Georgia Tech’s Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) was honored with the 2006-2007 Outstanding Center Award by the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) at the Association’s annual meeting in Detroit on March 28. Of the 93 centers eligible for the award, GTPAC was judged by a panel of peers across the country as the nation’s top performing center.

“The award recognizes the significant contributions by all of the GTPAC team toward developing and maintaining a top quality level of client assistance and outreach efforts,” said Zack Osborne, GTPAC program director. “Without the strong performance by each counselor and determined clients, this achievement would not have been possible.”

GTPAC – part of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute – provides no-cost assistance with government procurement to any company licensed to do business in Georgia. Last year, GTPAC conducted seminars in Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Carrollton, Columbus, Gainesville, Rockmart, Savannah and Warner Robins. The Center assists companies with all aspects of federal, state and local government procurement processes, including solicitation analysis, proposal preparation, pre- and post-award counseling, and quality and accounting systems. Procurement counselors also analyze whether or not the company has the potential for government procurement.

Since 1986, GTPAC has helped hundreds of Georgia companies successfully compete in the government markets with contract awards exceeding $3.9 billion. These contract awards have resulted in the retention or creation of some 89,141 jobs. In 2006, GTPAC assisted clients in their efforts to win more than $1 billion in contracts, which translated to more than 20,000 jobs saved or created. Also in 2006, GTPAC assisted more than 2,000 clients and had more than 400 new clients enter the government market. During the same time period, GTPAC sponsored 88 seminars and assisted in 42 other outreach events.

For more information on procurement assistance services offered by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, contact Zack Osborne (478-953-1460); E-mail: (zack.osborne@innovate.gatech.edu).

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contacts: Nancy Fullbright (404-468-9988); E-mail: (nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu).

Georgia Tech’s Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) helped Georgia companies secure more than $1 billion in government contracts in 2006, besting its previous record by more than $350 million. According to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency which sponsors the center, that translates to 20,023 jobs created or saved in Georgia.

“Since this program was initiated by Congress in 1985, GTPAC’s clients have been awarded $3.9 billion in government contracts,” said Zack Osborne, GTPAC program director. “This program helps Georgia companies acquire some of the federal, state and local government projects to bolster jobs and secure more competition and better products for federal agencies.”

GTPAC – part of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute – provides no-cost assistance with government procurement to any company licensed to do business in Georgia. Last year, GTPAC conducted seminars in Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Carrollton, Columbus, Gainesville, Rockmart, Savannah and Warner Robins. The center assists companies with all aspects of federal, state and local government procurement processes, including solicitation analysis, proposal preparation, pre- and post-award counseling, and quality and accounting systems. Procurement counselors also analyze whether or not the company has the potential for government procurement.

Ten procurement counselors recorded some 7,000 initial and follow-up client assists in Georgia last year. While several of these companies are large firms, most are small businesses in accordance with standards established by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and include businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans.

One such company that sought GTPAC assistance was Carlyle’s Corporate Food Service, a locally-owned catering and contract food service company in Atlanta. GTPAC Counselor Jerry Shadinger helped the company put together a technical proposal, a cost proposal and a capabilities statement for government cafeteria services. The result was a five-year, $4.5 million contract.

“It is usually difficult for a locally-based food service provider to locate new business on its own and go up against national competitors,” noted Liz McGarey, Carlyle’s contract director. “GTPAC’s assistance has impacted Carlyle’s tremendously. We have secured two new accounts and are enthusiastically working on others. I would highly recommend GTPAC to everyone. They are both professional and informative in acquiring new business.”

Warner Robins-based LOUI Consulting Group, Inc., an engineering support services company and a member company in the Warner Robins facility of the Advanced Technology Development Center, also utilized GTPAC services to maximum benefit. After receiving procurement counseling and proposal review by Counselor Larry Selman, the certified 8(a)-owned business and certified Small Disadvantaged Business received its first government contract worth $3 million.

LOUI President and CEO Elias L. Rodriguez said he would “absolutely” recommend GTPAC to other companies. “The potential is there to make an impact on the business community, especially for entrepreneurs such as myself,” he said.

Companies are eligible for GTPAC assistance if they are based in Georgia, and have the potential to sell to the government, have e-mail or fax capability, and agree to complete a GTPAC client application, a quarterly report and an annual quality survey.

The previous best year ever was 2004, when GTPAC-assisted companies won $648 million in contracts.

“GTPAC” stands for the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center, but in the small town of Bowdon, Ga., it means a whole lot more.

The GTPAC staff, specifically Jerry Shadinger, helped Bremen-Bowdon Manufacturing Co. win a U.S. government award to produce combat and military dress uniforms and outerwear. The multi-year, multi-million-dollar federal contract has helped keep the company in business, along with the 400 jobs it provides in a town of 1,840, said Elizabeth Plunkett-Buttimer, co-chair and co-CEO of the business started by her grandfather in the late ’40s.

