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Volume 95: USACE DB DBB; New: The Interesting Section; Upcoming Events

Author

Kit Conway
September 25, 2025

In This Week's Newsletter:

Opportunity Alert – USACE DB DBB

Contact Katie: [email protected]

Opportunity Alert – Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Design-Build, Design-Bid-Build (DB DBB), Regional Construction Requirements. 

USACE requires a Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC). This $5B MATOC includes a wide variety of DBB and DB encompassing vertical and horizontal construction projects throughout the South Pacific Division Area of Responsibility (AOR). The RFP is tentatively scheduled for release in July 2026, with a projected award date of May 2028. Reach out to Hinz Consulting for Capture, Price-to-Win, Competitive Analysis, and Proposal Support.

Four to Follow

  1. Department of Transportation (DOT), Mission Information Technology Support Services (MITS). On September 22, 2025, the Contracting Office released a statement that the Volpe Center intends to issue a single award BPA via GSA MAS under SIN 541330ENG. The Volpe Center will hold a pre-quotation conference via Microsoft Teams on Friday, October 3, 2025. Registration for this conference ends Wednesday, October 1, 2025, by 1:00 PM ET. Along with this statement, an updated Draft PWS was released for this $200M opportunity. Final solicitations are estimated for release by November 2025, with a projected award date of February 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and your eBUY portal for further updates.

  2. Department of the Navy, Battlespace Modeling and Simulation (BMS) Engineering Services. On September 18, 2025, the Contracting Office issued a statement to inform industry that while all in-person One-on-One slots are full, interested offerors may still request virtual One-on-One meetings via Microsoft Teams no later than October 1, 2025. One-on-Ones are scheduled for October 14, 2025. An industry day is planned for this $500M, Full and Open/Unrestricted IDIQ, during the first quarter (Q1) of FY26. The final solicitation is anticipated for release in Q4 FY26, with a projected award timeframe of Q3 FY27. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for updates to the procurement timeline.

  3. Department of the Army, Logistics Civil Augmentation Program VI (LOGCAP VI). The Department of the Army is hosting an industry day for registered individuals on October 6-8, 2025, for this $82B, multiple award opportunity. The purpose of LOGCAP is to rapidly provide a scalable sustainment capability to meet operational requirements, including various services such as construction, maintenance, management, and operational support across multiple sites, both CONUS and OCONUS. The competition type for this effort is currently unknown. Final solicitation documents are due for release in June 2026, with an estimated award date of February 2027. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for further information.

  4. Department of Energy (DOE), Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract II (LLCC II). On September 17, 2025, the Contracting Office provided an updated procurement schedule, stating the Draft RFP is still planned for release in December 2025. Any changes to this schedule will be provided in the next quarterly update. The final solicitation for this $2B opportunity is estimated to be released on or around February 2026, with a projected award timeframe of June 2026. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for updates to the procurement schedule. 

Unlocking the Power of Competitor Cost Risk Analysis for Winning Proposals

Contact Gerrod: [email protected]

Imagine you’re working on a proposal for a high-stakes contract. Your team has worked tirelessly to develop a solid price—one that’s competitive yet profitable. But there’s one crucial question hanging in the air: How will your competitors price their bids? In today’s market, getting your costs right is only half the battle. The real edge comes from understanding how your competitors are estimating their costs and the risks they’re willing to take. Let’s walk through how a competitor cost risk analysis can transform your proposal strategy and take you across the finish line as the winner.

1. Stepping Into the Competitor's Shoes

Every bid your competitor submits is a balancing act. They have to weigh material costs, labor rates, and schedule risks. By analyzing their estimated past bidding behavior, financial strategy, previous contract award history, and the market, you can begin to piece together their likely cost risks. For example, you might identify that one competitor tends to be aggressive on labor costs but overestimates their materials costs. Another might be known for gambling on tight schedules to lower costs. Understanding these risk profiles helps you anticipate their price range.

2. The Risk Comparison Game

Now, armed with knowledge of how your competitors handle risk, you can start making critical comparisons. How does their approach differ from yours? Are they likely to absorb cost overruns that you’re more cautious about? Or are they banking on lower contingencies, taking on more risk? By benchmarking these differences, you can see where their price might land. If you’re more conservative in areas where they’re taking risks, you can fine-tune your own approach either by matching their risk tolerance to stay competitive or by emphasizing your proposal.

3. Sharpening Your Strategy

With a clear understanding of your competitors' cost risks, you now have a strategic advantage. You can adjust your price to either match their aggressiveness or differentiate yourself by showing how your bid mitigates risk. Let’s say you know a competitor will push the envelope on labor costs, potentially sacrificing quality or reliability. You can counter this by offering a more realistic estimate that shows the client you’ve carefully managed labor risk—without inflating the price. It’s a delicate dance, but when done right, it positions your proposal as both competitive and credible.

