Govcon Giants

Government contractors who submit invoices to federal agencies can receive up to 90% of that invoice amount the same day through receivables-based funding, at a fee of 2 to 4% of the invoice, without a bank application or a two-to-three-year business history requirement. Craig Cohen, a former commercial banker with 10 years in traditional lending and now a funding specialist at Encore Funding, bre...

The government can write a solicitation around a single contractor when that contractor supplies the specific requirement language, from minimum past performance to licensing, that gets copied into the statement of work. Ryan Atencio, a federal contracting strategist, walks through how a small business gives the buyer the exact spec details to include so the posted contract fits one company, plus...

Federal contract winners are public the moment an award posts, and a small business can win subcontract work by calling that winner directly instead of bidding against them. Eric Coffie walks through the exact call he makes to a contract winner, how he asks an agency small business office which primes to contact, and how referencing that contact by name gets primes to respond. What you'll learn in...

Federal 8(a) construction contracts can pay a small business in 30 days, sometimes two weeks from invoice, while comparable municipal work takes 60 to 120 days and forces the contractor to finance the job. David Rambhajan, a contractor who moved from municipal to federal work, breaks down how he ran $5 million in 8(a) work with no permits and no inspections and why faster federal payment fueled hi...

The False Claims Act sets a maximum penalty near $28,000 for each false invoice submitted to the government, and those penalties are tripled and stack on every claim, which is how a routine billing dispute becomes a multi-million-dollar case. Nick Peterson, counsel at Wiley Rein and a former FAA special agent, breaks down how whistleblower suits get filed under seal, why data miners now drive near...

The GSA Multiple Award Schedule opens a bidding channel outside SAM.gov, where some contracts draw as few as four bidders, and a vendor can register without a prior federal win. Eric Coffie walks through why he moved to the GSA Schedule after three years of bidding on SAM.gov with no traction, how long approval actually takes, and how the Schedule builds a path toward a quarter to half a million i...

The 8(a) program lets the government award sole source contracts, and a business without its own 8(a) certification can still reach that work by teaming with a certified firm that brings the bonding and past performance. Eric Coffie breaks down how to find 8(a) companies on SAM.gov, call them directly to propose teaming, and structure the arrangement around real awards, including a $4.5 million so...

A federal construction firm runs standard operating procedures that assign every new contract an owner responsible for starting the submittal register, safety plan, and QC plan before the pre-construction meeting. Frank Spencer of Aztec explains how his team makes leadership, not the individual, accountable when a step falls through the cracks, and how a small firm keeps that discipline without hi...

The 8(a) program lets a small business team with an 8(a) prime, subcontract on its contracts, and build the past performance needed to win its own prime awards later. Eric Coffie walks through the exact teaming approach he used starting in 2019, from doing the business development for an 8(a) partner to negotiating $18 million in sole source contracts as a prime in 2025. What you'll learn in this...

A sources sought response is a small business's chance to recommend specific past-performance and PWS requirements that the government can place directly into the solicitation, legally narrowing who can compete. Eric Coffie walks through how to shape those recommendations, from citing a five-year VA janitorial contract to requiring three years of prime performance on a 50,000 square foot facility,...

Landing a job you have no experience for feels impossible, but David Rambhajan did it with zero degree, zero experience, and no MBA, and in this episode he breaks down the exact "sharpshooter strategy" that got him hired. If you are starting from scratch with no past performance or connections, this is the mindset and step-by-step approach that turns a flat rejection into an opportunity nobody tho...

Selling a government contracting business triggers a 180-day eligibility rule that can void a set-aside bid if the buyer is not eligible on the day of award, wiping out the time and cost of the proposal. Isaias "Cy" Alba, a partner at the law firm PilieroMazza with 20 years in government contracting M&A, walks through the specific rules that quietly strip value from a small business before a sale,...

