In the July 21, 2010 E&B Alert, we reported that the Federal Funding and Transparency Act (“the Act”) had been amended to incorporate subcontract reporting. Last week, the Federal Government continued its implementation of the amended Act by beginning to publicize the names of subcontractors on any prime contracts and federal grants in excess of $25,000. The new reporting requirements make public information that has the potential to be valuable to subcontractors and prime contractors – both in terms of identifying contracting opportunities and contract partners and in terms of accessing information about competitors.
Prior to the amendment of the Act, only government prime contracts and grants were made publicly available. Earlier this fall, the government began to implement the amended Act by publicizing the identity of all subcontracts in connection with prime contracts valued at more than $20 million. However, the reduction of the threshold from $20 million to $25,000 has made a wealth of additional information available to the general public. Not only does this new pool of information provide increased transparency, affording a more accurate trail of federal dollars, but it has the potential to provide an abundance of competitive information for first-tier as well as lower-tiered subcontractors.
By way of example, first-tier subcontractors will now have access to information on the subcontracts of their competitors. Similarly, subcontractors will now have access to a central database of potential contracts and may learn of partnership or teaming agreement opportunities with other subcontractors and prime contractors.
To access the names of all subcontractors on federal contracts and grants greater than $25,000, visit the Office of Management and Budget’s web site, www.USASpending.gov. For more information on the Federal Funding and Transparency Act and the opportunities that the publication of subcontract information may provide for your company, please contact Mark Blando at [email protected] or [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-REGULAR-NUMBER-2″]