To further its policy of counseling, assisting and protecting
the interests of small businesses, the federal government has
established set-aside programs for some of them. Preferences have
been established to ensure a fair proportion of government
purchasing is made through such companies, and tens of billions of
dollars are directed to small-business concerns each year. For
construction projects in particular, agencies are eager to obtain
small-business participation.
If you do not meet set-aside program requirements, you may be
able to work with companies that do through joint ventures, teaming
agreements and other arrangements. Such arrangements can benefit
businesses eligible for set-aside awards because such businesses
often lack the resources or experience to successfully complete the
work required under the contract.
For example, such a contractor may not have the financial
wherewithal to obtain the required bonds for a project and may
never have performed a project as large and complex as the
set-aside contract. Collaborative arrangements such as joint
ventures and teaming agreements can help enable those that do and
do not qualify for set-aside contracts to benefit from existing
government policy.
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