“This kind of economic opportunity means a lot to a small town,” said Plunkett-Buttimer, who also serves as chair and CEO of a family-owned sister company, Bowdon Manufacturing Co. “It’s not numbers on a page, but people’s lives.”

Like most U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers, Bremen-Bowdon’s domestic retail customer base has been completely lost to inexpensive imports. The one remaining market is the U.S. government, which by law must secure a portion of its purchases from domestic sources.

“Georgia Tech has helped us in the process of reinventing our business by giving us very important leads as to contracts, when they would become available and how to go about doing business with the government,” Plunkett-Buttimer said.

She said GTPAC seminars on how to do business with the government have been particularly helpful for her companies’ strategic future.

“They have been instrumental in our transition from serving retail clothiers to serving the U.S. government,” she continued. “This transition was necessary for our survival and for maintaining these manufacturing jobs in the U.S.”

GTPAC was formed in 1985 to provide assistance to Georgia companies interested in marketing services and products to the federal government. Today the program provides assistance at federal, state and local government levels all at no cost to the businesses.

“We provide firms with information, guidance and assistance on the procurement process,” said Zack Osborne, program manager at GTPAC’s Warner Robins office.  “In addition to individual counseling, we conduct training exercises and seminars around the state about procurement rules and procedures, and how to find bidding opportunities.”

Prior to joining Georgia Tech 13 years ago, Osborne spent 28 years in procurement for the Air Force. His wealth of real-world experience is typical of GTPAC counselors, many of whom are retired from careers in government procurement. The GTPAC staff boasts a combined 270 years of government contracting experience.

In addition to Warner Robins, GTPAC counselors are stationed at offices in Albany,Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Rockmart and Savannah.

The GTPAC program, supported by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Georgia Tech’s Industry Services in Atlanta, is premised on a belief that government contracts sustain local economies by creating and saving jobs in Georgia. That conclusion is supported by the numbers: In 2004 alone, DLA estimates that 15,251 jobs were either saved or created in Georgia through the program, with nearly 2,000 of those jobs found in the manufacturing sector.

In addition, 267 of GTPAC’s 1,490 clients received government contracts worth a total of nearly $650 million last year, Osborne said. With an annual operating cost of about $921,000, which GTPAC shares equally with DLA, those figures translate into a return-on-investment of an astonishing 1,407 to 1, according to Osborne.

Over the past 20 years, GTPAC has helped Georgia companies earn contracts worth a combined $2.4 billion, he noted.

The level and amount of counseling provided by GTPAC varies with the individual companies’ needs. While some already have government experience and need limited help with specific areas of the process, Osborne said, the majority of GTPAC’s 1,500 clients are new to the government-procurement market and are primarily interested in broadening their customer base.

GTPAC may work with a company for one year or more before it receives its first government contract, Osborne said, but under GTPAC’s guidance along with a healthy dose of perseverance, many companies will eventually earn a contract of some kind.

“The hardest one to get is the first one,” he continued. “Later contracts come easier because the company has experience under its belt. And as companies become more comfortable and successful with the process, they need us less and less.”

The virtue of tenacity is exemplified by a Savannah, Ga.-based small business called Daniel Defense Inc. Owner and CEO Marty Daniel started the company in 1999 to specialize in the M-16 and M-4 weapons systems for military, law enforcement and civilian customers.

Two years ago, he learned there was a need for an improved aiming-support subsystem known as the Rail Interface System which would in turn fit a number of M-16 improvements sought by the Department of the Navy. Since the desired specifications were similar to some of Daniel’s products, he was encouraged to bid for the work. After designing a product which met the required specifications, Daniel contacted the GTPAC office in Savannah, where Osborne and Larry Blige provided comments and input that led to the final proposal.

“When we originally bid on this project, the solicitation was quite an undertaking,” recalled Daniel. “We needed some help with the technical portion to make sure we turned in what the government was used to seeing.”

He added, “We were on a tight schedule to complete the proposal. Zack came down from Warner Robins and worked with us through the weekend when it was down to the wire. We got the bid turned in about 30 minutes before UPS closed, but we got it in on time.”

After receiving notification of a pre-award survey to be conducted by the Defense Contract Management Agency, Daniel turned again to GTPAC. Counselors provided direct hands-on assistance by reviewing the pre-award item checklist onsite with Daniel and his subcontractors prior to the government review.  GTPAC also participated in the actual pre-award survey at Daniel’s request.

Earlier this year Daniel was notified that his company along with two others had been selected to share a $50 million contract and received purchase orders to produce a limited run of products for testing. The winner of the testing phase stands to receive the large production orders.

“Along with the contract were requirements for reports that had to be filed,” he said. “Zack and Larry were also a huge help with those contract documents.”

