Welding Tips and Tricks

It occurred to me that I probably qualify as a service disabled veteran owned small business, so I'd get highest preference bidding on government contracts. I figured out how to browse through the contracts, but can't see the specifics. All I can see is they want X numbers of assemblies or brackets and maybe a predetermined price. I'm sure I have quite a bit of paperwork to do before I can attempt it. Any insight would be much appreciated.

This site may offer some needed information, good luck.

https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/mn/minneapolis

There's a link to the Minnesota office, you might call or stop by for information if you're close enough. You might also find out if the State of Minnesota offers contracts in addition to the Federal government.

And sorry if you knew this already, but yet another thing to look into is if you can work as a subcontractor to a company that is bidding on a contract. Many times the government has a requirement the winner of the contract will employ some percent of small businesses, and your designation as a service disabled veteran subcontractor can be very helpful in winning the contract. And if you happen to live in a hub zone or economic development zone you can provide even more points to the prime contractor.

I wonder if the VA could help in some way...?

Good luck with it! And thank you for your service!

Does anyone know the NAICS codes for a welding/fabrication shop? I'm still slowly going through this process.

I found this site
http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/
and entered the word "weld" in the search box, which returned 52 entries. Some of them refer to a type of business, which is likely what you need. For those 52, the NAICS code is a link that provides a description.

Hope that helps!

I thought that getting a cage code and DLA account were going to be the difficult part, but no it's the SDVOSB rating that is getting ridiculous. I started this in early November and though it was supposed to take 60 days, but that is just how long they wait before looking at any of your paperwork. Now every two weeks for the last two months I get thank you Mr. Schmitt I'm almost ready to write your recommendation, but I just need one more thing... and redo 3 other things that you already did.

I'm too tired and irritated to finish this rant right now.

Yeah, that's gotta be frustrating. Is that office close enough for a personal visit? Would a box of Krispy Kremes make a difference?

You sure you WANT to do government contracts??

A fair question, given the forms experience so far. If you're a subcontractor to a prime contractor (the prime has the direct relationship with the govt) then the prime must pay on time etc or risk losing the contract and losing the ability to do future business with the govt. In theory, at least!

I finally did get the sdvosb certification. The bullshit never really ends though, and it looks like I'll need to file some more paperwork to view export controlled documents. Mostly it's just a pain to sort and navigate. Sometimes a solicitation says they need 100 brackets, and then it includes pdf drawings for an entire truck with no indication of which bracket they actually want. Other times they just give a national stock number and I have no idea how to find the prints.

Turbo wrote:I finally did get the sdvosb certification. The bullshit never really ends though, and it looks like I'll need to file some more paperwork to view export controlled documents. Mostly it's just a pain to sort and navigate. Sometimes a solicitation says they need 100 brackets, and then it includes pdf drawings for an entire truck with no indication of which bracket they actually want. Other times they just give a national stock number and I have no idea how to find the prints.

Did you really expect the bullshit and paperwork to stop...I mean this is the government we are talking about. I don't care what side you are on: there is always paperwork and hoops to jump through. And nobody likes paperwork especially when it is useless and excessive.

Farmwelding wrote:

Turbo wrote:I finally did get the sdvosb certification. The bullshit never really ends though, and it looks like I'll need to file some more paperwork to view export controlled documents. Mostly it's just a pain to sort and navigate. Sometimes a solicitation says they need 100 brackets, and then it includes pdf drawings for an entire truck with no indication of which bracket they actually want. Other times they just give a national stock number and I have no idea how to find the prints.

Did you really expect the bullshit and paperwork to stop...I mean this is the government we are talking about. I don't care what side you are on: there is always paperwork and hoops to jump through. And nobody likes paperwork especially when it is useless and excessive.

Does it make you wonder how many trees the Forest Service kills with the required paperwork?



Steve

I did govt contracting (forestry) for over 25 years, 15 of them on my own,I had over 50 employees over that time. Bid high and wear yer brass balls to the prework. Stick to the contract specs and expect them to do the same.
Treat your crew as family. In my experience the govt picked quality first, despite what people say, bid a fair rate for what you do and go for RFP over RFQ bids. Learn how to write proposals.
Get yer DUNS number and other such in line, once you wade through the BS you wont have to wade through it again.
It's not as bad as some paint it.
I got out of it mostly because I didnt like having to travel so much for work, decided to settle down a bit. Good money tho, and far more professional dealings than private work, in my experience.