4. Building Trust with Your Customer

When you demonstrate that you’ve not only accounted for your own cost risks but have thoughtfully compared them to the competition, you’re telling the customer: "We understand the landscape. We’re not guessing, and we’ve got your best interests at heart." This kind of insight builds trust. It shows the customer that your price is grounded in realism, not just in-house optimism, and that trust often makes the difference between winning and losing a bid.

5. The Winning Move

At the end of the day, competitor cost risk analysis is about precision. It’s about understanding the fine line between pricing too high and too low, and where your competitors might fall on that spectrum. When you’re armed with this insight, you can position your bid with confidence, knowing that you’re not just competitive; you’re strategic. This isn’t about guessing; it’s about leveraging data, risk models, and market intelligence to create a pricing strategy that beats the competition where it counts most.

In summary, competitor cost risk analysis turns the game from guesswork into strategy. By stepping into your competitors’ shoes, comparing their risk tolerance to yours, and sharpening your own cost estimate, you can outmaneuver even the most aggressive bids—and walk away with a potential win. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach; solicitations vary. Some prescribe both labor and non-labor, while others prescribe non-labor but leave labor for the offeror to define. In every case, your proposed pricing must align closely with your proposed solution.

AI Benefits to the Capture Methodology

Contact John: [email protected]

When applying the Capture Methodology, artificial intelligence (AI) can strengthen every phase of the process by speeding analysis, sharpening insights, and automating manual work. Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) – AI doesn’t replace the capture manager – it augments them. AI reduces manual research, sharpens competitive insight, and accelerates content development. This, in turn, lets capture teams spend more time on strategy, relationships, and customer engagement.

AI benefits mapped to the capture activities are detailed further below:

  • Market Intelligence:

    • Faster Opportunity Identification

    • Customer Analysis

    • Competitive Landscape and Competitive Profile Tracking

  • Positioning & Strategy Development:

    • Probability of Win (P-WIN) Modeling

    • Price-to-Win Analysis

    • Value Messaging Alignment

  • Teaming & Solutioning:

    • Partner Analysis

    • Solution Analysis and Optimization

  • Proposal Preparation:

    • Content Automation

    • Compliance Check/Matrix

    • Proposal Messaging (Win Themes, Differentiators, Proof Points)

  • Post-Submission and Lessons Learned

    • Evaluation/Scoring Analysis

    • Win/Loss Analysis

KBR Update

KBR's board of directors has OK'd the spinoff of their government services business, Mission Technology Solutions (MTS). Expected to close mid-to-late 2026 when MTS will become a new publicly traded company. The new SpinCo (is what KBR is calling the MTS spinoff for now)a pure play global government services solution provider, with 20,000 employees, 6,000 with security clearances (Top Secret / Secret) and revenue base of $5.8B. SpinCo capabilities will consist of:

So, what does that leave for the new KBR? 

The new KBR will consist of the Sustainable Technology Solutions (STS) group. 11,000 employees; 8,000 engineers and revenues of $2.2B. The focus will be on global commercial energy companies.  STS is looking to deliver programs across the full lifecycle and bring sustainable technology solutions to their customers globally. 

Interesting August / September Awards

V2X, Inc. was awarded a $4.3B IDIQ with the Air Force for Contractor Operated and Maintained Base Supply services for the T-6 aircraft. The contract will keep daily flight schedules and depot needs for the USAF, Navy, and Army T-6 aircraft. The contract is expected to be completed by July 2034. This gives V2X massive logistics and sustainment footprint across Air Force installations worldwide.

Interesting R&D Innovation Awards Last Month.

BryceTech has won three Department of Defense (DoD) prime contracts awarded under the GSA’s OASIS + contract vehicle worth $70M over five years, supporting U.S. capabilities against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. The work is supporting the Joint Program Executive Office for CBRN Defense (JPEO-CBRND). The contract spans three critical offices within the JPEO-CBRND. This win signals a shift to mid-sized firms with deep technical expertise and agile program delivery.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded IT Cadre LLC, a Veteran-owned Small Business (VOSB), a $2 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III task order to support claims automation visualization. The one-year contract, running from September 2025 to September 2026, reflects VA’s continued push toward modernizing its enterprise systems and improving service delivery for veterans.

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

  • Proposals

  • Capture

  • Price To Win

  • Competitive Intelligence

  • Strategic Pricing

  • Production

  • AI Services

  • Training

  • BD Transformation 

  • Process/Methodology 

  • Tools and Template

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