State Spending Focus: Utah Education, Technology Government Contracts

There’s a growing opportunity for government contractors to increase their sales by targeting the state of Utah – especially for those vendors involved in the education industry and those who sell information technology products and services.

In the past, Utah has ranked in the bottom of states in terms of public funds spent per student. But over the course of the last decade Utah lawmakers have been upping their state spending on education-related initiatives. Those contracts, along with a rising number of Utah information technology government contracts, give vendors several ways to increase their government sales by targeting the Beehive State.

Utah Education Contracting Focusing on Facilities Maintenance and Construction

Despite its relatively small size, Utah offers a great deal of space for vendors to sell to the government in a wide variety of industries.

In 2016 alone the state government spent more than $28.8 billion with over 5,600 bids and RFPs issued and more than 2,700 contracts awarded in areas such as education, health and human services, environmental services and transportation.

Education is just one of those areas of opportunity. While Utah’s overall K-12 education budget dropped in 2018, this was the first such drop in seven years. And there have still been plenty of bright spots in Utah’s education budget, including a growth of 45 percent in early childhood education funding between 2008 and 2018. Over the course of a recent 18-month period, education-related contracts in the Salt Lake City metro area totaled more than 1,500.

The largest portion of education-related contracts focused on items related to facilities upkeep, such as maintenance of heating and air conditioning systems. One recent opportunity to sell to education agencies in Utah came from Davis County, just north of Salt Lake City, which released a bid for a partial roof replacement for an elementary school. GovWin IQ estimates this contract to be valued at approximately $500K.

Increase in Utah Information Technology Government Contracts

Technology is another major part of spending in the state of Utah. While not historically known as a hotspot for technology investment, the Salt Lake City metro area and other areas around the state are increasingly offering information technology government contracts that proactive vendors can jump on.

GovWin’s research uncovered a couple examples of recently awarded Utah government contracts, from within the information technology industry, sourced from the GovWin IQ platform of government contracting data. One came from Salt Lake City, which released an RFP for an enterprise asset management system (EAMS) for the Salt Lake Airport.

Another example of an information technology contract – and one tied to education - comes from Sevier County, which recently was seeking bids for vendors to provide security camera server components and storage for the county’s school district.

Get the Information You Need to Win Utah Government Contracts

In the coming year, public sector agencies in Utah will be releasing thousands of bids and RFPs. Technology firms will have more contracting opportunities. And school districts are likely to invest their funds in basic needs, including renovating buildings and technology upgrades.

The playbook to government contracting in the state of Utah can help companies to take advantage of these opportunities. This free resource from GovWin allows vendors to:

• Gather information on Utah’s purchasing environment and key goals
• Learn how to sign up as a vendor in the Utah Supplier Portal
• Discover how to uncover new government bid and RFP opportunities in the Utah Consortium of Public Solicitations
• Understand Utah’s definitions for small business and diversity contract set-aside goals, qualifications, and requirements
• Access a list of Utah’s contracting acronyms like UDOT, UDWR, USHE, and USOE
• Find Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) throughout the Beehive State

Click here to get your free guide to winning more government contracts in the state of Utah. Or, if you’re prepared to find and win more government bids, you can request a complimentary demonstration of the GovWin IQ platform to pursue deals faster, find partners for teaming, and plan strategically to get ahead of the competition.