It’s like a Christmas present delivered early.
On Monday, Dec. 23, 2013, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) received confirmation from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) that full funding would be made available to Georgia Tech to ensure another year of procurement technical assistance center (PTAC) operations in the state of Georgia.
GTPAC’s operations are funded on the basis of a 50-50 match between DLA and state funding made available through Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). GTPAC is one of 98 PTACs operating in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
With 28 years of financial support from Georgia Tech and DLA, GTPAC is one of the longest, continuously operating PTAC’s in the nation. GTPAC also has one of the strongest track records. In the past 10 years, for example, GTPAC has supported Georgia businesses in winning between $500 million and $1 billion in government contracts annually.
In calendar year 2012, GTPAC’s clients won 5,462 government prime contracts and 740 subcontracts worth a total of $668 million. GTPAC counseled, instructed, and provided bid opportunities to 3,094 businesses across the State of Georgia last year. GTPAC also conducted 161 classes and participated in 61 events state-wide where more than 5,900 business people received instruction on how to effectively compete for government contracts. In all, GTPAC staff members conducted 9,249 counseling sessions with Georgia-based small businesses in 2012 as well as 520 counseling sessions with large businesses.
“We are proud to serve Georgia businesses,” states GTPAC program director Joe Beaulieu. “More importantly, we are proud of our clients’ achievements in the government contracting arena. It’s a real testament to the tenacity and hard work on the part of our clients that so much success has been achieved. Those that use our services to the fullest tend to be those who win contracts.”
“We’re thankful,” continues Beaulieu, “that DLA evaluates our results positively and continues to provide funding. And, without Georgia Tech’s financial and management support, we couldn’t operate as effectively as we do. In these tough economic times, full funding is not to be taken for granted, so we appreciate the support of all of our stakeholders — EI2’s top management, DLA, federal and state elected officials, and, of course, the businesses we serve.”
GTPAC operates offices in Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Carrollton, Savannah and Warner Robins. The program provides Georgia businesses with counseling, training, and a complete set of tools to research and identify government contracting opportunities. For contact information, and to register for any GTPAC class statewide, visit the program’s web site at www.gtpac.org.