The federal government tends to come up short on handing out contract work to small businesses. Make it a woman-owned small business, and that goes double.

If you’re interested in government contracting, know that you can break in and learn how contracting works. There’s an opportunity later this week to learn how to crack the government-contracting game — and it’s free.On Thursday, there’s a one-hour Webinar being put on by Women Impacting Public Policy and American Express OPEN. Give Me 5 is designed to help more women owners get into contracting, but I don’t think they’re going to check your genitalia on the call, so feel free to get the learnings no matter your gender.

Many small business owners overlook the government-contracting opportunity. They feel intimidated, they know there’s a paperwork mountain to climb, and it just doesn’t happen.

But this is a giant pot of revenue that’s worth checking out. The federal government hands out contracts for $500 billion in goods and services annually. Last year, small businesses supplied nearly $100 billion of that. Disadvantaged and woman-owned businesses got $33 billion of that pie.

Under Obama, efforts are increasing to get more contracts into the hands of small business owners. The government has a goal of giving 23 percent of its spending to small businesses, with another 5 percent to woman-owned businesses, and keeps falling short. Programs like Give Me 5 may help more small businesses owners win at the contracting game.

Click here to get more details on the Webinar.

What’s your experience with government contracting? Leave a comment and tell us if you’ve done it — or if not, what’s keeping your business from becoming a government contractor.