Government Contracting

Government contracting can be a very effective means of diversifying your company’s cash flow. By mixing commercial and government sales, a company will have a contrasted customer base. It can also help stabilize your income. Government entities are reliable customers that typically have a predictable purchasing pattern, and pay within 30 days, every time. As a purchaser, government entities are calculable. This is because they follow a clearly established set of laws that govern their entire purchasing process. Besides, your company must inevitably pay taxes, why not get a return on the investment? The United States is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world. In 2010 alone the U.S. Government spent over $500 billion in contracts, but only $9.5 billion on contracts within Wisconsin.

Contracting with the government can be a daunting task, with no prior experience. Wisconsin Procurement Institute (WPI) mission is to assist Wisconsin businesses in creating, developing and growing their Federal, State and Local Government sales, revenues, profits and jobs.



For more information about WPI services view their website.

Walworth County Purchasing – The Walworth County Department of Public Works is part of the Wisconsin Association of Public Purchasers. Available contracts and current bids can be located on the Onvia DemandStart website. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the department directly.

Vendor Net – VendorNet is Wisconsin’s electronic purchasing information system. VendorNet was created to provide easy access to a wide variety of information of interest to vendors who wish to provide goods and services to the state as well as state agencies and municipalities.

Federal Business Opportunities – This website is the federal governments contract bidding and purchasing website. Federal agencies use this site to communicate their buying requirements to potential suppliers. All federal contract solicitations with a value of at least $25,000 are published on FedBizOpps. Government agencies publish the solicitations on FedBizOpps, and provide detailed information on how and when vendors should respond.

SBA General Government Procurement – The Small Business Administration will help small businesses get actively involved in selling goods and services to the federal government. The Office of Government Contracting (GC) works to create an environment for maximum participation by small, disadvantaged, and woman-owned businesses in federal government contract awards and large prime subcontract awards. GC advocates on behalf of small business in the federal procurement world.

8(a) Business Development Program – Named for Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, this program was created to help small and disadvantaged businesses compete in the marketplace. It also helps these companies gain access to federal and private procurement markets. The focus of the program is to provide business development support including:

• Mentoring
• Procurement assistance
• Business counseling
• Training
• Financial assistance
• Surety bonding
• Other management and technical assistance

Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) program – The program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. These preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone. The company must also maintain a “principal office” in one of these specially designated areas. Whitewater Wisconsin is a designated HUBZone region.

SBA Government Contracting – SBA has created a series of free online contracting courses designed to help prospective and existing small businesses understand the basics about contracting with governmental agencies. So whether you’re just getting started or looking for ways to compete more successfully in the government contracting marketplace, check out the courses below.

Wisconsin State Bureau of Procurement – is the main source for Wisconsin state government procurement opportunities and information. Many procurement opportunities are publicized on VendorNet, the State of Wisconsin’s bidding and purchasing opportunity information web site.

Rock Valley College Procurement Technical Assistance Center – PTAC utilizes a wide variety of resources to provide information and assistance to program clients. In the federal system alone, there are nearly 100,000 procurement officials across the U.S. Cooperation from these and other resources, such as the Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Small Business Administration, and General Services Administration enables us to provide valuable technical assistance to participating firms.