VISN 15 Contracting
Doing Buisness with VISN 15 & Our Facilities
The Department of Veterans Affairs purchases billions of dollars in goods and services each year. It is the policy of the federal government, under the Small Business Act, that all small businesses have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in providing goods and services to the government. To ensure that small businesses get this opportunity, the Small Business Administration negotiates annual procurement preference goals with each federal agency including VA and reviews each agency's results.
The current established goals are listed below:
Prime Contracting Goals for FY2016 |
% |
| Small Business | 42% |
| Veteran-Owned Small Business | 12% |
| Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business | 10% |
| Women-Owned Small Business | 5% |
| Small Disadvantaged Business (Includes Section 8(a)) | 5% |
| Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone Small Business | 3% |
Subcontracting Goals for FY2016 |
% |
| Small Business | 17.5% |
| Veteran-Owned Small Business | 5% |
| Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business | 3% |
| Women-Owned Small Business | 5% |
| Small Disadvantaged Business (Includes Section 8(a)) | 5% |
| Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Zone Small Business | 3% |
Steps to doing Business with VISN 15 & Our Facilities
- Register with System for Award Management (SAM). Note-the form you completed at this website must include the North American Industrial Classification Code and the Federal Stock Classification or groups. If your business qualifies for one of the socioeconomic programs, ensure you update your Reps and Certs section.
- Visit www.fedbizopps.gov to search for opportunities and sign up for bids.
- Work with your Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) to receive bid matches that are more closely tailored to your business niche.
- Develop an easy to navigate company website that includes your products or services, pricing, and point of contact information.
- Our contract requirements and purchases over $25,000 are listed on the VA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities. This is the best resource to find out what we’re buying. It shows all the procurements we are developing and our active requirements.
- FBO and eBuy are commonly used for our solicitations so check those sites regularly if you are interested in doing business with our organization.
- Have you considered sub-contracting opportunities? Please take a look at SUB-net, GSA and the_SBA_directory to search for sub-contracting opportunities.
- The VA purchases IT products and services through two mandatory VA wide vehicles. NASA SEWP , VETSGWAC and then GSA/FSS contracts. If you offer a product or service that is already covered by SEWP or VETS GWAC, you may consider partnering with a current SEWP vendor. Additional information on how to become a SEWP vendor is at the following link.
VISN 15 Small Business Liaison Contact Information:
Bill Strobel
Small Business Liaison
Network Contracting Office (NCO) 15
3450 S. 4th Street
Leavenworth, KS 66048
Office: 913-946-1147
William.Strobel@va.gov
Please feel free to email me your one page capability statement. The following is the link to all of the Small Business specialists throughout the VHA: http://www.va.gov/osdbu/about/contacts.asp. If you open this site, you can select individual names and it will show their email addresses as well. All of these contacts are available to assist you in doing business with in the VHA.
Conferences and Events
Check out our latest Conferences and Events link. This link shows all of the upcoming events updated by our Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) scheduled by local VA Small Business Liaisons and National Level events.
Veterans First Contracting Program
The Veterans First Contracting Program is the Verification Program created under Public Law 109-461. Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) and Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs) must apply for verification by submitting an application to the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE). This site provides documented proof of eligibility for this program. Please review the Verification Assistance Briefs on http://www.VetBiz.gov/ for more clarity on issues and requirements.
Women-Owned Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration has published important changes providing greater access to federal contracting opportunities through the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program.
More information can be found on the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program web site.
Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone)
SBA's HUBZone program is in line with the efforts of both the Administration and Congress to promote economic development and employment growth in distressed areas by providing access to more federal contracting opportunities.
- How the HUBZone Program Works
- Benefits of the HUBZone Program
- Eligibility for HUBZone
- Additional Tools
More information on HUBZone small businesses can be found at http://www.sba.gov/hubzone/.
What do we buy?
Although there are certain priority sources identified by federal regulations, each VA Medical Center purchases a considerable amount of its requirements from both local and nationwide sources. Examples of items purchased are:
- Pharmaceuticals, medical, and surgical supplies
- Perishable subsistence - meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables
- Equipment, supplies, and materials for facility operation - light bulbs to cleaning supplies
- Maintenance and repair of medical and scientific equipment - cleaning, housekeeping, janitorial
- Building construction, maintenance, and repair - painting, plumbing, electrical, flooring, HVAC
- Prosthetic and orthopedic aids
- Medical gases
Additional Guidance
The PTAC’s are a valuable resource for any small business contracting with Federal Government. For additional guidance on doing business with the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as other government agencies, contact the PTAC in your area. PTACs are non-profit, government funded centers designed to help you understand the process and provide help to small business at no or low cost as part of the Federal Governments mandate to increase small business utilization. They provide regular contracting training and can assist with registrations in SAM, VetBiz and more. To find a center in your area visit the PTAC website.
