The State of California purchases a wide variety of goods and services ranging from pencils to temporary labor. Annual purchases total almost $10 billion. The Procurement Division (PD) is the central purchasing authority for all state departments, agencies, institutions, community colleges, technical institutes and city or local boards of education. The Department of General Services (DGS) Procurement Division (PD) sets state procurement policies and provides purchasing services. It delegates purchasing authority; certifies small and/or Disabled Veteran businesses to do business with the state; sponsors the Small Business Council; participates in the Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise Council; and provides innovative purchasing methods that save taxpayers' dollars, integrating quality solutions to meet customers' needs.
Leveraged Procurement Agreements (LPAs) allow departments to buy directly from suppliers through existing contracts and agreements. LPAs are available to California's State, county, city, special district, education, and other government entities.
The California Multiple Award Schedules (CMAS) offers a wide variety of commodities, non-IT services and information technology products and services at prices which have been assessed to be fair, reasonable and competitive. Suppliers may apply for a CMAS contract at any time.
LA Consulting, Inc. has applied to be a supplier and has been awarded a CMAS contract which proves we offer the specific non-IT services, such as consulting at prices which have been assessed to be fair, reasonable and competitive. The use of these contracts is optional and is available to California State and Local Government agencies.
Q&A:
How can I verify if the CMAS contractor gave me the current CMAS price or lower?
The maximum CMAS pricing is the same as the federal GSA price, which can be found on the GSA website. Go to: www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov and enter the base GSA contract number in the search window. Then continue to look for the GSA contract until you get to the Contractor Information page. Then click on the word Advantage! in red. Then search for the price of the part/service you want.
If the CMAS contractor is a California certified small business, and they accept a CMAS purchase order from a local government agency, is the 1% incentive fee waived?
Yes, we are a California certified small business.
What is Included?
CMAS contracts are established for information technology and non-information technology products and services that have been competitively assessed, negotiated, or bid primarily by the federal GSA, but not exclusively. The contracts are structured to comply with California procurement codes, guidelines, and policies, and provide for the highest level of contractual protection.
Request for Offer
Do not refer to the CMAS transaction as a bid. This is not a competitive bid transaction so small business preferences, protest language, intents to award, evaluation criteria, advertising, etc. are not applicable. Refer to the CMAS transaction as a “Request for Offer” (RFO). The agency must develop a RFO identifying their needs and requirements for the purchase. The RFO could be simple for a product, or more detailed and contain a Statement of Work (SOW) for a services project.
Best Value Determination
The award of all CMAS transactions is based on best value criteria. Best value constitutes whatever the agency determines to be most critical to ensure that its business needs and goals are effectively met and they obtain the most value.
LAC has been awarded a contract through December of 2018! We look forward to working with you!