The Top 4 Industries in SLED Government Contracts in Early 2018

GovWin+Onvia just released a report containing in-depth analysis of the first several months of 2018 in government contracting in the latest quarterly report, State and Local Procurement Snapshot for Q1 2018. In spite of an overall 0.4% decline in the volume of state, local and education (SLED) government bids and RFPs, our research highlighted several industries that still saw strong rates of growth.

As a part of this report, we’ve compiled a helpful infographic that measures the seasonally adjusted growth rates of published bids and RFPs, based on the change in bid volume in Q1 2018 compared to the same quarter last year, Q1 2017. That infographic is available to download below.

Click to download the infographic

Water & Energy Government Contracts Lead the Fastest-Growing Industries

In Q1 of 2018, the SLED market shifted gears, experiencing its first overall drop in bid volume since the uncertainty that preceded the 2016 elections. Despite this slight decrease, the market should still offer a strong amount of government contracting opportunities, as government market expert Michael Keating has written:

"…The $1.5 trillion SLED market should remain healthy and will offer plenty of contracting opportunities for vendors." - Michael Keating, Government Market Expert and Journalist

Some industries will offer more leads than others. Four such industries, listed below, experienced the highest rates of growth in bids and RFPs in Q1 of 2018 on a year-over-year basis:

• Water & Energy: This contracting area, the overall leader at 10.6% growth, was the #1 ranked industry among state agencies, #3 in education and #4 for local government.
• Professional Business Services: With an impressive positive growth rate of 9.7%, Professional Business Services contracts ranked #2 among all three categories of SLED governments.
• Environmental Services: Thanks to a #1 ranking in local government contracting growth, Environmental Services bids and RFPs were up 9.2% in Q1 of 2018.
• Public Safety: With a #1 ranking among education government agencies, #6 in state government and #7 for local government, Public Safety contracts grew at a rate of 4.0%.

Despite the overall slight decline in bid volume across the board, three other industries saw rates of positive growth in government contracting opportunities: Financial Services & Insurance contracts, which grew by 3.3%; Architecture & Engineering bids and RFPs, up 2.1%; and government Healthcare contracts, which increased by 1.9%.

Full Report Contains Key Takeaways, Trends, and Government Market Developments

Government vendors looking for the greatest amount of insight into public sector spending can pick up many insights from the full version of the Q1 2018 report. The SLED Market Analysis team at GovWin+Onvia highlighted the states that have the highest growth rates in bid volume to provide a regional perspective, and government market expert and journalist Michael Keating provides an in-depth look into how government officials and procurement managers are planning their budgets and preparing their spending decisions for the upcoming 12 months.

Want to get your hands on the full version of the report today? Simply click the link below to download your version of the State and Local Procurement Snapshot for Q1 2018 for free, and get the most comprehensive state, local and education market intelligence available.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST YOUR COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE REPORT