5 Tips to Get Your Business Prepared for The Infrastructure Bill

On November 15, 2021, the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill was signed into law and now formally known as Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Providing billions of dollars to upgrade and maintain each of the country's infrastructure sectors. Let’s discuss what you can do as a vendor looking to find bid opportunities related to this bill and how you can fully prepare for all that’s to come. 

There are plans to provide billions of dollars for a variety of new projects such as repairs, maintenance and updates to roads and bridges, broadband, public transportation, and water and power systems. This infrastructure bill could be a huge opportunity for your business to get in on some of the lucrative bids that could soon be issued.  

Here we will present tips to help get your business prepared for the bid opportunities that are likely to be available once funding from this bill starts being disbursed. 

#1: Get Familiar with the Bill 

Becoming more educated on what the Infrastructure Bill includes will help to ensure you know what types of projects you want to look out for when bidding. It’s likely that a lot of funding will be going towards these types of projects: 

• Road and bridge construction - $110 billion
• Expansion of passenger and freight rail - $66 billion
• Broadband technology - $65 billion 
• Improving water infrastructure - $55 billion
• Public transportation – 39 billion
• Airports - $25 billion
• Ports and waterways - $17 billion
• Electric vehicle expansion – $15 billion

Most of this funding will be split between federal, state, and local governments to fund thousands of new projects across the U.S.  Be sure to stay alert for updates on when these funds will start to be distributed, so you’re ready to start bidding once government agencies start issuing new bid opportunities.  

#2: Make Sure You Have the Resources  

When getting ready to bid on any government opportunity, you want to make sure you have the proper resources to complete the project. You don’t want to bid on something if you can’t deliver in full what’s being requested in the bid. If you’re confident you can meet all the specifications and requirements, then go ahead and put your best bid forward.  

Many bid opportunities also have certain set asides for small/minority/women-owned businesses that you can take advantage of if you meet all the qualifications to be certified. The Small Business Administration (SBA), as well as your respective city or states’ certification departments are the best places to find out if you qualify and how to get certified. It’s best to have all your certifications finalized as soon as possible so you’re not scrambling at the last second and potentially missing out on valuable bidding opportunities.  

#3: Subscribe to Daily Bid Notifications

One of the best ways to get ready for the influx of new bid opportunities is to subscribe to a bidding intelligence service, where you will receive daily bid notifications with a list of targeted bid opportunities. Instead of checking multiple local, state, and federal sites for open bids that relate to your products and services, you can receive all relevant bids directly in your inbox. From there you can decide which bids to pursue and access all the important documents that will allow you to submit your proposal. This will save you valuable time and make the bidding process more efficient for your business.  

#4: Apply for a DUNS Number

Before you can bid on government opportunities you will also need to obtain a D-U-N-S number. This is a unique nine-digit number used to identify your business.  It also helps agencies, vendors, partners, and creditors find out more information about your business.   

#5: Let’s Start Bidding!  

Once you’ve got everything you need to be successful in working with the public sector, you will be ready to start bidding on these potentially lucrative infrastructure opportunities. And no matter if your business is large or small, minority/women-owned, or not, there will be plenty of new bids issued for a variety of different infrastructure projects all over the U.S., suitable for many different types of businesses. This will be the largest spending plan to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure in years, so don’t miss out on a great opportunity for your business. Stay ahead of the game and get to bidding!