Prime Contractor Sources Are A Popular Topic
GTPAC Newsletter - June, 2008
If you are interested in subcontracting opportunities as a way of breaking into the government marketplace, then finding ways to identify prime contractors is a must. In fact, GTPAC's Procurement Counselors are frequently asked for help in identifying government prime contractors. Presented here are several sources for
obtaining such information.
GTPAC clients in the information technology (IT) business should be particularly interested in a list published annually by Washington Technology magazine. This recently updated list, called "2008 Top 100 Government IT Contractors," consists of a rank order listing of the largest 100 federal IT contractors. It is available online at http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top- 100/2008. One of the nicest features of this list is that it can be re-sorted to view the companies by industry sector, defense or civilian agency awards, revenue growth, and several other factors.
Virtually all of these firms are required, by virtue of the terms of their federal contracts, to have small business subcontracting plans in place. (A large business receiving a federal contract over $550,000, or exceeding $1 million for construction, is required to have a subcontracting plan.) This means that most are continually hunting for potential subcontractors.
A broader source for government prime contractor information is the Small Business Administration's Subcontracting Opportunities Directory. It, too, is available online, at: http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/
gc/contacts/gc_subcontracts_opportunities.html. This directory can be sorted by state, and lists federal contractors required to have subcontracting plans.
The Department of Defense (DoD) makes available two web-based resources that are helpful in identifying prime contractors. The first, at http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/doing_business/subdir-2005-11.pdf, is a directory, by state, of all major DoD contractors. The second resource is a procurement statistics page, http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/procurement/historical_reports/statistics/procstat.html, which allows you to view DoD prime contractors in various formats, including dollar value and federal supply codes.
In addition, veteran-owned small businesses will be interested in the listing of "Corporate Veterans Advocates" at www.vetbiz.gov/library/corp.htm. This is a list of personnel associated with large prime contractors who have responsibility for identifying veteran-owned subcontractors and suppliers.
