The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that it is slightly delaying awards for the Polaris Governmentwide Acquisition Contract’s (GWAC) Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) pool.
The Polaris GWAC aims to support agency requirements for IT services, including emerging technologies such as AI, automation, distributed ledger technology, edge computing, and immersive technology.
GSA initially planned to make awards for the Polaris GWAC HUBZone Pool in fiscal year 2025, which ends on Sept. 30.
In an Aug. 12 posting to SAM.gov, GSA said it “is nearing the announcement of awards for the Polaris GWAC HUBZone Pool; however, the award process will not be completed prior to the end of this fiscal year.”
The agency said it posted an amendment to the Polaris HUBZone Pool in the Polaris Submission Portal.
“This amendment is to extend the offer acceptance period for existing offerors based on this updated award timeframe. Offerors should login to the Polaris Submission Portal and review for necessary action,” GSA said.
The agency added that this action is only relevant to existing offerors that submitted a proposal for the Polaris GWAC HUBZone Pool by Nov. 18, 2022, and previously extended their offer acceptance period through Sept. 30, 2025.
GSA already awarded the Polaris GWAC to 102 small businesses in December under the Small Business (SB) pool. However, the agency is still facing protests from organizations not selected for that initial set of awards.
Polaris replaces GSA’s $15 billion Alliant 2 Small Business Contract, which GSA announced it would be canceling in 2020 after a successful court challenge in 2019.