Top 10 Federal Set-Aside Opportunities for FY 2012

At the beginning of each federal fiscal year, Deltek identifies the top ten federal set-aside opportunities for small businesses in the coming year. Using information provided by Government sources as well as analysis provided by the Deltek team, these opportunities were selected based on forecasted contract value and significance to the buying agency and marketplace. Each opportunity has a forecasted solicitation release date in FY 2012. The FY 2012 Top 10 Set-Aside Opportunities list exceeds $18.5 billion in total ceiling value available as prime contracting opportunities for small businesses.

Key Points:

• Agencies are expanding small business prime contracts and task order opportunities by increasing the number of awards made to small firms, particularly within the traditional Small Business Set-Aside category. Only one of the Top 10 opportunities is a set-aside for another set-aside category.
• Multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts continue to dominate the Top 10 list, as agencies look to leverage their acquisition workforce and provide continuity in task order competitions.
• Small business components or “Domains” are becoming more common in agency contract vehicles, giving small businesses more opportunities to participate as prime contractors.
• Vehicles like the Army’s D3I allow small businesses to compete for a larger piece of the pie, $1.9 billion. The amount spent with small businesses will ultimately depend on the procurement strategies of the agencies and how effective the winning small businesses are in marketing their capabilities to the government customers.