North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center

A resource for assisting North Dakota businesses in obtaining federal, state, and local government contracts.

March 2021: Small AND Mighty

Come celebrate with us, it’s National Procurement Month!

The North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center (ND PTAC) wants to recognize all the North Dakota businesses that sell to schools, universities, cities, counties, states, and federal agencies! Moreover, we cannot forget to say thank you to our public and private sector procurement professionals who are committed to providing high-caliber strategic, logistical, and operational support to departments and agencies at the local, state, & federal level!

March is National Procurement Month, providing the perfect opportunity to educate our businesses, elected officials, and citizens about the procurement process and its role in our state.

How far back does procurement go? Small businesses have been an integral part of procurement history. According to ‘5 Keys Periods in Procurement History’ there have been five (5) major eras of procurement throughout human history. The first era of procurement professionals were the Romans, Chinese, and Egyptians. The latest eras involve the development and use of the internet and automation.

Want to be part of history and participate in government procurement? Throughout this National Procurement Month, be sure to check out the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) variety of small business procurement guides. This is a great time to investigate government contracting by reviewing SBA’s many resources here.

Want your business to be a vendor to a government agency and need an edge over ‘big’ businesses?  Here’s a quick tip. Each year, SBA works with other federal agencies to ‘set aside’ contracts for small businesses. Set-asides were created for small businesses to limit competition for certain contracts. Large government prime contractors also must set aside contracts for small businesses. For example, Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) FY 2021 small business goals for their prime contracts can be reviewed by clicking on this link. You can learn more about set-asides here. SBA’s FY2021 small business goals are:

Prime Contracting Category Goal
Small Business  23.0%
Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) Small Business 3.0%
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)   3.0%
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)*  5.0%
Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)  5.0%

These goals help strengthen and expand small businesses… making them mighty.

Interested in the small business share of federal contracting? Overall, in FY2019 small business’s government-wide performance was 26.5%, or $132.0 billion. For all FY2019 results see SBA’s scorecard.

According to Dave Kleppe of the North Dakota PTAC, “Government contracting is a good revenue source for many businesses. The PTAC will assist in conducting market research to help you determine if the government market is feasible for your business.”

Remember, government agencies do not purchase from a small business just because it is small; they purchase because they fill a need or fix a problem…and oh, by the way, it is a small business. A win-win!

As always, if you are not sure where to start or how to get organized, connect with the North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center (ND PTAC). Our services are at no cost to businesses registered in the state of North Dakota.  Register here to schedule an appointment.

Not from North Dakota? Find your closest PTAC on the APTAC website and then click on your state.