SAM Registration Process for the Shuttered Venue Grant Program & Participating SBA Lenders

SAM Registration Process for the
Shuttered Venue Grant Program
& Participating SBA Lenders
Presenter: Sandra Ledbetter, Government Sales Advisor - MSBDC Network
Hosts: U.S. SBA Massachusetts District Office & Massachusetts Small Business
Development Center Network (MSBDC)
Core content developed & shared by Dave Pease, NH PTAP for his SBIR registration presentation.
Updated & edited by Sandra Ledbetter for the SBA/MSBDC SVG/Lender webinar - February 2021

MSBDC Programs & Services – An SBA Resource Partner

Confidential one-on-one counseling & advisement:
   Start-up & Growing Entrepreneurs (Assist with any stage of business development)

   Covid-19 Assistance

   Business Plan Development

   Financial Planning and Loan packaging & review

   Marketing and Sales Strategies

   Cash Flow Analysis

   Organizational and Personnel Issues

   International Trade Assistance (ITAR and global marketing plans)

   SBIR Assistance (including pre-preparation and proposal guidance/reviews)

   Government Contracting Assistance (The “PTAC”& Government Sales Advisory Center)

Beware SAM Scams!

 Numerous companies have made a business of selling access to this free
  federal government registration system. They often use misleading names, and
  their emails and websites look, at first glance, like an actual government
  agency.
 Look at the email address or URL – if it’s not .gov or .mil, it’s probably a scam.
 Read the fine print.
 Search the phone # or company name on Google or use reverse phone #
  lookup.
 If they ask for a credit card number, run!
 Unfortunately, once you are in this public database you will be targeted with
  lots of “opportunities” to buy “things” you will not need. Please be very careful!

Step 1 – Obtain a DUNS Number

 Your address in DUNS must be consistent with your Secretary of State,
  Corporations Divisions records. It must be an exact match.
 If you don’t have a DUNS number, you must apply for one here (this is the
  free site): https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/. Do not go to the main D&B
  website https://www.dnb.com/duns-number.html for this.
 It is possible that you already have one or more DUNS #s, in which case you
  will need to find out who manages it within your company/organization
  and which one to use for the SAM registration.
 Keep track of how you access your DUNS account – this is where you must
  go to change any address updates in the future. You cannot change your
  address in SAM.

Taxpayer ID Number (TIN)

 To register in SAM, you must have a Taxpayer ID number. You may know this
  as an EIN or a TIN. Sole proprietors may* use their social security number.
 If you don’t have a TIN, you can obtain one at www.irs.gov.
 If you are an established business, you almost certainly have one. In this
  case, you may have to track it down from your tax forms or accountant.

*We do not recommend using your personal Social Security Number for
business purposes.

SAM is a Two-Part Registration

 SAM registration involves Users and Entities. Individual human beings are
  users, while companies are entities.

 Users register in Login.Gov

 Entities register in SAM.Gov

 In order to register your Entity in SAM, you must first register as a User.

How do I Register as a User?

 Go to www.sam.gov, and click on the Log In button.

Now You’re at Login.Gov!
 Click “Create an Account”

Confirming email

 After you enter your email address in the provided box and select your
  language preference, click on the “Submit” button.
 You will receive an email at that address. You must confirm your ability to
  receive email at this address by clicking the button in the email.

Set a Password:

Email & Password Tips:

 Email addresses are critical. If you change your email address without
  notifying login.gov or SAM, you will be locked out of the system. While this
  can be fixed, it’s not fun, and it takes time, including a mandatory 24-hour
  delay.
 Passwords:
     Make it memorable
     Keep it secure
     Put it somewhere that you can find it. You may not need it again for almost a
      year, but you’ll really need it then, so keep this in mind. SAM must be updated
      annually to remain an “ACTIVE” account.

2 – Factor Authentication

 Every time you log in to SAM via login.gov, you’ll supply your email and
  password. You’ll need another, 2nd factor to complete login. You have your
  choice of methods; most people choose the phone* call option for
  convenience.
 In any case, pick your preferred method and click “Continue”.

* Note: If you choose the phone call method, you can set up multiple phone
numbers and also use either text or voice for authentication. We recommend
that you take advantage of this, in case your primary phone isn’t available.
You can’t do this from SAM. You must log directly into www.login.gov to make
these changes.

