GERC provides federal contracting help in all 50 states, starting with SAM.gov registration. We work with federal contractors in all fifty states. We are based in San Bernardino, California, and we do a great deal of California state and local work — but the federal side has never been local. SAM.gov, the SBA and the agency portals work the same way whether your shop is in Riverside or Raleigh, and so does the way a registration goes wrong.
Most people find us after something has already stalled. An entity validation that will not clear. A registration that expired without anyone noticing until a solicitation closed. A NAICS code chosen in a hurry three years ago that is now keeping the right opportunities out of the inbox. We fix those, and we handle the whole chain from scratch for businesses that have not started.
The registration chain, in the order it actually happens
Federal registration is a sequence, and most of the pain comes from doing it out of order or from not knowing a step exists until it blocks the next one.
- Unique Entity ID (UEI). Issued through SAM.gov. It replaced the DUNS number. It is free, and no one needs to be paid to get you one. Full walkthrough here.
- Entity validation. SAM matches your legal name and physical address against public records. This is where registrations die. If your Secretary of State filing, your IRS letter and your utility bill disagree by so much as a suite number, validation fails and you are in a documentation loop. What to do when it fails.
- SAM.gov entity registration. The full record: banking for electronic payment, points of contact, size and socio-economic representations, and the FAR and DFARS representations and certifications. Document checklist.
- CAGE code. Assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency as part of the SAM process for US entities. You do not apply separately.
- NAICS and PSC codes. What you say you do. These drive which solicitations reach you and which set-asides you qualify for, and the size standard attached to your primary NAICS decides whether you count as small.
- SBA profile and DSBS. Your public-facing profile in the Dynamic Small Business Search — the directory contracting officers and prime contractors actually browse when they go looking for a small business to fill a requirement.
End to end, expect two to six weeks, most of it spent waiting on validation rather than on the forms.
Certifications that change who you compete against
Registration puts you in the room. Certification changes which room. Each of these limits a competition to firms that hold it, which is a far larger advantage than any amount of marketing.
- 8(a) Business Development. A nine-year program for firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Sole-source awards up to the program thresholds, plus a dedicated business opportunity specialist.
- HUBZone. Requires your principal office in a designated HUBZone and a substantial share of your employees living in one. Carries a price evaluation preference in full and open competition — the only certification that does.
- WOSB and EDWOSB. Women-owned and economically disadvantaged women-owned. Self-certification is no longer accepted; you need SBA certification or an approved third-party certifier.
- SDVOSB and VOSB. Service-disabled veteran-owned and veteran-owned, certified through the SBA veteran certification program.
We tell people plainly when a certification is not worth pursuing. HUBZone with no employees in a zone, or 8(a) when the ownership structure will not survive review, costs months and produces nothing.
After you are registered
- Capability statement. One page. It is the document a contracting officer asks for and the one most small businesses get wrong, usually by writing about themselves instead of about the requirement. We write these.
- Opportunity search. Setting up SAM.gov saved searches, agency forecasts and subcontracting directories so the right notices arrive without anyone refreshing a page.
- Proposals and bids. Compliance matrix first, then writing. A technically excellent proposal that misses a submission requirement is scored zero. Proposal and RFP development.
- Past performance and CPARS. Building a record from your first awards, including commercial work, so the second round of bids is stronger than the first.
Where people get stuck
- “Entity validation failed.” Almost always a mismatch between your legal name or address and what the validation service can find in public records. The fix is documentary, and the order you submit things in matters.
- An expired registration. SAM registration lapses annually. A lapsed record makes you ineligible for award and can hold up payment on work you have already done. Renewals.
- The notarized letter. Required in some entity administrator scenarios, and a common source of weeks of delay when the wording is not right.
- The wrong primary NAICS. It decides your size standard and your visibility. Changing it later is easy; noticing it is the hard part.
Industries we work with most
Federal work is won by industry more than by geography. We do the most work in trucking and logistics, engineering and construction, staffing and professional services, facilities and janitorial, IT and cybersecurity, and medical and laboratory supply. If you are outside those, the registration path is identical — only the codes and the buying agencies change.
Federal contracting help: common questions
Does SAM.gov registration cost anything?
No. Registration, the UEI and the CAGE code are all free on SAM.gov. What costs is the time, and the risk of a rejected validation stalling you past a deadline. Anyone who tells you the government charges a registration fee is not telling you the truth.
Do I need a UEI before I can register?
The UEI is issued as part of the SAM.gov process, so they happen together. You can get a UEI on its own if all you need is an identifier — for a grant application, for instance — without completing a full entity registration.
How long does the whole thing take?
Two to six weeks is typical. Entity validation is the variable; everything else is predictable.
Do you work with businesses outside California?
Yes. Federal registration, certification and proposal work is the same in every state, and most of it happens by email and video call. Our California state and local work is the part that is geographically limited.
Get federal contracting help
We will tell you which of the six steps above you actually need, and which certifications are worth your time. Book a strategy consultation or request a quote.
Working with federal buyers in the capital region? See our page for Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland.