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Firm-Fixed-Price Becomes the Default: What the New Executive Order Means for Your Pricing Strategy
On April 30, 2026, the White House issued a sweeping new directive—Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting—that is poised to significantly reshape how federal contractors approach pricing, risk, and delivery. At its core, the Executive Order (EO) establishes firm-fixed-price (FFP) contracting as the government’s preferred default, signaling a decisive shift away from cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials structures. This is not just a
May 5
The Color Review Reality Check: Are You Helping—or Hurting Your Proposal?
Have you ever tried to scrub out a stain so aggressively that you ended up making a hole? That’s exactly what can happen to your proposal when color reviews are overused or misused. What is meant to strengthen your submission can ultimately weaken it, reducing quality, slowing progress, and frustrating your team. Color reviews are powerful but only when done right. Common Color Review Faux Pas Even experienced proposal teams fall into these traps: 1. Too Many Reviews, Not Eno
Apr 16
Supporting Veteran Entrepreneurs: Teaching Proposal Management at VIP AEROSPACE 2026
Last week, Marina Goren, President/CEO of Smart BD Consulting, had the privilege of serving as an instructor for the Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) AEROSPACE 2026 program—an intensive three-day training designed to help veteran-owned small businesses grow and succeed in the federal marketplace. The VIP AEROSPACE program brings together veteran entrepreneurs from across the country for hands-on training and expert-led sessions focused on critical areas of business gr
Mar 11
Missed Our OASIS+ Phase II Webinar? Watch the Recording On Demand
GSA has finally released the long awaited final Phase II RFP amendments for OASIS+, formally adding 5 new contract domains and opening on ramp for all of the Phase I domains . To help firms understand what this means, and how to take advantage of it, Marina Goren, Pesident/CEO of Smart BD Consulting, partnered with GrowthLab in hosting a free, live webinar on Friday, January 16, focused specifically on what OASIS+ looks like for marketing communications agencies. A follow on
Jan 16
100% Win Rate: Our Clients Secure MDA SHIELD Contract Awards
We are proud to announce that every client we supported in the MDA SHIELD procurement successfully secured a spot on the contract. Our tailored approach, attention to detail, emphasis on compliance, and hands-on proposal support once again translated into measurable results for our clients. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) SHIELD (Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense) is a major, multi-billion dollar contract vehicle for the MDA to rapidly acquire technologies
Jan 1
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NASA Awards Artemis Concept Awards for Nuclear Power on Moon (to a Smart BD client)
Smart BD Consulting is excited to announce another historical award/win for our client, IX, a Joint Venture between Intuitive Machines and X-Energy. NASA and DOE are working together on advancing nuclear space technologies. IX was awarded one of three contracts for the development of the initial design concept for a fission power system planned to be stationed in a lunar environment. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-artemis-concept-awards-for-nuclear-power-on
Jun 21, 2022
Smart BD Consulting Helps our Client, Axiom Space, Win $3.5B Next-Gen Spacesuit Contract with NASA
Smart BD Consulting is excited to announce another historical win! Congratulations to Axiom Space for being selected as one of two vendors on a $3.5B IDIQ contract to help NASA design and create their next generation of spacesuits. https://www.space.com/nasa-selects-companies-build-spacesuits-moon-space-station The path to this win was not easy. Almost a year in the making, the proposal totaled over 1,000 pages! The proposal team, from Axiom engineers, to schedulers, to pric
Jun 2, 2022
Office Hours Webinar: The Secret to Winning Incumbent Recompetes
Losing incumbent work is detrimental to successful growth of any business. 360 Program Reviews provide a tangible tool that has proven to identify customer perceptions, wants and needs, develop future enhancements and continuous improvement initiatives and overall fight incumbenitis. This presentation will help you overcome top 3 reasons for losing recompetes: (1) stagnation – inability to innovate or think out of the box; (2) false sense of security – inaccurate assessment o
May 17, 2022
Scribble Talk, Episode 8 – Featuring Marina Goren: Solutioning Magic, no Fluff, only BLUF
Tune into this Scribble Talk Teaching Episode 8 to join Marina Goren as she discusses the topic of Solutioning – Solutioning Magic – No Fluff, Only BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Understand solutions using everyday examples and find out about my new solutioning approach that will help you move forward with the proposal you are working on and for upcoming projects. Understand how we treat solutioning as an art working with subject matter experts to break down and elaborate ideas
Feb 22, 2022
Smart BD Consulting Helps Win $149M Contract… Third Time in a Row!
Smart BD Consulting helped our clients, Halvik, and their subcontractor, Business Integra, in winning a five-year, $149M Task Order for the SEWP Information Technology Support Services (SITSS) contract under the GSA OASIS vehicle. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-contract-for-information-technology-support-services-0 This is a game-changing contract for Halvik (a growing 8(a) small business) – as it provides them with an entry into the NASA marketplace. Smart BD
Nov 10, 2021
Smart BD Consulting Helped Win a $127M Contract for DOT Volpe Center IT Services
Smart BD Consulting assisted our client, KBR, in winning a $127M contract for DOT Volpe Center IT Services to provide mission-critical information technology support services to the federally owned Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. https://www.govconwire.com/2021/08/kbr-wins-127m-contract-for-dot-volpe-center-it-services/ This was not an easy proposal with written portions and Orals. Smart BD provided two proposal authors to work with t
Sep 8, 2021
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