Samantha I. Ferm-LeClere
It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year again…the time of year to start thinking about refreshing your capabilities statement, of course!
A capabilities statement is a one-page document that is completely focused on marketing your business to a government agency as a potential client. It neatly summarizes who you are, what products and/or services you offer, which codes you work under, your past experience, and what quantitatively sets you apart from your competitors. It’s more than just a resume; it is your door-opener to potential meetings with federal and state agencies, along with potential collaborative partnerships in the government space.
First, if you don’t have a capabilities statement yet, don’t worry. Your friendly neighborhood APEX counselor has some guides and templates for you and can help you develop one relatively quickly.
Second, recent news and best practices have emerged that our APEX team wanted to share with Iowa businesses as soon as possible. It has become clear that government agency logos should NOT be used in your capabilities statement; doing so is considered illegal. We encourage you to work 1:1 with your counselor to edit your capabilities statement to reflect best practices.
Additionally, more primes and agencies are using AI to scan capabilities statements into their systems, and logos are not being recognized, which means valuable past performance data could be overlooked.
So please take the next month to touch base with your APEX counselor, update your past performance appropriately, and ensure your capabilities statement is easy to find on your website and uploaded to the SBA Connect site. Increasingly, federal agencies are requiring it be uploaded to appear in the Dynamic Small Business Search, the tool they use for market research.
As always, we are here to help you and don’t hesitate to reach out!
For more information about Government Contracting, contact your CIRAS Government Contracting Specialist or complete our Request for Counseling form.