Federal Wins, SBA System Changes & What’s Next — Plus an Upcoming Webinar

It’s been a quiet stretch in the market—but the tide is finally starting to turn. We’re seeing renewed momentum across both federal and state arenas, with a mix of long-awaited contract wins and fresh signals about where opportunity still exists—and where it’s drying up. Here are a few of the recent contract awards across the industry worth celebrating:

  • Sensis, Stratacomm, and Arrow ARC secured a spot on the $19.56M DOT FMCSA multi-award BPA for outreach and communications support. Sensis received its first call order for Human Trafficking Prevention Campaign Support Services ($2.8M), while Stratacomm picked up a $3M win for Protect Your Move Marketing and Outreach.

  • Red Carrot and Novak Birch landed a $35M multi-award at HUD to provide conference management support services.

  • Montage + Magnum won a $13.26M contract at NSF to support the Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

On the state side, Allison Worldwide (part of the Stagwell network) secured the Covered California PR AOR—a major win in one of the most competitive state procurement environments. And, Change Craft won the First 5 California Public Relations contract.  

We're also closely watching several high-stakes federal decisions still in play—like HHS’s Take Back Your Health, a national public health campaign; DoD’s JAMRS research contract, which informs military recruitment strategy; and CMS’s massive NEC IDIQ, which will shape the next wave of Medicare and Medicaid outreach. 

Quick Note: SBA Launches New Small Business Search System

The SBA has officially rolled out its new Small Business Search (SBS) platform, replacing the old DSBS system. While most company data has been migrated, we recommend logging in to verify your profile is accurate. Key things to check:

  • Active SAM registration

  • Proper NAICS codes and size designations

  • Visibility settings (SAM opt-outs will hide your profile in SBS)

Edits must be certified and can take up to 10 business days to appear. Accuracy here directly impacts how federal buyers and primes discover you—definitely worth a quick check-in.

Upcoming Free Webinar: What’s Next for Public Sector Marketing? (RSVP HERE) | August 19 at 1p EST

We were recently invited by the 4A’s to brief their members on the shifting public sector marketing landscape—and we’re excited to offer the same session to the GrowthLab network. We’ll unpack:

  • Why fewer open competitions and bundling are reshaping how work gets awarded

  • Where growth is still happening: military recruiting, public health, and state-led initiatives

  • How FAR changes are accelerating closed-list RFPs

  • What creative firms must do now to stay competitive

  • Predictions for 2025–2026—and how to prepare for what’s next

Looking forward to continuing to monitor the landscape and play our part in staying successful and prevailing through these interesting times. 

Mike KapetanovicMarketing Communications, Professional Services