SOUTHERN STATES Louisville 1, Ky., 631 Federal Building. Mobile 10, Ala., 308 Federal Building, 109-113 St. Joseph Street. New Orleans 12, La., 1508 Masonic Temple Building, 333 St. Charles Avenue Memphis 3, Tenn., 229 Federal Building. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AGENCIES There are approximately 65 separate purchasing agencies in the Federal Government. No attempt will be made herein to list all of these. The main procurement agencies will be dealt with briefly and mention will be made of official guides published by such agencies for use by firms wishing to do business with the Government. ARMY PROCUREMENT DECENTRALIZED Under a decentralized procurement program, the Army purchases supplies and equipment through its various purchasing offices located throughout the country. A list of these purchasing offices is set forth herein. Companies desiring to bid on Government business should contact the purchasing office most likely handling procurement of items manufactured by that firm. Initial contact should include the furnishing of a complete description of the items a prospective bidder wishes to offer for sale. Request should be made that their name be placed on the bidders' list. This will assure such company it will be notified on all prospective purchases of items it has to offer. The Department of the Army has prepared a pamphlet entitled, "Purchased Items and Purchasing Locations for the Department of the Army." This pamphlet lists all the purchasing offices and in addition it lists items which each such office buys. This pamphlet may be obtained by any business firm wishing to sell to the Army. Requests for it should be mailed to the Current Procurement Branch, Logistics Division, General Staff, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C. LIST OF ARMY PURCHASING OFFICES Chemical Corps: Commanding officer. Chemical Corps Procurement Agency. Army Medical Center, Maryland. Corps of Engineers: Chicago Procurement Office, Corps of Engineers, 158 West Harrison Street, Chicago 5, Ill. Atlanta Lumber Branch Office, Corps of Engineers. Post Office Box 1889, Atlanta 1, Ga.' Portland Lumber Branch Office, Corps of Engineers. 628 Pittock Block, Portland 5, Oreg.1 Medical Department: Army-Navy Medical Procurement Office, 84 Sands Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Ordinance Department: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Md. Detroit Arsenal, Centerline, Mich. Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pa. Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, N. J. Raritan Arsenal, Metuchen, N. J. Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill Springfield Arsenal, Springfield, Mass. Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, N. Y. Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet. N. Y. Lumber and allied products. Signal Corps: Commanding officer, Signal Corps Procurement District, 2800 South Chief, Laboratory Office, Contracting Division, Signal Corps Procurement Chief, Photographic Center Office, Signal Corps Procurement District, Quartermaster Corps: The Quartermaster Corps is, perhaps, the principal source of business for smaller firms. Therefore, a detailed list of the items purchased by each of the Quartermaster Corps' offices is given. NEW YORK QUARTERMASTER PURCHASING OFFICE, 11 EAST SIXTEENTH STREET, NEW YORK 3, N. Y. ITEMS PURCHASED Books, periodicals, magazines, sheet Dyeing and finishing of textiles music, orchestrations and publications Equipment: printing, photograph and theatrical Buttons, badges, and fasteners Chemical supplies: Blueing Footwear, leather and leather fabricated items (except special measurement and orthopedic footwear) Bags CHICAGO QUARTERMASTER PURCHASING OFFICE, 1819 WEST PERSHING ROAD, Athletic and CHICAGO, ILL. ITEMS PURCHASED recreational clothing, Necklace and tag, identification equipment, supplies and accessories Bakery and mess equipment (field and post) Commissary equipment Containers: Fiberboard, corrugated Furniture, metal and wood, all types: Organization equipment, metal: Cans Cot, folding: Lantern Machetes Torches Packboards and attachments Packing and crating supplies and equipment (end products) Petroleum-handling equipment and Poles and pins for tentage Spare parts for mechanical kitchen Spare parts for all typewriters and office appliances Vehicles, hand, powered or animal drawn Warehouse and materials handling equipment (except spare parts) BOSTON QUARTERMASTER DEPOT, ARMY BASE, BOSTON, MASS. COLUMBUS GENERAL DISPOSITION DEPOT, COLUMPUS 15, OHIO Items purchased: Spare parts for materials-handling equipment and specialpurpose vehicles JEFFERSONVILLE QUARTERMASTER DEPOT, JEFFERSON, IND. Items purchased: Caskets, shipping cases, components, and accessories Components, findings, and miscellaneous supplies for use in manufacturing contracts assigned to the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot factory PHILADELPHIA QUARTERMASTER DEPOT, 2800 SOUTH TWENTIETH STREET. PHILADELPHIA 45, PA. Items purchased: Miscellaneous spare parts for use in Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot repair shop and repair of musical instruments Components, findings, and miscellaneous supplies for use in manufacturing contracts assigned to the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, manufacturing division HEADQUARTERS, QUARTERMASTER MARKET CENTER, CHICAGO, ILL. Items purchased: Perishable subsistence JOINT ARMY-NAVY PETROLEUM PURCHASING AGENCY, TEMPO 4, Items purchased: Liquid fuels and lubricants for overseas NAVY CONTRACT METHODS The Navy has two methods of awarding contracts: (1) Formal advertisement and competitive bidding, and (2) negotiation. Regarding competitive bidding procedures, any firm wishing to do business with the Navy should have its name placed on the mailing list of invitations. To do this, a firm should write a letter direct to the particular bureau which it desires to supply, stating it wishes to be listed to receive invitations to bid. An indication of which bureau buys what type of items may be found in the table at the end of this section on Department of the Navy Procurement. A descriptive list of items the firm manufactures, together with any catalog available, should be enclosed with this letter. A reply from the Navy should be received within 2 weeks. If no notice is received within that time, contact the Navy again. If the descriptive information supplied is insufficient to establish the status of the concern as an acceptable bidder or does not permit an accurate determination of the materials upon which it seeks to bid, a form for filing the necessary information will be furnished by any of the respective purchasing offices. When the descriptive information is sufficient to establish a firm as a responsible source of supply, it will be furnished selected classification lists upon which a check should be made as to the items which that firm can supply. Enclosed with these lists is a questionnaire for submission of data concerning personnel and background of the firm. When these forms are returned determination is made whether or not the firm properly qualifies as a prospective source of supply to that Navy bureau. Upon such qualification, that firm will thereafter receive invitations to bid on the particular items checked on the above-mentioned form. It should be observed if any firm does not bid after three or four invitations, the Navy Department may assume it is not interested and may cancel that firm's listing with the particular bureau. The Department of the Navy has prepared a booklet entitled "Selling to the Navy," which is published particularly for the assistance of the smaller business concerns. Essential information concerning Navy procurement is contained in this booklet. All of the purchasing activities of the Navy are listed in this pamphlet as well as the types of products each Bureau normally purchases. This publication may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., at the price of 15 cents. No attempt has been made in this report to detail any of the information contained in the above-mentioned guide. In order to aid small business concerns desirous of attempting to contact the various Navy purchasing offices, there is listed below the location of all such offices: |