The City of Albany, Georgia is planning to soon unveil its new small business program. Albany-area small businesses will be sure to be interested in the new program, including how they may benefit from it.
Complete details about the City’s kick-off event will be announced soon, so watch the GTPAC website for more details.
Here is some background. Just a few months ago, the City of Albany adopted a small business program to provide procurement training and assistance to local small businesses. The purpose of the program is to increase the number of City contract awards, and other procurements, to local small businesses, and thereby build business capacity, create jobs, and strengthen the local economy.
To be eligible to participate in the City’s special program, a business must be located in the city limits Albany or in Dougherty County.
There are many benefits that Albany-area businesses will realize by participating in the new “small business procurement program,” including:
• Customized training on how to do business with the City of Albany, including instruction on how to prepare bids and proposals.
• Instruction and counseling on all aspects of government contracting, including how to effectively market your business in the government arena.
• Detailed information about upcoming contract opportunities with the City, other local governments in the area, the State of Georgia, and federal agencies – as often as daily.
• An on-line vendor directory for use by the City, other local governments, prime contractors and local small businesses to identify business sources and develop relationships.
• Exclusive access to bid on City contracts valued at less than $50,000, through the City’s sheltered market program.
• A purchasing preference on City contracts involving requests for proposals and other solicitations involving proposal evaluation factors.
• Invitations to attend matchmaking and networking events, exclusively designed to help Albany-area businesses build business relationships and partnerships.
To participate, a company first must be certified as an Albany Small Business Enterprise (ASBE). Help will soon be available to assist a business with this application process. There will be a one-time $25 fee to cover the City’s cost of program administration.
The City of Albany recently selected Georgia Tech to provide management and administrative support to the Small Business Procurement Program. Experienced government contracting experts from Georgia Tech will providing the training, instruction, and counseling to the Albany-area small businesses participating in the program.
For more information, contact Clovia Hamilton at clovia@gatech.edu.
