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Small Business Office

Welcome to the Philadelphia District's Small Business Office!

The  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Philadelphia District have a strong commitment to the Small Business Program. The Philadelphia District fully supports the government policy of placing a fair proportion of Corps contracts with qualified Small, Small Disadvantaged, 8(a), Veteran-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Women-owned, and HUBZone small businesses. In addition, we support such concerns being afforded the maximum practicable opportunity to participate as subcontractors in qualifying contracts awarded to large businesses. 

  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers buys a variety of supplies, services, construction and engineering services. Examples of some of these acquisitions are provided below: 
  • Construction: Barracks, storage facilities, family housing, maintenance shops, hangers, bridge runways, roads, levees, dams, hazardous and toxic waste remediation, and dredging.
  • Engineering services: Concept studies, master planning, engineering studies, all types of surveying and mapping, engineering design and construction and inspection services.
  • Other services: Power, grass mowing, janitorial, oversee and maintain recreational parks, stenographic, and real estate appraisal.
  • Supplies and equipment: Generators, turbines, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, electronic gear, petroleum products, repair parts, lumber, cement, computers and peripheral equipment, and publications.

1.    Visit the main website for the District(s) you desire to do business with to learn about District’s mission. Visit the District(s) Small Business website to learn about small business procurements promoted by each District.
2.    Discuss your capabilities and interest to perform work with the District’s Deputy for Small Business. For the Philadelphia District, email your small business capabilities brochure or other marketing materials to CENAP-SB@usace.army.mil.
3.    Be alert to announcements of conferences, Trade Fairs, and other federally attended or sponsored liaison meetings in your area. The Corps of Engineers is represented at some of these meetings. This is an excellent opportunity to meet with procurement staff and small business specialists.
4.    Review contract opportunities on betasam at https://sam.gov/content/home. You can search Philadelphia District solicitations by searching keyword “W912BU”. 
5.    The Federal Government requires all contractors to create a user account and register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at https://sam.gov/content/home. Contractors must be registered in the SAM before they can be awarded a DoD contract. The only exceptions will be for purchases made with the Government wide commercial purchase card, contracting offices located outside the U.S., classified contacts, and contracts executed to support contingency or emergency operations.

USACE Step-by-Step Resolution Process for Unfair Regulatory Enforcement

Pursuant to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), HQ USACE Office of Small Business Programs is committed to successfully mitigating concerns between USACE and small business contractors. Inquiries may include excessive enforcement actions such as repetitive audits and investigations, and unreasonable fines, penalties, threats, retaliation, or other unfair actions. USACE offers the following chronological, streamlined process to expedite a mutually beneficial resolution for small businesses.

Step 1:  Contractors should first contact the local USACE Small Business Professional (SBP) at the appropriate geographic location. A listing of current local SBPs can be found here.

Step 2:  If the contractor inquiry is not addressed within 30 days in Step 1, the contractor should elevate their concern to the respective Division or Center Assistant Director of Small Business (AD). A listing of current ADs can be found here.

Step 3:  If the contractor inquiry is not addressed within 30 days in Step 2, the contractor should contact, HQ USACE Office of Small Business Programs, at small-business-hq@usace.army.mil with the following information:

  • Include “SBREFA Inquiry” in the subject heading
  • Contractor name and contact information
  • USACE contract or solicitation number
  • USACE District/Center location
  • Names of USACE employees the contractor previously contacted
  • Brief description and current status of the issue

Contractor inquiries not resolved through the above USACE resolution process may be submitted to the Office of the National Ombudsman (ONO), U.S. Small Business Administration. Submit an online request for assistance at www.sba.gov/ombudsman/comment or download a printable Federal Agency Comment Form (SBA Form 1993) and submit documentation via email (preferred), mail, or fax.

Email: ombudsman@sba.gov

Fax: (202) 481-5719

Mail: Office of the National Ombudsman, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, S.W., Mail Code 2120, Washington, D.C., 20416

USACE Small Business

Subcontract Opportunities

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A listing of all Department of Defense Prime Contractors with Subcontract Plans is located at https://www.sba.gov/document/support--directory-federal-government-prime-contractors-subcontracting-plans. Large Business firms receiving contract awards valued in excess of the following are required to submit small business subcontracting plans for review by the Deputy for Small Business and approval by the Contracting Officer.

* $1,500,000 for construction
* $750,000 for other than construction

The subcontracting plans include dollar and percent goals for small business, small disadvantaged business, veteran-owned small business, services-disabled veteran-owned small business, woman-owned business, and HUBZone small business.

Large Business firms can locate small business firms for subcontracting by accessing the Small Business Administration’s Dynamic Small Business search at: https://web.sba.gov/pro-net/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm Firms can be searched for by NAICS codes, keywords, location, socio-economic category, and more.

Info for AE Firms

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Engineer Pamphlet (EP) 715-1-7, Architect-Engineer Contracting in USACE, dated Feburary 2012, can be found here.

The pamphlet describes the Corps' A-E acquisition procedures, including how primary and secondary selection criteria are applied by preselection and selection boards, debriefings of unsuccessful firms and performance evaluations. It also contains a listing of Internet addresses relevant to A-E Contracting.

Small Purchase Procedures

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  • Acquisitions valued between $25,000 and $250,000 (or current Simplified Acquisition Threshold) are solicited via a government point of entry. For most procurements, this is: https://sam.gov/content/home. For GSA orders, it is: https://www.ebuy.gsa.gov/ebuy/ 
  • Acquisitions valued between $15,000 and $25,000 are required to be posted in a public place. Typically, https://sam.gov/content/home is utilized.
  • Acquisitions under $15,000 are not required to have solicitations posted, and oral/email request for quotes are common at this threshold. 
  • At the Philadelphia District, the Government Purchase Card (i.e. credit card) is utilized for:
    • Supplies under $10,000
    • Services under $2,500 subject to the Service Contract Act
    • Construction under $2,000 subject to the Wage Rate Requirements

Contact Information

USACE Deputy for Small Business
cenap-sb@usace.army.mil

 

Links

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