Oregon Bio has partnered with other major trade organizations serving Oregon and Washington to develop a resource/supply/inventory exchange. One of our partners, Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition (PNDC), shares this perspective gleaned from contact with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) procurement teams, on how local companies can sell to FEMA for the COVID-19 response.
Kate Kanapeaux, vice president for marketing and strategic partnership at PNDC, has been in communication with DHS experts who are reviewing proposals for FEMA’s COVID-19 Procurement Action Innovative Response Team. She shared the following:
As per DHS’ website: If you are interested in supporting the response to COVID-19 with your company’s goods and/or services, please submit your inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Procurement Action Innovative Response Team at mailto:DHSIndustryLiaison@hq.dhs.gov. This will ensure your capabilities are received and reviewed by the appropriate acquisition office.
Kanapeaux adds DHS is actively reviewing these submissions and looking for large quantities of PPE (personal protective equipment), medical supplies or sanitizing product/services. She adds DHS has provided suggestions on what to include and submit in your inquiry:
- Capabilities statement (background on capability statements can be found here). Free help on government contracting is available through Washington PTAC and Oregon GCAP and they can help you craft this statement.
- Information on past government contracting awards or other information that can quickly establish yours is a legitimate business (DHS is processing so many responses they need to quickly weed out those that are not able to perform).
- Photos, relevant information/types, quantity available, and pricing.