We've written before (here, for example) about a paradox concerning President Obama's attitude towards federal contracting. On the one hand, he has already initiated a massive effort to cut back on how much work the federal government is contracting out. On the other hand, in his stimulus and now in his proposed budget, Obama is proposing a dramatic expansion in government spending, both for purposes of juicing the economy short-term and, long-term, for enacting a broader progressive agenda. Much of that spending is going to result, in, yup, more government contracts.

The Wall Street Journal more fully fleshes out this story. There's $787 billion in stimulus spending. And, as we've said before, given a law mandating that small businesses (really those with under 500 employees and $15 million in annual revenue) receive 23% of all federal contracts--a law that is mostly enforced--as federal contracts go, so go federal contracts to small businesses.

We've previously posted some tips for scoring federal contracts--do check out that post again. Additionally, the Journal suggests: ?-Getting your business listed on the General Services Administration schedule.?-Looking into enlisting the services of a government contracting consultant (they're very busy these days, of course).?-Try starting out as a subcontractor rather than a direct government contractor if you have little experience in these matters.?-Checking out FedBizOpps.gov, which lists federal contracting gigs.

Finally, a comment on a previous post we wrote directed our attention to http://www.smalltofeds.blogspot.com/, which is all about how small businesses can navigate the byzantine regulations and daunting competition from big companies in order to land federal contracts. Definitely worth a visit.