Federal Contract Spending Trends from FedFocus 2022

Forward-looking government contractors are already preparing for the 2022 calendar year. To help give them the information they need to plan their pipeline strategies, GovWin from Deltek recently hosted FedFocus 2022, a virtual conference focused on market conditions influencing the state of federal contract spending and procurement.

The online event offered those that do business with the government a better understanding of the federal contracting market for the year ahead, including funding, contracting priorities and issues related to both acquisition and policy.

Read on for a recap of FedFocus 2022 and a breakdown of which issues thought leaders in the federal contracting space see as important for the year ahead.

FedFocus Highlights Federal Contract Spending, Trends and Regulations for 2022

At this year’s edition of the annual FedFocus conference, Deltek’s Senior Vice President of Research, Kevin Plexico, and Deltek’s Senior Director of Research, Carey Webster, led the conversation and discussed federal contract spending trends and topics that are top of mind for the federal contracting community today, including:

• How appropriations and federal contract spending outlook will influence FY 2022
• What the continued impact will be from COVID-19 on government contracting and policy
• Which trends Deltek researchers are tracking, like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
• How companies can best navigate federal contracting regulations and changes

“The appropriations for the coming year and many of the new administration’s priorities will have a profound impact on how FY 2022 plays out for federal contractors."

Kevin Plexico, Senior Vice President of Research, Deltek

In addition to the two presenters from Deltek, two other experts in federal contracting provided their unique perspectives on working with the federal government:

• Gina Gallagher, Chief Growth Officer, Sierra7. Gallagher provides oversight and leadership direction for Sierra7's business development activities, product development and client experience.
• Michael Fox, Managing Director, US Federal Sales, Accenture Federal Services. Fox has extensive experience in government contracting, particularly in serving the federal information technology sector.

Federal Contracting Themes for 2022: Small Business, Supply Chain and COVID-19 Recovery

During the event, GovWin’s expert speakers provided a look at federal spending priorities for the new fiscal year. These priorities started to reveal themselves when the Biden Administration released its FY 2022 budget outline on April 9, 2021 followed by the formal budget request May 28, 2021. The FedFocus panel provided a high-level view of agency discretionary budgets and top priorities, including infrastructure and education, and explained that the president’s request is usually a starting negotiation, and what the appropriators end up doing is often quite different.

Regardless of how the specific spending appropriations turn out, there are a few key themes that our panel of experts views as important to watch, including the status of the nation’s supply chain, COVID-19 vaccine mandates and the increased amount of focus on small business prioritization.

• COVID Vaccine Mandates – A recent executive order called for agencies to have their contractors be vaccinated, unless they have an exemption. Many companies are dealing with employees that are resisting getting vaccinated. During the panel discussion at FedFocus, Michael Fox, Managing Director, US Federal Sales, Accenture Federal Services, spoke on how his company is managing the vaccine mandates and how they are preparing for other major new policies such as CMMC (Cyber Maturity Model Certification).
• Supply Chain Security – It has become relatively common knowledge within federal government contracting circles that supply chain disruptions are impacting some procurements. The FedFocus panel discussed some of the policies and processes that are being enacted to help counter this, including an executive order on America’s supply chain that contains recommendations to fortify the U.S. defense, IT, energy, public health, transportation and agricultural bases.
• Small Business Prioritization – There’s an increased focus within the federal government on helping small businesses become more successful, and increasing investment in small disadvantaged businesses. One way that focus is becoming operationalized is that there is a goal to increase the SBD set-aside goal from 10% to 15% by FY 2025, something that would open up even more opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses.

“We do have opportunities to go after set-asides. If you look at GSA, they have a federal goal of 3% for SDVOSBs. You’re still seeing the continuation of the ability for small businesses to take advantage of opportunity within the government.”

Gina Gallagher, Chief Growth Officer, Sierra7

Find More Federal Contract Spending Trends and Insights with GovWin IQ

The themes presented at the FedFocus event drew from intelligence found in Deltek’s GovWin IQ platform, and were designed to help government contractors in the federal market build a strong pipeline and prepare themselves for success in 2022 and beyond.

If you would like to see for yourself how this federal contract spending information can benefit your business, click the link below to try GovWin IQ today.