Report sheds light on federal contract opportunities in Trump era
A new report has offered insights into how the procurement landscape will look for companies bidding for government contracts in the Trump era, pointing to emerging opportunities in defence, security and nuclear technology.
The study, by market analytics firm Govini, assesses the opportunities and likely levels of competition that industry providers face as key departments retender expiring contracts and adjust their requirements to meet the aims of the Trump presidency.
Separate analysis by Govini at the start of the year put the value of government contracts set to expire in 2017 at some $406 billion (£331bn or €386bn).
Its latest report, published yesterday, ranks the competitiveness of key agencies based on the number of rival bids they received when tendering for contracts set to expire this year, and the likelihood of them retendering expiring contracts in the context of Trump’s policy aims. The aim of the study is to provide government vendors with insights into the procurement landscape and where to target their efforts and agencies with intelligence on where they need to improve competition to achieve best value.
According to the report, the most competitive agencies are also ones that are likely to play a key role in delivering Trump’s main policy priorities, such as those managing education and the armed forces.
Trump has already signalled his intentions to give defence a significant funding boost ¬¬– a fact Govini said would translate into an increase in procurement by the US Army.
Although some of this spending would be on new weapons hardware, better use of existing equipment represented “low-hanging fruit” for contractors, Govini said, underlined by the fact that some of the top competitive Army contracts expiring in 2017 are funded through its ‘operations and maintenance’ budget.
Meanwhile, in the Department for Homeland Security, Trump’s contentious immigration and border security policies are likely to affect how security contractors market and sell their solutions to the department.
Although contractual opportunities from the controversial border wall with Mexico are a way off, Govini said significant security contracts are set to expire in areas such as non-bricks-and-mortar border technologies and vetting systems, as well as cyber-security initiatives, air transportation of illegal immigrants, detention facilities and call centre support.
In the Department of Energy, operations support for the Nuclear Security Administration is likely to become an area of increasing commercial interest for contractors, although expected cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency mean that EPA contracts expiring this year are unlikely to retendered, the report said.
Generally, Govini said companies that do not typically do business with federal agencies have the potential to offer significant value to agencies, as long as they can familiarise themselves with “cumbersome” government contracting rules or if Trump fulfils his pledges to roll back regulation.
Concluding, the report said: “Competition will surely play a role in success as federal contractors transition to the Trump era. With high market uncertainty, stemming from a massive shift in policy that will eventually trickle down to the contracting, business developers need to adjust their strategies for marketing their services and solutions in the Trump era.”
About Ben Willis
Ben Willis is a journalist and editor with a varied background reporting on topics including public policy, the environment, renewable energy and international development. His work has appeared in a variety of national newspapers including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Times, as well as numerous specialist business, policy and consumer publications.
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