industrial base | The Contracting Education Academy

July 27, 2020 By cs

Government contractors and financing a post-coronavirus ‘reboot’ of the economy

When the shutdown ends, contractors will be busy.

When the economy does begin to recover from our nationwide lockdown, one certainty is that it will not be as simple as “turning the lights back on.”

Companies may have a long road back to full strength as they go through the process of restoring their workforces, rebuilding supply chains and planning for growth in a new, unfamiliar economy.

One certainty, however, is that government contractors will be in high demand as agencies face a backlog of project work as well as new initiatives grown out of coronavirus recovery plans. Taking the right steps now will be essential to aligning these resources with expected need.

So why will government contractors face a surge in demand when COVID-19 restrictions lift? One reason is that many projects that were underway in the spring, particularly construction projects, will once again come back online after being placed on hold due to social distancing guidelines. Construction on roads, bridges and highways is expected to peak as state and federal agencies race to catch up on work planned and postponed for the spring and summer periods.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/07/government-contractors-and-financing-a-post-coronavirus-reboot-of-the-economy/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

July 22, 2020 By cs

We need $10 billion to pay contractors’ Coronavirus expenses, Pentagon tells Congress

It’s the first time a defense official has put a specific price tag on DoD’s COVID relief efforts.

The Pentagon needs Congress to approve “around $10 billion” to cover defense contractors’ coronavirus-related expenses, a top defense official said Monday.

Alan Shaffer, deputy defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, became the first Defense Department official to put a price tag on the relief effort.

“If there is another supplemental or stimulus package for realistic economic adjustment, we could be looking at somewhere around $10 billion in additional program costs,” Shaffer said during a taped appearance on the Government Matters television show that aired Monday afternoon.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/07/we-need-10b-pay-contractors-coronavirus-expenses-pentagon-tells-congress/166852/

July 21, 2020 By cs

DoD cautious of industrial base impact as coronavirus ramps back up

The Defense Department is seeing much of its industrial base reopen after shutdowns due to the coronavirus. However, the Pentagon isn’t celebrating yet.

As a second wave of COVID-19 hits the United States, DoD is reviewing policies to keep the supply chain moving and keeping an eye on the numbers.

Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Kevin Fahey said only 34 of the approximately 1,000 defense-related companies that closed due to coronavirus are still shuttered. Employees are still getting infected though.

“We are seeing a lot of cases of COVID, a lot of cases in our defense industrial base, it’s pretty consistent with what you see in the news,” Fahey said Monday during a Professional Services Council webinar. “It tends to be the younger grouping of people for the most part. When more people get sick it spreads.”

He added that almost every industry partner has had confirmed COVID cases or quarantines.

Fahey said businesses and DoD have continued some operations because they’ve learned to operate under a new normal.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/07/dod-cautious-of-industrial-base-impact-as-coronavirus-ramps-back-up/

July 8, 2020 By cs

Federal contract spending reaches its highest level ever in fiscal 2019, marking 4 straight years of growth

Spending is expected to increase even more for fiscal 2020, exceeding $600 billion even before coronavirus stimulus funding is included.

**Click on image above to download report.**

Federal contract spending grew for the fourth year in a row to reach $597 billion in fiscal 2019, its highest level yet and a 6% increase over the previous year, according to newly released data. Spending is expected to exceed $600 billion in fiscal 2020, without even including spending on economic stimulus funds in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The data, compiled by Bloomberg Government, encompasses prime and unclassified contract spending. Bloomberg released the findings in the ninth annual BGOV200 report, which ranks the top 200 federal contractors. The report analyzes market trends, contractors’ performance and other dynamics among 92 federal agencies in 20 purchasing categories during fiscal 2019.

The agencies with the biggest gains in contract spending in fiscal 2019 included: the Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Defense departments, and the General Services Administration. Some of the top markets were: facilities and construction; professional services; information technology and aircrafts, ships/submarines and land vehicles.

The 200 companies won the same share of total contracts as in 2018 and 2017, which was 64%. The top six companies — all in the defense industry — were: Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp., Raytheon Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and United Technologies Corp. This was the same as last year, except McKesson Corp. was number six in 2018 and this year it ranked seventh. In 2019, 37 companies entered the top 200 for the first time.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/06/federal-contract-spending-reaches-its-highest-level-ever-fiscal-2019-marking-4-straight-years-growth/166484/

July 7, 2020 By cs

Contractor confidence in government market less certain amid pandemic

Before the coronavirus outbreak, the contracting community expressed “high confidence” in public sector sales for 2020, expressing optimism in steady government buying following 2019’s lengthy government shutdown that set many companies back.

Now, amid a pandemic with no end in sight, a largely remote workforce and other contractor challenges, the contracting forecast for 2020 and beyond is much less certain.

“We saw a strong performance across the board in 2019, and as we entered 2020, the outlook was rosy,” said Amy Champigny, senior product marketing manager at Deltek. “Now, to some degree, that has happened, but not in the way people expected. The COVID-19 pandemic is going to force a lot of contractors to think carefully about how they come out of this.”

Champigny spoke with Nextgov about Deltek’s Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study, a wide-scale survey of hundreds of government contractors regarding issues, trends and opportunities impacting the market. At the time the survey was fielded—between Jan. 6 and March 2—70% of contractors expected government sales to be higher in 2020 than 2019. Now, “consensus expectations call for significant negative growth in the second half of 2020, and there is not yet a clear path to recovery,” the authors state.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/06/contractor-confidence-government-market-less-certain-amid-pandemic/166406/

When the shutdown ends, contractors will be busy.

It’s the first time a defense official has put a specific price tag on DoD’s COVID relief efforts.

The Defense Department is seeing much of its industrial base reopen after shutdowns due to the coronavirus. However, the Pentagon isn’t celebrating yet.

Spending is expected to increase even more for fiscal 2020, exceeding $600 billion even before coronavirus stimulus funding is included.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, the contracting community expressed “high confidence” in public sector sales for 2020, expressing optimism in steady government buying following 2019’s lengthy government shutdown that set many companies back.

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