Businesses interested in Federal contracting,or organizations receiving Federal funds, must register in the Government’s database known as System for Award Management (SAM). Registration at the official SAM site — http://www.sam.gov– is free. SAM registration is something that any vendor can tackle by themselves. And if any vendor needs instruction, help is readily available free of charge. Don’t be confused by look-alike websites. There is only one SAM database, and it’s a secure website operated by the Federal Government.

You can access SAM by simply typing sam.gov or www.sam.gov in your web browser. Either of these variations will redirect to the secure site. The key thing to know is that the official Federal SAM website is a “.gov” website, not a commercial website, so SAM.com is not an option if you’re trying to navigate to a Government website.

You can navigate the SAM registration yourself, but remember that there is never a charge to register, and help with the SAM registration process is readily available, at no charge, from your Alaska PTAC.There are helpful videos now available on-line to explain the SAM registration process.

If you need to migrate an old CCR record over to SAM, you can view the instructional video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFGM9H0gPI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUGYKiouhiBpijT51CplQZ-w

If your business was never registered in CCR, then your starting point is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VPGVYPvch4&list=UUGYKiouhiBpijT51CplQZ-w.

PTACs have produced a SAM instructional video, too, and it’s available here: https://netforum.avectra.com/eWeb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=APTAC&WebCode=SAM

If you need advice on how to organize your records in order to register in SAM — or you need help with the SAM registration process itself – expert assistance is available free of charge to all Alaska vendors. You can contact either of the two PTAC offices located in Anchorage and Fairbanks— all contact information can be found at: https://alaskaptac.wpengine.com/about/contact/  Remember that there is never a charge to register at sam.gov, and help with the SAM registration process is readily available, at no charge, from your Alaska PTAC.