The Federal Forecasting App, a digital platform that contains various resources on government contracting, has announced that it will add more features to enhance its user experience and help more disadvantaged business owners gain access to various contracting opportunities.
Federal contracting presents an attractive opportunity for people to earn a competitive income by providing products and services for the US Federal Government, which is one of the world’s largest buyers. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), around 10% of all federal contract dollars, or roughly $50 billion, go to businesses owned by people from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), military veterans, and disabled people.
At its core, the Federal Forecasting App is a wishlist of potential federal contracting opportunities, known as forecasts, across various federal agencies, such as the General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and many more. The list is updated and finalized once the end-user (i.e the government agency) has determined their yearly budgets. The app also provides direct access to personnel from the Office of Small Business and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSBDU), the agency that is tasked to increase procurement opportunities for small businesses.
In its coming updates, the app will implement artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that take the user's search history to create custom recommendations and alert them of any relevant contracting opportunities through push notifications on their mobile devices. For example, users searching for construction opportunities under a certain NAICS code will receive alerts of any opportunities under that specific code, maximizing the chances of them getting it.
With many small business owners being very busy, constantly monitoring for new contracting opportunities takes up a lot of their already limited bandwidth. By implementing the automated search and notification function, the Federal Forecasting App is able to save significant time and effort for business owners.
According to Derrick Surratt, founder of the Federal Forecasting App, the team is working to bring this updated functionality to market as soon as possible, with beta testing commencing shortly. The team aims for it to be fully functional before the Society of American Military Engineers’ (SAME) 2024 Federal Small Business Conference in November 2024 in New Orleans.
Surratt says the Federal Small Business Conference holds a special meaning to him, as his business was one of the sponsors of the 2023 edition, where he launched the app’s first public version. The conference is a yearly event where all the important stakeholders are in one place – contractors, the SBA, end-users, and many more. This creates a great opportunity to learn about contracting, get in touch and network with potential contracting partners, as well as collaborate with existing ones.
“My goal with the Federal Forecasting App is to create a digital extension of such conferences that is available 24/7, 365 days a year,” Surratt says. “We bring technology into this space, allowing contractors, suppliers, and end-users to get in contact and collaborate conveniently in a digital ecosystem, facilitating a smoother experience for everyone involved.”
In the future, Surratt plans on creating a special version of the Federal Forecasting App that will be pitched to the Federal Government, allowing its agencies and personnel to collaborate on contracting-related matters, while meeting its more stringent guidelines on data security.
Media contact:
Name: Derrick Surratt
Email: [email protected]