Army Corps of Engineers roofing and construction contracts are often written against Unified Facilities Criteria that date back decades, and the person who defines whether the job is complete is the same person who releases your payment. West Edwards  breaks down the questions a contractor should ask before bidding a federal job, how to get the scope and success criteria signed off in writing, and...

The number of new small businesses winning federal contracts each year has fallen from 58,000 to roughly 12,000, even as total small business awards doubled to 183 billion dollars, which means larger awards are going to far fewer firms. Eric Coffie breaks down why the 8(a) program is the fastest on-ramp into that thinning field in 2026, how one contractor turned a quiet six-year build into a 57 mi...

The GSA Multiple Award Schedule is a 20-year contract vehicle, and a business with no past performance can still get on it by subcontracting first to build a track record as a prime. Colin Nchako breaks down how to sub under an established schedule holder, convert that experience into your own prime awards, and then add new SIN numbers later through a modification instead of at the onset. What you...

Two small businesses can form an 8(a) joint venture to pursue federal contracts neither could win alone, splitting accounting, bonding, and delivery responsibilities under the program rules. David Rambhajan, a contractor who grew through joint ventures and mentor-protege agreements before selling his company, walks through how he used partnering to gain past performance, limit his bonding indemnif...

Federal construction bids are won or lost in the estimate, where a single omitted line item like roof tubing can cost a quarter of a million dollars on a $19 million project. Eric Coffie breaks down the estimating checklist that captures the full scope of work, why every subcontractor bid must be signed and turnkey to hold up in court, and how one missing clause let a sub cover five items when the...

Federal buyers control only one part of a contract, the requirement, and most program staff have never been trained to write a performance work statement, so the document that decides the winner is often written before a solicitation ever posts. Ryan breaks down how a small vendor shapes that requirement through market research and a sources sought response, so the eventual bid is scoped so tightl...

Federal agencies signal upcoming contract dollars through the president's budget months before a solicitation ever posts, and the FY2027 budget was published just weeks ago. Tracy Marcinowski, a former Air Force contracting officer who rose to Assistant Commissioner for Acquisitions at GSA's Public Building Service, a $4 billion organization, walks through how a small business reads that budget to...

Federal agencies publish every contract they award, and that spending data reveals which offices buy your service and how much they paid last year, including one region where the Army alone obligated $27 million. ack Golden walks through pulling agency spending into a pivot table to find the offices actively buying, the recipients already winning, and the NAICS codes that point a small vendor towa...

On a federal prime-sub relationship, a scope review is a short document a prime walks through line by line so a subcontractor commits to payment terms, performance, and deliverables before work starts.  David Rambhajan, a service-disabled veteran-owned construction contractor who built and sold his firm after 15 years, explains how that one habit prevents the price increases and missed expectation...

On a federal construction job the government pays the general contractor within about 30 days, but the subcontractor gets paid only after hitting a milestone and floats the materials and labor in the meantime. West Edwards, a construction and roofing contractor who works Army Corps of Engineers projects, walks through how a subcontractor gets money on the ground early, uses supplier terms to push...

Other Transaction Agreements, known as OTAs, are a federal contract vehicle that carries almost none of the standard bidding rules, and agencies now issue them at every project size rather than only for large awards. Eric Coffie breaks down how a small firm can pitch a contracting officer on using an OTA, why the same vehicle powers major technology awards like Palantir's, and how the vehicle fits...

Federal contract opportunities are scattered across SAM.gov, agency forecasts, expiring contracts, and more than 70 other places, and the contact who decides an award is often findable before the solicitation ever posts. Randie Ward, a business development specialist, walks through how to identify the right program manager or small business specialist, pull contacts from industry day PDFs and free...

GSA Schedule contracts account for most federal spending that never appears on SAM.gov, which surfaces only about 25 percent of all government contracts. Eric Coffie breaks down how a small business with $250,000 in annual sales qualifies for the GSA Schedule, why every award makes you the prime, and how to price a bid you will be locked into for five years. What you'll learn in this episode: Why...