The General Services Administration has awarded 217 task orders worth $691 million combined to small businesses through the latest iteration of its STARS governmentwide contract for information technology services to date, GSA official Laura Stanton wrote in a blog post published Wednesday.
Stanton, assistant commissioner for the Office of IT Category in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said more than 135 vendors have won orders under the 8(a) STARS III procurement vehicle and more than 40 awards have gone to small disadvantaged entities that are working with GSA for the first time.
A total of 1,110 8(a) contractors are participating in the program that opened for business in July 2021.
Stanton said the agency asked for input from customer agencies to help inform the development of the small business set-aside contract and to simplify the ordering experience for buyers.
She cited the Department of Homeland Security as an 8(a) STARS adopter that uses the program to gain access to emerging technology offerings from vetted companies.
The GSA-run vehicle is included in DHS’ EAGLE Next Generation portfolio of IT services.