Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

GTPAC hosts Atlanta Government Contracting Day event

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On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (“GTPAC”) hosted an event called Atlanta Government Contracting Day.  The purpose of the event was to provide general information and education on how to be a successful government contractor in Georgia.  The event also served as a platform to provide attendees with awareness of resources that could provide assistance to small businesses looking to participate in the government market.

Over 60 small businesses attended the event from a wide variety of industries.  GTPAC wants to thank everyone who attended the event, and our resources partners (SBA, SBDC, SCORE, State of Georgia Purchasing Division) who participated.  The event was a huge success and we could not have done it without the help of our resource partners and the great support that was also provided by our friends at The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech.

For those who did not attend, you can download and review the event slideshow presentations below:

How To Win Government Contracts – Andrew Smith

GTPAC Community Launch Presentation – Khai Edouard

Overview of the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) – Bart Njoku-Obi

Overview of SCORE Atlanta – Nancy Cleveland 

Doing Business with the State of Georgia – Julian Bailey

GTPAC hosts ‘Creating the Next: Defense Innovation Conference’

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The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) recently sponsored an event where 200 small innovative tech companies learned about special funding opportunities and programs that are available to small businesses at the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

“The goal of the January 14th conference was to help small companies, especially small technology companies and innovative manufacturers, learn about how they can do business with the Defense Department and its various components,” explained Andrew Smith, GTPAC’s program manager.  “We wanted to have an event where we could educate the small business community about DoD opportunities.”

GDX connects Georgia businesses with each other and with DoD contract opportunities.

The event featured numerous prominent speakers.  Khai Edouard, the co-founder of the technology consulting firm The Simple Vue, spoke about the Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX), a technology platform that was built for the Georgia Department of Economic Development that helps government defense contractors network with other contractors and find contracting opportunities with DoD.  Contractors can access the Georgia Defense Exchange at https://gdx.georgia.org

The National Security Technology Accelerator prospects, vets, and develops technology.

Tim Greeff, the founder, and CEO of the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL), which prospects and develops innovative technology for the Department of Defense, spoke about Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts, and how DoD utilizes OTAs to fund research and prototype development.

Adele Navarrete, senior corporate counsel for the Logistics Management Institute, a major not-for-profit defense contractor, provided attendees with insights and advice on how to win business with the Department of Defense.  Ms. Navarrete later joined an industry panel with Raven Smith, senior regulatory compliance analyst with Lockheed Martin, and John Roman, senior vice president at Huntington Ingalls Industries – Technical Solutions.  They discussed the important attributes and qualities defense contractors look for in subcontractors.

Panelists, representing defense industry giants, provided attendees with subcontracting insights.
Lisa R. Sanders with U.S. Special Operations Command discussed technology problems she’s counting on industry to solve.

The keynote address was delivered by Lisa R. Sanders, the director of science and technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).  As a defense intelligence senior leader, Ms. Sanders is responsible for all research and development funded activities for the U.S. Special Operations Forces at MacDill Air Force Base.  Ms. Sanders gave an overview of USSOCOM’s technology and purchasing priorities, and the difficult technology problems Special Operations Forces needs industry to solve.  Ms. Sanders also gave an overview of how industry could engage and do business with the USSOCOM.

After the keynote speech, attendees were able to network with one another and forge potential business relationships.

Four concurrent workshops were also held in the afternoon sessions that covered a variety of topics of interest to government contractors, including how to develop successful bids and proposals and how to comply with DoD cybersecurity requirements.

“Overall, I’m very proud of the event and how industry and government came together to provide such excellent information and training to our attendees,” said Mr. Smith.  “I think everyone came away learning a lot about how to best engage the Department of Defense if you are a small technology company or manufacturer with the next great product or idea.  I firmly believe Georgia Tech can help connect the next great idea to those in DoD who need that idea and solution — and that is going to keep our nation safe.”

Copies of all presentations made at the Jan. 14, 2019 event — along with related resource materials — can be downloaded from: https://gtpac.org/training-video/

 

GDEcD produces videos on how to use GDX to identify DoD contract opportunities

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The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) has produced a series of three videos which consist of step-by-step tutorials on how to use the Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX) to find and win defense contracts.

In the videos, you’ll see three ways to use GDX:

  1. Use the Opportunities module to find contract opportunities perfect for your business; and save each opportunity so you can easily return to it in the future.
  2. Use the Contract History module to research contracts that will expire soon, so you can prepare to bid on the new contract.
  3. Use the Opportunities module to research pre-solicitations or sources sought to find trends in future needs.

To view the videos, click here.

To register to begin using GDX at no charge, click here. 

Note: The Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX) does not support Internet Explorer.  Please use Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari to access the site.

 

Governor announces launch of Georgia Defense Exchange to facilitate DoD contracting

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Gov. Nathan Deal announced yesterday (July 31, 2017) the launch of the Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX), an interactive business development platform designed to assist Georgia businesses in finding new opportunities in Department of Defense (DoD) contracting.

“From the Bell Bomber Plant during WWII to the NSA and U.S. Army Cyber Command in Augusta today, Georgia enterprises enjoy a storied history of fulfilling contracts for national defense,” said Deal. “Last year alone, defense contracts executed in Georgia were valued at $6.4 billion. These contracts provide significant opportunities for Georgia businesses and drive new development in local communities across the state. The GDX platform will allow us to equip companies with the tools they need to be competitive in acquiring DoD contracts while ensuring that this long-standing tradition continues in Georgia.”

GDX offers Georgia’s defense contracting community a one-stop data research and collaboration platform. The platform was designed to support and engage businesses across a wide variety of industry sectors with its rich data visualizations, interactive dashboards, real-time DOD data and business-to-business communication tools. GDX will open new opportunities for both traditionally defense-related businesses and service-oriented companies with no experience in defense contracting.

Lockheed Martin, Meggitt, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman account for some of the largest defense contracts in Georgia. Additionally, more than $3 billion of Georgia’s defense contracts are related to services for facility maintenance, science and engineering, equipment and construction.

“We pride ourselves on maintaining the best business environment in the nation, and providing top-notch resources for our citizens,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Commissioner Pat Wilson. “GDX levels the playing field, giving small businesses in Georgia the chance to know about and respond to the many defense contracting opportunities that are available. I am confident that all Georgia companies will benefit tremendously from GDX, and that our state will increase its competitive advantage in this sector.”

To develop GDX, GDEcD collaborated with The Simple VUE, a full-service information technology and data analytics consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta, and the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center.

About GDX

The Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX) is a product of GDEcD’s GUARD Initiative, partially funded through a grant from the DoD Office of Economic Adjustment and supported by the Center of Innovation for Aerospace and the Workforce Division. The GUARD Initiative focuses on Georgia’s defense industry and helps stakeholders understand defense industry trends and diversify their customer base. The free resource is available here.

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