North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center

  SAM, the System for Award Management, is a powerful ally in the world of federal contracting. This legacy system houses source material to assist in federal contracting. It evolves based on user input and adds new features monthly. SAM  provides open opportunities, contract data, wage determination, federal hierarchy, entity information, entity reporting, and assistance […]

We are sharing an article written by the General Service Administration (GSA). Federal government agencies work to raise awareness about known online scams and fraudulent schemes that target government system users. From time to time, GSA and IAE share information about common fraud schemes that target vendors registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). […]

Systems for Award Management (SAM) has been making changes to the entity validation process. These are good changes to keep your information protected. Below are changes related to entity validation and registration. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) The familiar DUNS identifier was removed from federal contracting. It was replaced with the UEI, a 12-digit alpha-numeric identifier. […]

  By: Abby Dschaak and Sherry Neas, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), State Procurement Office   Responding to government solicitations can be challenging – attention to detail is imperative! When preparing a response to a solicitation, the first step is to read the entire solicitation from beginning to end to understand what the entity […]

Being on the hunt for government contracts can seem like a snipe hunt. Not familiar with a snipe hunt. As early as the 1840s in North America, a snipe hunt was duping an unsuspected person into hunting for a nonexistent animal called a snipe. Surprise, a snipe is real; it is a North American bird.  […]

National Veteran Small Business Week is here, and we look forward to honoring and celebrating the contributions veterans have made to small businesses across the nation. During the week of October 31-November 4, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and their resource partners, like VBOC of the Dakotas, PTAC, SBDC, WBC, and SCORE, will provide […]

Security breaches are rising with targets on small businesses; nothing new. Cybersecurity requirements are also on the rise and a must for people and businesses; nothing new. Two-factor authentication is becoming a standard; nothing new. Companies are still not doing enough to protect their data; nothing new. All businesses in all industries need to take […]

Thirty-seven years ago, Congress authorized an effort to expand the number of businesses capable of participating in the government marketplace. Since then, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, or PTACs, have been available to assist businesses to get them ready to work with local, state, and federal government agencies at no cost. On the 21st of this […]

Every solicitation generally receives multiple proposals. One area that should be discussed is why your proposal failed. How can you increase your competitive edge to win a contract? Not a pleasant subject; however, there are good topics to learn, discuss, and apply. Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) gives reasons that can cause a […]

  Do you ever worry that your business does not have the means of independently completing a prospective contract? The government does not expect that each of their contracts will be fulfilled by one business alone. Relationships and taking advantage of each other’s strengths are encouraged in federal contracting. There are three significant categories of […]