In addition, a quality assurance specialist from the Georgia Tech Savannah Regional Office, Don Pital, helped Daniel revise and simplify the company’s ISO 9000 quality assurance plan while still meeting government standards.

GTPAC’s assistance is not limited to military contractors, Osborne emphasized.

“A company may want to provide something for the U.S. Forest Service or the Department of State or some other department,” he said. “As long as it’s a governmental agency at some level, we’ll help them find a niche where they might be able to broaden their business base.”

Tony Richardson falls into that category. A commercial mortgage banker with 22 years of experience and a former assistant director of FDIC in Atlanta, Richardson founded a project management consulting firm, ARF Inc., 10 years ago.

Shortly after being established, AFR was certified as a small disadvantaged firm in the 8(a) program by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA recommended thatRichardson seek additional specialized technical assistance in developing a marketing strategy and proposal preparation methodology for government contraction.

“Larry Selman and Larry Fountain from GTPAC have been tremendous with me throughout my entire career, Richardson said. “They have taught me government contracting, government regulations, how to do business with the federal government — and they have helped me land three major contracts.”

The most recent is a $12 million award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to perform inspections for new multi-family construction projects in eight states, Richardson said.

Previous work, also for HUD, involved providing management and marketing services for single-family foreclosure properties.

“Those guys at Georgia Tech helped me prepare not only the technical proposals, but they also helped me prepare the pricing proposals,” he said.

“You do most what you do best,” Richardson added. “My expertise is housing, and with GTPAC’s help, I’ve found my niche with the federal government.”

For more information about the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center, please contact Zack Osborne at 478-953-1460 or e-mail: (zack.osborne@innovate.gatech.edu).
Research News & Publications Office

Georgia Institute of Technology

75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100

Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu); Fax: (404-894-4545).

Technical Contact: Zack Osborne (478-953-1460); E-mail: (zack.osborne@innovate.gatech.edu).

In the first six months of 2004, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) helped Georgia companies win $336 million in government contracts – already more than GTPAC’s record for an entire year. According to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency which sponsors the center, that translates to 7,900 jobs created or saved in Georgia. The previous best year ever was in 2001, when GTPAC-assisted companies won $287 million in contracts.

“This program was initiated by Congress in 1985 and was designed to help each state acquire some of the federal government projects in order to bolster jobs and secure more competition and better products for federal agencies,” notes Zack Osborne, GTPAC program manager.

GTPAC – part of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute – provides no-cost assistance with government procurement to any company licensed to do business in Georgia. GTPAC conducts seminars in Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Gainesville, Rockmart, Savannah and Warner Robins. The center assists companies with all aspects of the federal procurement process, including solicitation analysis, proposal preparation, pre- and post-award counseling, and quality and accounting systems. Procurement counselors also analyze whether or not the company has the potential for government procurement.

Ten procurement counselors work with approximately 1,300 companies in Georgia. While several of these companies are large firms, most are small businesses in accordance with standards established by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and include businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans. Approximately 57 percent of these businesses are service firms and 23 percent are manufacturing and construction companies.

Over recent years, Georgia Tech procurement specialists have helped AFR & Associates, Inc. – an Atlanta small, disadvantaged business – with securing a federal supply schedule contract, obtaining HUBZone and 8(a) certification (granted to small businesses owned and controlled by a socially and economically disadvantaged individual), and developing budgets and pricing that positioned the firm to win a big contract. AFR recently received a $17 million award from HUD for management and marketing that will create 45 new jobs and retain 18 existing jobs.

“Georgia Tech has assisted me since AFR was approved as an 8(a) firm by the SBA in 1996, and has been instrumental in AFR’s success,” says CEO Tony Richardson. “In addition to helping me with the administrative side of my business, procurement specialists have helped me with the pricing of seven contracts. This includes the $17 million award, which is the largest contract ever approved by HUD in the state of Georgia to manage and market support services for single family real estate.”

Osborne notes that it is the tenacity of clients like Richardson that is ultimately responsible for their success.

“The perseverance of the companies plays a role in winning the awards,” he says. “While our assistance and guidance helps and channels them along the way, their determination and hard work is really what gets the awards.”

Companies are eligible for GTPAC assistance if they are based in Georgia, want to and have the potential to sell to the government, have e-mail or fax capability, and agree to complete a GTPAC client application, a quarterly report and an annual quality survey.

For more information about Georgia Tech assistance in procurement, please contact Zack Osborne (478-953-3155); E-mail: (zack.osborne@innovate.gatech.edu ).

RESEARCH NEWS & PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30308  USA

MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT:
John Toon (404-894-6986);
E-mail: (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu);
Fax: (404-894-4545).

 http://gtpac.org/2005/01/new-designs-for-profitability-help-put-elite-back-in-the-black/