Onvia Report: Bid, RFP Volume in State, Local, Education Govt Market Grew 5.4% in Q2 2017

A new Onvia report revealed a 5.4 percent annual increase in the volume of bids and requests for proposals in the state, local and education government marketplace in the second quarter of 2017.

The “State & Local Procurement Snapshot for Q2 2017” report showed that local agencies saw a 7.2 percent rise in the number of published solicitations, while education agencies recorded a 7.5 percent growth in bidding opportunities, Onvia said Tuesday.

“In Q2 the state, local and education government contracting market continued its recent uptick, resulting in the strongest quarter we’ve tracked since this series began in 2014,” said Paul Irby, a business-to-government market analyst at Onvia.

“With this analysis, sales and marketing leaders with a strategic interest in the public sector will gain a better understanding of historical spending patterns to assist in sales planning, opportunity forecasting and understanding the mentality of government buyers.”

The company analyzed 12 industries in the SLED market and found that six of those sectors showed increases in bid and RFP volume between Q1 2017 and Q2 2017.

The education sector posted a 6.1 percent increase in bidding opportunities, according to the report.

Other sectors that saw positive rates in bid volume include architecture and engineering; technology and telecommunications; professional business services; financial services and insurance; and public safety.

Larry Allen, president of consulting firm Allen Federal Business Partners and a B2G sales and marketing analyst, also offered advice and strategies on how to optimize win-rates in the government contracting industry ahead of the end of federal fiscal year 2017 on Sept. 30.

Onvia’s market research group analyzed contract awards and future spending plans from state and local agencies using GovCon data from the firm’s B2G Intelligence System.