Enter your phone number
and select Text Message or
Phone Call

•   You can only enter one phone
    number and must select either text
    or voice for it here. Don’t worry –
    there’s a way to add additional
    numbers and to select contact
    methods later.
•   Make sure you have access to
    your phone, then click on “Send
    Code”

2-Factor Authentication
If you selected “Phone Call”, your
phone would ring. Pick up the call,
and an automated voice will give you
a six-digit code.

If you selected “Text”, you would
receive a text with a six-digit code.

These codes are valid for ten minutes.
If you run out of time, click the “Get
another code” button.
Enter your code in the box and click
“Submit”

Crossing Over to SAM.gov

Entering your code will transfer you to
SAM.gov, where you will be
completing your User Registration.

Click the “Create Individual Account”
button.

User Information

Fill in your name, phone number and
create a username. Write down your
username and keep it in a safe place.
Note that your phone number must
be in the exact format specified:
(xxx)xxx-xxxx
Scroll down to the security questions.

Security Questions

Select and answer 3 of the questions,
then click “Next”.

Summary – You’re Almost Done With
User Registration
 A summary of your user information, including your User name, security
  questions and their answers will appear. It’s a good practice to copy or
  take a screen shot of this, so you can recall how you answered the security
  questions. If you do write these things down, or save an image, be sure to
  keep them in a secured location.

 Clicking “Submit” will complete your User Registration!

 Now, you are ready to begin the Entity Registration!

Moving on to Entity Registration

 Go to www.SAM.gov
 Click the Login button in the upper right portion of the page
 This will send you to the Login.gov page – enter email & password
 You should receive your 2nd authentication factor, for most it will be a text
  or phone call. If using the phone methods, type the six-digit code into the
  box, and click “Login”.

Read & Accept the Usage Agreement

Select “Entity Registrations” from the
menu on the left-hand column

Select “Register New Entity” from the
dropdown menu

SAM Registration is divided into four major
parts – click on “START REGISTRATION”

Make sure you have gathered all the
required information, then click “Continue”

Purpose of Registration – Answer 2 Questions and click
“Next” (Important note: this is where there is a choice
between “federal assistance” (e.g., grants) and “grants &
contracts” registration. Select “federal assistance”!

Confirm Purpose of Registration by
clicking “Next”

Enter your DUNS#, Legal Business name
(without punctuation) and physical address.
These must match your DUNS record. Then
click “Next”

*TIP: Enter Legal
Business Name
and Address in all
CAPS.
Do not use
Address Line 2.

Note how possible errors are displayed:

You should come to a page that compares the information you
have entered with your DUNS record. They should match. If you
have made changes with D&B and they are different, click
Refresh D&B Data”. Otherwise, click “Save and Continue.”

Enter your business start date, fiscal year end close date,
division name & number (if any) and website URL. You will see a
box (not shown here) for you to create an MPIN.

MPINs are used for
electronic
signatures, must be
8 characters, and
like other
usernames &
passwords, must be
stored in a secure
location. You will
need your MPIN
again on the next
page, and annually
when you renew
the registration.

MPIN (marketing
partner ID number)

Further down the page, you can add a mailing address, select
your taxpayer ID type (usually EIN), and enter your taxpayer ID
number. When done, click “Save and Continue.” Whenever you
see a “Save and Continue” make sure you do just that!

Completion of Core Data

On the bottom half of the page, enter the taxpayer name associated
with the EIN you supplied, along with taxpayer address, most recent
year filed, and your name. Type your MPIN into the box as your
signature, then click on “Save and Continue.”

AS a new Registrant, You won’t have a
CAGE Code – check “no” then click “Save
and Continue.”

Note: Because the developer of this presentation was
a State Government Entity, some of the pages we see
may differ slightly from yours as a business entity.

Entering Financial Information:
   You must enter a
   bank account into
   which the
   government can
   deposit payments.

   Type of account, ABA
   Routing Number, and
   account number are
   required, as is a
   phone number which
   can be used to reach
   the bank if case of an
   electronic funds
   transfer (EFT) problem.

A Remittance Mailing Address must be
supplied in the unlikely event that a check is to
be mailed to you. Click “Save and Continue”

You must respond to the Executive
Compensation questions:

You must answer these questions.

