGWAC Team!

Upcoming Events 

The Small Business GWAC Center participates in a variety of events throughout the year. Many events offer training 

on GSA‟s GWACs as well as networking opportunities for small business. Please monitor http://www.gsa.gov/sbgwac 

for updates.

Date Event/URL Location

May 7-10, 2012 DISA Mission Partner Conference Tampa, FL

May 15-17, 2012 GSA Training Conference and Expo San Antonio, TX

May 20-22, 2012 National Small Business Week Washington, DC

May 21-24, 2012 DoD Procurement Conference and Training Symposium Orlando, FL

June 11-14, 2012 Veteran Entrepreneur Training Symposium Reno, NV

June 26-29, 2012 National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo Detroit, MI

August 27-29, 2012 Air Force Information Technology Conference Montgomery, AL
1. Federal buyers choosing to use a GWAC must receive a short training/orientation called 

_____________________.

2. What training options are available to receive the above mentioned training/orientation?

a. Attend a regularly scheduled webinar

b. Conference calls 

c. Onsite Training

d. Review the selected GWAC's ordering guide

e. All of the above

 3. What should a small business consider doing first when they get a federal contract?

 a. Apply for a DUNS Number

 b. Sign up for training

 c. Market their contract

 d. Wait to receive a phone call from a contracting officer.

ANSWERS: