In This Week's Newsletter:

• Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: PRISM On-Ramp

• Four To Follow: Get the lowdown on four interesting pursuits

• Pricing Insights: Defense Base Act (DBA) Insurance

• Capture Corner: Capture vs. Proposal Management 

Opportunity Alert – PRISM On-Ramp

Contact Katie: [email protected]

Department of Defense (DoD), Personnel and Readiness Infrastructure Support Management (PRISM) On-Ramp.

The DoD is anticipating an On-Ramp to the PRISM contract vehicle for partial Small Business Set-Aside, providing services related to various professional services support for personnel and readiness (P&R) employing significant and complex military or defense-related systems. The On-Ramp for this $1.8B IDIQ is estimated for release around September 2025 with a projected award for February 2026. Reach out to Hinz Consulting for Capture, Pricing, and Proposal support.

Four to Follow

1. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Supply Chain Risk Management-Enterprise Resource Planning (SCM-ERP) Solution Support. On June 20, 2025, the FAA released a Sources Sought notice for a Capability Statement, and a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for market research in determining interested vendors. Responses to this market survey are due no later than July 11, 2025, by 3:00 PM CT. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for updates on the projected value, timeline, and competition type for this effort.

2. Department of the Air Force (USAF), Website Management Services and Seach Engine Optimization (SEO). On June 20, 2025, the USAF Air Education and Training Command (AETC), released an RFI for interested vendors to provide comprehensive website management services, including SEO, hosting, maintenance, security, accessibility, analytics, and optimization for its recruiting websites. All responses for this RFI are due no later than July 11, 2025, by 6:00pm CT. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for updates on the project timeline, set-aside, and contract value of this effort.

3. Department of Navy, Engineering Services in Support of Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Keyport Washington. The Department of Navy requires engineering support services to support various departments at NUWC Keyport, to include, but not limited to, facilities support, test, training, and evaluation of underseas warfare system. This $100M, Small Business Set-Aside, is estimated for release under SeaPort NxG on or around August 2025, with a projected award timeframe of June 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and SeaPort NxG for further changes.

4. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Outcome-Based Delivery and DevOps Services (ODOS IV). DHS USCIS requires ODOS IV to support critical case management systems like ELIS, Global, and CLAIMS3. This $410M Small Business Set-Aside opportunity is due for release under GSA MAS on or around July 9, 2025. The projected award timeframe is January 2026, with an estimate of five possible awards. Continue to monitor eBUY and APFS for further information on this effort.

Defense Base Act (DBA) Insurance

Contact Tom: [email protected]

When bidding work overseas, you have an extra cost: DBA insurance. It functions as a type of workers’ compensation insurance, ensuring that injured employees receive medical care and wage replacement benefits similar to those provided under domestic workers’ compensation policies.

Coverage includes:

• Working for private employers on U.S. military bases or on any land outside the United States used by the U.S. for military purposes, including U.S. territories and possessions.

• Working on public works contracts with any U.S. government agency, including construction or service contracts related to national defense or war activities outside the United States.

• Working on contracts approved and funded by the U.S. under the Foreign Assistance Act, typically involving the cash sale of military equipment, materials, or services to U.S. allies—when the work is performed outside the United States.

• Working for American employers delivering welfare or similar services outside the United States for the benefit of the Armed Forces (e.g., the USO).

This cost is typically treated as an Other Direct Cost (ODC), calculated based on the number of covered employees (tied to their annual salaries) and the unit cost quoted by insurance carriers. As an ODC, it is typically subject to the applicable indirect rate and, in some cases, a fee; however, some federal clients prohibit the addition of fee—always review the solicitation for any exceptions.

Failing to include DBA insurance in your pricing can result in fines, criminal prosecution, loss of government contracts, personal liability for corporate leaders, and lawsuits from affected employees seeking damages.

Bottom line, if the work is at a U.S. base/installation/official location, include DBA Insurance!

Capture vs. Proposal Management

Contact Nick: [email protected]

Capture managers win the bid, proposal managers make sure you don’t lose.

In government contracting, winning a contract demands a strategic approach that blends capture management and proposal management. Sometimes muddled, these roles have distinct purposes that, when aligned, create a powerful synergy to secure contracts. This post clarifies their differences, unique contributions, and how they collaborate to boost your win rate.

Capture Management - Setting the Stage: Capture management is the strategic, pre-proposal phase focused on positioning your company to win. It’s about building relationships, gathering intelligence, and shaping the opportunity to play to your strengths. Capture managers work months or years in advance, ensuring the company is the best-positioned bidder when the RFP drops.

Key Responsibilities:

• Customer Engagement: Connecting with agency stakeholders to understand needs and priorities.

• Opportunity Shaping: Influencing RFP requirements through ethical means, like white papers or industry day input.

• Competitive Intelligence: Analyzing competitors to highlight your differentiators.

• Solution Development: Crafting a tailored technical, management, or pricing approach.

• Win Strategy: Defining themes and discriminators that resonate with evaluators.

Proposal Management - Delivering the Bid: Proposal managers transform the capture strategy into a winning document that meets government expectations. While proposal managers should be involved pre-RFP, full proposal management kicks in post-RFP. Focusing on creating and submitting a compliant, compelling proposal, proposal managers coordinate teams to produce a polished bid under tight deadlines.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategy: Making sure the proposal is guided by and aligned with the capture strategy throughout its development

• RFP Analysis: Breaking down requirements and evaluation criteria.

• Proposal Planning: Creating schedules and outlines to guide development.

• Team Coordination: Managing writers, experts, and reviewers for cohesive content.

• Content Development: Crafting technical, management, and cost volumes that address RFP needs.

• Compliance and Quality: Ensuring adherence to requirements and improving the proposal through reviews.

Key Differences

Capture management lays the groundwork; proposal management builds the final product. Without capture, a proposal may lack strategic focus. Without proposal management, even the best strategy can fail due to a weak bid.

Synergies: Winning Through Collaboration:

Capture and proposal management are interdependent, and their alignment drives success. Here’s how they work together:

• Shared Win Themes: Capture teams develop win themes (e.g., innovative solutions) that proposal teams weave into the bid.

• Seamless Handoff: Capture plans provide customer insights and solutions, giving proposal teams a head start.

• Early Preparation: Capture managers should draft preliminary content, easing the proposal team’s workload.

• Feedback Loop: Proposal teams share lessons learned to refine future capture strategies.

Best Practices

• Collaborate Early: Involve proposal managers in capture planning for alignment.

• Document Thoroughly: Capture teams should record insights for proposal use.

• Use Tools: Leverage CRM or proposal software to streamline communication.

• Review Together: Jointly refine win themes and solutions before submission.

Capture management positions your company to win, while proposal management delivers the bid that seals the deal. Their synergy—through shared strategies and clear handoffs—maximizes your chances in government contracting.

‘Capture managers win the bid, proposal managers make sure you don’t lose.’

How do your capture and proposal teams collaborate? Share your tips or contact Hinz Consulting to optimize your bid process!

• June 24-27th: Government Fleet Expo & Conference in Charlotte, NC

• July 13th: World Congress 2025 in Grapevine, TX

• August 18th: Premier Navy Procurement Expo in San Diego, CA

• August 18th: Small Business Expo in San Diego, CA

• August 25th: National Homeland Security Conference in DC

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

• Proposal Consulting

• AI Services

• Strategic Pricing

• Training

• Capture

• Competitive Intelligence

• BD Transformation Consulting

• Process/Methodology Consulting

• Tools and Templates

• Production Services

• Small Business