 The FAR and 2 C.F.R. 200
 references refer to
 various legal
 proceedings. You can
 find the FAR at
 https://www.acquisition.
 gov/browse/index/far
 2 C.F.R. can be found at
 https://ecfr.io/Title-
 2/Part-200

SAM Search Consent:

Here you can
consent to or
opt out of
public display
of some of your
information.

Confidential
information is
not publically
displayed.

You have completed the Core Data Section!

             Review carefully

               Edit if needed

      Save and Continue when done

Representations and Certifications

 On this page,
 you are
 agreeing to an
 array of
 contractual
 terms and
 conditions
 drawn from
 2 C.F.R. 200
 and from the
 U.S. Code. We
 encourage
 you to look
 these up and
 read them
 before you
 agree.

When done reading, you must check the
box. Then “Save and Continue”.

The Last Step – Points of Contact

   You must have 3
   points of contact,
   but one person can
   serve in 2 or 3 roles.
   You can also add
   Optional POCs. Fill
   out the mandatory
   fields. Note that
   you can use the
   COPY feature to
   populate
   subsequent POC
   fields.

One last chance to Review Everything:

Time to Submit!

What Happens Next?
 Within a few days, you should receive a notice via email that your
  Registration has “passed IRS validation”. This means that the Internal
  Revenue Service agrees that your address and taxpayer name
  information agrees with what they have associated with your EIN.
  Problems here are rare but if one happens, they must be resolved with
  the IRS.
 A bit later, you may receive an email from “CAGE validation.” CAGE
  will confirm your physical location and assigns a five-character unique
  alphanumeric code to you. You may receive questions from CAGE.
  You should answer these clearly and promptly.
 Finally, upon CAGE approval, your SAM registration should be
  activated. You should receive an email notifying you of this.
 SAM must be renewed annually, before your registration anniversary
  date. Save your passwords and MPIN!

You are not done yet (but close)! “Notarized
Authorization Letter for an Entity Administrator”
Requirement

     You must send a notarized letter to SAM using one of the 3 templates found
      at this link:
      https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp/?id=gsafsd_kb_articles&sys_id=14e64d851b
      8268d08aa3a8eae54bcb7b
      Note: most small businesses would use template 1, larger businesses and
      businesses with multiple DUNS would use template 2 and foreign businesses
      would use template 3.
     This requirement must be done within 60 days of activation – however, we
      strongly recommend that as soon as you hit “submit” you prepare the letter
      and send via a mail delivery service that is traceable or follow the
      directions to scan and upload to the federal service desk (FSD). You do not
      need to wait until you are assigned a CAGE number.

The process can be slow; it may take two or
more weeks to activate your registration.

 Monitor your registration process by using the “check status tab” on
  SAM.Gov : https://sam.gov/SAM/pages/public/samStatusTracker.jsf

 Pay attention if it gets “stuck” in one area or you receive an email with a
  request for additional information (make sure the email is legitimate).

 You may need to contact the federal service help desk (best method is to
  use the chat feature, but you can also send an email that will generate a
  help ticket, or you can call them (but be prepared to “wait” on hold).
  https://www.fsd.gov

Important Contacts/Links/Websites

 SAM. Gov – make sure you land on this site: https://sam.gov/SAM/
 One page help sheet for Grant registrations:
  https://sam.gov/SAM/transcript/Quick_Guide_for_Grants_Registrations.pdf
 SAM templates for notarized letter (must be sent within 60 days of
  activation:
  https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp/?id=gsafsd_kb_articles&sys_id=f4b609451b8
  268d08aa3a8eae54bcb06
• Template 1 – Single Entity
• Template 2 – Multiple Domestic Entities
• Template 3 – International Entity (no US Banking info)

~ Thank you for attending the SAM registration for
“federal assistance/grants” webinar ~ Special thanks
to the MA SBA Team for supporting this event!

   SVOG info: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-
    options/shuttered-venue-operators-grant
   SBA Info: https://www.sba.gov/
   SBA Massachusetts District Office:
    https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/ma/boston
   Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC):
    https://www.msbdc.org/ Your connection to the following business
    assistance services: business advising, international/exporting, government
    sales/PTAC & SBIR.