GSA is the central management arm of the government. Founded in 1949, GSA manages more than one-fourth of the government’s total procurement dollars and influences the management of $500 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 213,000 vehicles.

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has provided GSA $5.5 billion to invest in federal buildings. GSA will be stimulating long-term growth in energy-efficient technologies, alternative energy solutions and green buildings. The Recovery Act directs $750 million to renovate and construct federal buildings and courthouses, $300 million to renovate and construct land ports of entry and $4.5 billion to convert federal buildings to high-performance green buildings.

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.

As the acquisition arm of the federal government, GSA plays a vital role in connecting the private sector with federal agencies fulfilling their business needs. GSA offers professional services, equipment, supplies, telecommunications, and information technology from commercial businesses to government organizations and the military through acquisition solutions from its Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).

The Recovery Act gives preference to contracts that can be started and completed expeditiously, and use at least 50 percent of the funds for activities that can be initiated not later than 120 days from enactment. GSA will therefore look first to use existing contract vehicles to meet these needs. Companies who do not currently hold a GSA contract can still participate by seeking subcontracting opportunities with current contract holders.

GSA uses a variety of contracting vehicles to effectively manage procurement for both its own operations and its government customers. The Largest program is the GSA Schedules Program.

Under the GSA Schedules (also referred to as Multiple Award Schedules and Federal Supply Schedules) Program, GSA establishes long-term governmentwide contracts with commercial firms to provide access to over 11 million commercial supplies (products) and services. It is one of the largest programs and the most preferred for commercial products and services.

The MAS Program was designed to provide discount resources to all GSA federal agencies worldwide, as well as State and Local governments. When you have a contract with GSA under this program, you may sell to any government agency with just one source instead of having separate contracts with each agency.

A GSA Schedule BPA is an agreement established by a customer with a GSA Schedule contractor to fill repetitive needs for supplies or services (FAR 8.405-3). It simplifies the filling of recurring needs, while leveraging a customer's buying power by taking advantage of quantity discounts, saving administrative time, and reducing paperwork. GSA is setting up Recovery Act BPAs to handle many of the PBS energy supply requirements.