Case Study: Using USAspending.gov

Because the USAspending data base is extensive and takes some time to master, this case study is rather long and a bit complicated. The goal is to help you realize all of the possibilities.

The search strategies are broken down into small and short steps so that you can follow along easily. This will help you discover the many possibilities for filtering the contract data and finding exactly what you need.

Remember: your goal is to learn to successfully hunt for intelligence.

The first time you visit usaspendin g.gov, click on the SUMMARIES tab. This will take you to already compiled tables and charts on award data by agency, awardee ( contractors or assistance recipients ), and location.

These standard tables will help you better understand the options for searching for exactly what you need.

Take a deep breath and spend some time exploring the various options using pull-down menu selections, clicking on awardee and agency names, and changing the data filters ( date, location, etc. ).

Please keep in mind as you follow the search steps that data will probably have been added since I did these searches. So your resulting contract award lists may be a bit different, mostly bigger.

Let’s Explore Two Search Scenarios

One: help for a small business wanting to offer a specific service or product.
Two: an exploration of the type of contracts awarded by a specific agency, the award amounts, and the amount of time left on the contract.

First Strategy: Who is Buying My Service?

In this scenario a small business needs help to find where they might offer a specific service or product. They want to identify existing contracts so they can call the agencies to discuss their needs.

Find the search bar at the right top of your screen.

When you enter terms in the search bar, you will see that the system prompts you with the existing terms. For example if you type in the name of your state, a drop-down list shows all entries using that name. I typed in South Carolina and then was able to pick from a list of recipients with names starting with South Carolina ( e.g. South Carolina Research Foundation), and South Carolina as a place of performance state.

Once at the page for the foundation, click on the advanced search tab. There I am confronted by an amazing variety of choices. Don’t be discouraged: this array is not really endless, and it means that you really can search for something very specific. Take some time to look at the list. Also note that for many of the search parameters, when you click on a question mark on the right of the box an explanation of that data is provided.

What Next?

Now that you are little familiar with the data possibilities, click on the Prime Award Advanced Search located just under the search bar at the top right. Let’s look for contracts awarded to small businesses in your state by broad subject categories.

How Do I Do This?

Scroll down to recipient location and select your state. Mine is Colorado, so I picked that.
Next, I scrolled down to contractor type and clicked in the boxes for Small Business and Emerging Small Business.
Then under Product/Service I picked Photographic, Mapping, Printing, and Publication Services.
Go to the bottom of the page and submit.
Results: There is still a U.S. map at the top, but note the filters that you selected above it. Check them to make sure your selections were recorded. Also notice the choices on the right side bar for narrowing your selection from here.
Then scroll down a bit and your data will be listed. There are more than 49,000 hits. Looking at the data, it is clear that just selecting this service is too broad, as it is included in many other types of projects.
I just want to offer photographic services, so I click on the page back arrow and then enter the word photography in the search box at the top of the form. (Check to make sure that your other terms are still selected.)
Now, after submitting, I have 42 results.

What do can you do with the results? Once again, there are lots of possibilities.

I don’t have aerial services (phtogrammetry), so I don’t even look at those contracts.
Scroll down to transaction number 11: I notice a contract for architectural photos for the General Services Administration. I click on the contract number to see details about the office who commissioned the work. I also find the best NAICS Code—541922: Commercial Photography—that I can use in subsequent searches.
In the box for product/service code I click on General Photographic. Now I only have seven items.
Notice that at the top of the page, under the filters used, is a button Back to Search Results. Use it to go back to your list of contracts.
Scroll down to find another likely prospect. Transaction number 21 is for the same firm at number 11. This time I click on the firm name. I see that this photographer has only these two jobs, four years apart.

So now you have some information to make some calls. Potential actions include:

Call the photographer to find out how the GSA was to work with and why he thinks he only had two jobs.

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Because you have a contract number and specific office, you can call the contracting officer to find out if they have other projects that require photography. Once you have a person’s name there you can get information about what they like, what they need, how much they spend, etc.

Try to find out if they would use him again. ( i.e. Did they like him? )

You can search the agency nationally to get find more names and projects.

You may be discouraged because there are so few of these projects. But this tells you several things:

This may not be a good market for you. Maybe you shouldn’t waste your time on it after you make one or two calls.
You may want to call some contracting officers to find out if they procure these services in other ways.
Also, be aware that I purposely picked a small category so the data collected would not be so overwhelming on a first time search.

Second Strategy: Finding Contracts Awarded by a Specific Agency

Now we will find the types of contracts awarded by a specific agency, the award amounts, and type of contract.

It is beneficial to be aware of an agency’s typical contract before approaching them.

It is also a good idea to know what contracts are outstanding and which ones will be ending.

If you are unfamiliar with government contracts, there are many web sites that will help you learn more about them. ( One good one is GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING: THE BASICS )

Of course many products are delivered by purchase order. That is so much simpler for the seller.

For services the contract type is really important because the terms can make a huge difference for your business model—for example, firm fixed price is very different from cost plus fixed fee.

Let’s assume that you want to provide environmental cleanup services to the federal government. The first step is to find what the subject codes are for this service.

If you don’t know the NAICS code for your firm, go to http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/ to find it. You need to select the Product Classification tab under the NAICS header. Be aware that procurements may not exactly fit the category that seems to describe what you are offering.

The Census Bureau says in the FAQs that:

“The NAICS categories and definitions were not developed to meet the needs of procurement or regulatory applications. However, other Federal agencies, trade associations, and regulation boards have adopted NAICS to use for procurement and regulatory purposes even though it is not well suited to meet their specific needs.”

How to find your NAICS code in the contracts database:

On the main page, the left sidebar includes keyword search boxes. For a 2007 search, enter environmental.
The 14 results include several that seem to fit your service. Let’s select 541350 Environmental engineering services and 562910 Environmental remediation services. Click on the highlighted numbers to make sure that your service is included in the description.
Go back to the advanced search page and in the NCAIS code category select both 54 and 56. A selection menu appears for a more specific code.
Under 54 select Environmental Consulting Services, and Remediation and Other Waste Management Services, and in 56 Remediation Services. Note that there are lots of other selections that might fit. Select as many as seem appropriate, but don’t use really broad subjects.
Click on Search. The result as of this writing is more than 45,000 awards.
Look at the right side bar for options for narrowing your search. You can see that lots of agencies contract for these services. Expand the filter list to see all of them. I selected the EPA. Also, if you go back to the search screen you will see that now you can select specific bureaus to narrow your search further. (Do this by clicking on Advanced Search again.)
I still have too many hits. You can look at the contract list to find target agencies which seem fit your service.
Change the sort to Date Signed so that you can scan the most recent contracts first.
Since there are so many I want to limit the performance location to a state for now. Go back to advanced search and select California. Now you can see California highlighted on the map. All of your filter selections are still in boxes above the map.
The first contract on my resulting list is a $35 million contract, performed by a firm in Virginia. Click on the contract number and you can see that:

The contract will be completed in December 2011.
The fee is based on time and materials.
The description is: “Contractor support for development and implementation of a comprehensive radiological study of Area IV and adjacent northern buffer zone of Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Valley, CA.” This tells you that:
- there are problems to be addressed at this laboratory, and
- there may be more projects to come for other such labs.

Go back to the search results. You can go through the list finding more contracts of interest and their particulars.

Note that some of the see more rollovers under the project descriptions yield quite a bit of information.

You can see that there is a lot to digest in the data available.

Obviously, once you understand what is available you will find many more uses for it.

Growing your business means stretching your limits to find creative ways to discover opportunities.

Go back the post Using USAspending.gov

Contact Me: cwilliams@intellhunt.com