For federal contractors and businesses interested in providing goods and services to the government, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) offers many opportunities. GSA Schedule contracts are the easiest and quickest ways for government agencies to acquire the goods and services needed. GSA has unveiled a $5.5 billion project list for Public buildings that highlights the unprecedented role the agency will play in assisting in the nation's economic recovery and putting American citizens back to work.

http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_2009.pdf

GSA alone has received:

• $4.5 billion: Federal building conversion to high-performance green spaces
• $750 million: Federal building and courthouse renovations
• $300 million:Fuel-efficient vehicles
• $300 million: Land ports of entry renovation and construction

For IT products and services, as much as $100 billion in economic stimulus law funding may flow to technology companies for energy efficiency, broadband, electronic health records and education technology, according to an analysis by TechAmerica. About half of the $100 billion will be distributed through state governments and agencies.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has received:

• $100 million: Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technology
• $100 million: Border technology on the southwest border
• $60 million:Tactical communications equipment and radios

Federal Emergency Management Agency has received:

• $150 million: Port Security Grants

But transparency is the word of the day and the money comes with extra reporting requirements. The new regulations were announced in the Federal Register on March 31, 2009. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-7025.pdf

The new regulations introduce new contract clauses that must be agreed to when accepting an award using the recovery funds. GSA will be issuing these clauses in a MAS mod. You cannot accept Recovery orders (stimulus money) without agreeing to the clauses, even on GSA Schedule contracts.

Transparency requires you to provide detailed reporting, full access to IG and GAO to records and employees, and new whistleblower protections if you wish to get in on the stimulus money projects. Reports include not only the standard name and contract amount, but detailed information on what was invoiced, the number of jobs created or saved with the money, and even the compensation of executives under certain circumstances. Information must be provided about your first tier subcontracts, too. These reports on subcontractors include what was purchased and the amount that was paid, and compensation of their executives under certain circumstances. If you do not want to keep track of all of this, then the best way is to let someone else manage it for you.

Agencies must identify when they are using stimulus money by inserting the word "Recovery" in the beginning of the request for quotation or order. A company decides if they want to comply with the transparency requirements before accepting the order.

Things to Do Now:

• Decide if you want to disclose this kind of information into a public data base.
• If you do
  • Develop a process to separate "Recovery" marked RFI's and RFP's and orders from the rest of your business so that you can collect the information.
  • Send the clauses to legal, contracts and proposals so that they know what to do.
  • Make sure your GSA contract has the products or services in demand for "Recovery" funds.
• If you do not
  • Locate partners now such as Technical Communities who will act for you in the market.
  • Make sure they have full access to the products or services that are in demand for the "Recovery" funds.