The General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced the release of a new, updated contract to allow new vendors to submit contracts to sell office supplies to federal government agencies through its Schedule 75. In 2010, the GSA had closed the contract so that only the 300-plus current contract holders could bid and sell office products using that contract vehicle.

The new contract was released on Jan. 16, and includes all legacy office services, such as on-site stores, customizing and imprinting; and traditional office products, such as pens, paper, shredders, CDs, office appliances and restroom products; as well as a new slate of products and services. The Schedule 75 will include new enhanced special item numbers, which will be known as Office Supplies Fourth Generation (OS4).

Courtney Fairchild, president and CEO of Global Services, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary specializing in GSA schedules and other federal contracts support services, has provided insight to this complicated contract. “Understanding the difference between the new and old Special Item Numbers (SINs) and the full contract offer requirements can be a challenge,” she said. “Be sure to read and digest the entire solicitation prior to putting your offer together.”

Fairchild continued with a timing recommendation. “The folks at GSA are not certain how many companies or how quickly the companies will submit new offers, so there is no timeline they can point to right now,” she said. “GSA Schedule submissions negotiations and approval can range from office to office anywhere from four to 12 months, depending on the workload.”

Since October 2010, GSA’s Schedule 75 for Office Products and Supplies had been closed to new contract offers. However, sales on the schedule remain comparatively high. GSA reports that, in fiscal 2016, Schedule 75 sales were $367.3 million — significantly higher than the $213.8 million sold under GSA’s Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative for Office Supplies Third Generation (FSSI OS3). Now that the GSA is reopening Schedule 75 to new contract offers, it is, in the process, making a number of changes.

GSA has included new technical requirements for vendors including a demonstrated ability to meet all environmental reporting and green product requirements, a demonstrated system to remain compliant with the Trade Agreements Act, providing an updated Letter of Supply and special transactional data reporting. Vendors must maintain a satisfactory record of past performance and be Ability-One certified.

Companies considering submitting an Office Supplies Schedule 75 contract offer may choose to add either the legacy SINs, the new OS4 SINs or both. GSA is providing several resources to help companies understand the process to research, compare and validate the contract offer process. More information is available via https://interact.gsa.gov.

One may subscribe to Schedule 75 updates and gain access to recordings of recent GSA webinars at https://interact.gsa.gov/document/important-change-notice-schedule-75-re-opening-multiple-award-schedule-mas-75-legacy-sins.

Gloria Larkin is president and CEO of TargetGov and is a national expert in business development in the government markets. For more information, email [email protected], visit www.targetgov.com or call toll-free 866-579-1346.

AWARDED CONTRACTS

The following information is regarding awarded contracts and can be used to develop prime contractor, subcontractor and teaming partner relationships on these and other opportunities. For more information, contact TargetGov at 410-579-1346.
• ASRC Communications, Beltsville, won a $395 million contract from the 45th Contracting Squadron for cape launch operations and infrastructure support, including maintenance and engineering support for facilities and systems. http://asrcfederal.com/companies
• BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Rockville, won a $26,740,679 contract from The Naval Air Systems Command for engineering and technical services, in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Ship and Air Integration Warfare Division. www.baesystems.com/en/our-company/bae-systems-inc/us-suppliers/us-supplier-diversity
• Bravura Information Technology Systems, Aberdeen, won a $233,334,787 contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for engineering, logistics, operations and program management support for the Persistent Surveillance Systems-Tethered. www.bravurainc.com/contact.html
• CRW & Associates, Bowie, won a $66,845,460 contract from the U.S. Army Health Contracting Activity for remote medical record coding services for outpatient medical records. www.crwassociatestoday.com/contact-us
• KBR Wyle Technology Solutions, Columbia, won a $69,301,409 contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division for the procurement of installation, systems integration, test and evaluation, in-service engineering, logistics, repair and validation, training, lab maintenance, quality assurance and technical management services for the Multi-Mission Datalink System. http://ww2.wyle.com/about-us.html
• LRS EOTI JV, Pasadena; and VETS – Tidewater JV, Elkridge; along with eight other companies, won a $60 million contract from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers for environmental remediation services. http://lrsfederal.com/wp/contact, www.eoti.net/contact-us and www.tideh2o.net/contact-us
• Melwood Inc., Upper Marlboro, won an $18,552,775 contract from the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command for base operations at Fort Meade. www.melwood.org/contact-us
• Silicon Graphics Federal, Annapolis Junction, won a $23,341,671 contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Department of Defense high-performance computing modernization program’s technology insertion Air Force Research Laboratory Order 13. www.sgi.com/company_info/federal/sewp.html
• Thales Defense & Security, Clarksburg, won a $7,723,840 contract from the NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support for repair of one weapon repairable assembly on the airborne low frequency sonar system Sonar Dome, which is required to support the H-60 helicopter. www.thalescomminc.com/content/contactus.aspx
• Truston Technologies, Annapolis, along with four other companies, won a $13.5 million contract from the Naval Facilities and Engineering Expeditionary Warfare Center for worldwide ocean engineering services, including ocean engineering services in support of projects involving ocean cable systems and ocean work systems. www.truston.us/contact
• URS Federal Services, Germantown, won an $114,541,892 contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for maintenance, supply and transportation logistics support services. www.aecom.com/small-businesssupplier-diversity