Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

GTPAC enters 33rd year of continuous service to Georgia businesses

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On Feb. 1, 2019, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) enters its 33rd year of continuous operation, providing assistance to Georgia’s business community in the pursuit of government contracts.

Specifically, GTPAC helps businesses identify, compete for, and win contracts at all levels of government – federal, state, and local.

GTPAC is one of about a dozen programs – known as Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) – that were established shortly after Congress launched the initiative in 1985.  Today, there are 95 PTACs across the nation that serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

GTPAC’s continued operation is made possible through funds provided by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) along with state funding made available through Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

On Jan. 24, 2019, GTPAC received a fully executed award document from the DLA ensuring that funding would be made available to Georgia Tech for another year of PTAC operations in the state of Georgia.

“We are grateful for the confidence DLA places in us to carry out this program in Georgia,” says Program Manager Andrew Smith, “and we are very thankful for the support that Georgia Tech provides to the program.”

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) regularly hosts events that bring together government buyers with Georgia-based businesses. On Jan. 14th of this year, GTPAC hosted a Defense Innovation Conference attended by 220 businesses, Defense Department officials, and major prime contractors.

GTPAC is widely recognized as a PTAC with one of the strongest track records in the nation.  Over the last decade, GTPAC helped Georgia businesses win between $500 million and $1 billion in government contracts, annually.

While tabulations for calendar year 2018 are not yet complete, preliminary reports show that GTPAC’s clients won at least 3,400 government prime contracts and subcontracts worth more than $1 billion.

GTPAC counseled, instructed, and identified bid opportunities for 2,300 businesses across the State of Georgia last year. GTPAC also conducted 150 training workshops and participated in 31 events statewide where more than 3,000 business people received instruction on how to effectively compete for government contracts.

GTPAC maintains staff in Albany, Atlanta, Gainesville, Carrollton, Savannah, and Warner Robins.  Training is also conducted in Athens and Columbus as well as via on-line webinars.  All businesses in Georgia are eligible to receive GTPAC’s services at no cost. The program provides Georgia businesses with counseling, training, and a complete set of electronic tools to research and identify government contracting opportunities.

For contact information, and to register for any GTPAC workshop statewide, visit the program’s website at www.gtpac.org.

Three tips for researching contract awardees and probable bidders

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Trying to size-up your competition in the federal contracting marketplace? 
Looking for a “winner” to team-up with?  
Or just curious about what companies are successfully winning government contracts?

Here are three relatively easy ways to do some meaningful market research on-line:

  1. Go to FedBizOpps (FBO) and use the “Advanced Search” feature there to look for contract opportunities and contract awards in the NAICS category that describes what you sell (look up your NAICS codes here).   Set whatever date parameters you’d like (FBO will allow you to search back many years).   You also might want to set some geographic limits on your search.   Be sure to select both active and archived documents as well as awards.   After you hit the Search button, you can then sort through the resulting list (which is compiled by most recent contracts back to the oldest).  Drill down into contract awards postings to see which agencies have bought what you sell and who’s won these contracts in the past.
  2. Whenever you go to FedBizOpps and look at an active solicitation, you should get acquainted with using the two buttons labeled: “Add to Watchlist” and “Add Me To Interested Vendors.”    The first one will ensure that you are sent updates on the solicitation.  The second button will add you to a list of interested parties; it allows the contracting officer to assess potential interest in the solicitation, and when the “View Interested Vendors” module has been activated, it allows anyone to see the list of interested parties, along with all their contact information.  Once you register, this is a good way to “see and be seen.”
  3. If the “View Interested Vendors” module in FedBizOpps has not been activated for a particular solicitation, you may wish to email the points-of-contact listed in the posting and request that they activate it so that all may see the list.  Let them know that you are interested and qualified to participate and wish to pursue a partnering arrangement.  If you are a small business – particularly one in a socio-economic category the government gives preference to – be sure to point that out.  Contracting officers will understand that your gaining access to the list could help facilitate small business participation in the contract.
  4. We promised three tips, but here’s a bonus tip!   Each month, GTPAC posts on its web site a list of the contractors in Georgia that won federal contracts.  Each list shows the name of the prime contractor, the title of the contract, the awarding agency, dollar value, and points of contact.  You can find these lists at: http://gtpac.org/tag/awardees/

Be sure to attend classes conducted by the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) and communicate with GTPAC’s Procurement Counselors to learn about even more ways to conduct market research, identify opportunities, and find potential subcontracting leads.

© 2010-2017 Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center – All Rights Reserved.

Government contracting success event scheduled for Jan. 31 in Atlanta

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amex-openAmerican Express is bringing its government contracting success event back to Atlanta on Jan. 31, 2017.

The American Express OPEN for Government Contracting program provides free events, resources, mentoring and networking opportunities to help mid-sized businesses to get the insight and experience they need to do business with the world’s largest customer: the U.S. government.

This event gives small and mid-sized business owners insights into how to navigate the government contracting landscape.

Meet Buyers and Mentors

Attendees can sign up for an opportunity to have one-on-one meetings with government agencies and large prime contractor representatives. Past organizations participating include the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation.

There also will be an opportunity to participate in mentoring sessions with government contracting experts, including buyers, agency representatives, and fellow small and mid-sized business owners.

Location and Agenda

The day-long event on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017 will begin at 8:00 am at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis,  265 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303.    One of the featured speakers will be Chuck Schadl of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) who will talk about what it takes to break into, and succeed, in the government marketplace.

Download the preliminary agenda by clicking here.

Registration

To learn more and register, visit: openforum.com/events/OGCAtlanta2017

See a report on a similar event held in Atlanta in 2015 here: http://gtpac.org/2015/02/10/american-express-open-atlanta-guide-features-gtpac 

 

PTACs help businesses win $12 billion in government contracts

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aptac 2The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) reports that businesses, nationwide, won 73,000 government contracts worth $12 billion, thanks to the assistance provided by the network of procurement technical assistance centers (PTACs).    Small businesses won 88% of these contracts.

There are 300 PTAC offices across the country, plus in Guam and Puerto Rico, and each one is supported by a local host organization that provides funds matching the support granted by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).  APTAC estimates that the return-on-investment is $344 for every federal dollar invested in the PTAC program.

Through the free or low-cost assistance provided by PTACs:

  • 57,000 businesses – located in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico – were educated in the past year through one-on-one counseling sessions, electronic tools, and training seminars on how to do business with the government.
  • The equipment and supply needs of our country’s warfighters are supported – and the nation’s industrial base is boosted – through the influx of businesses seeking to compete for government contracts.
  • Help is targeted toward small businesses, especially veteran-owned businesses, women and minority entrepreneurs, and businesses located in economically depressed HUBZones.

PTACs contribute not only to the success of small businesses, they also help government agencies and large businesses.  For example, PTACs:

  • Support initiatives by the Department of Veterans Affairs to make more veteran-owned firms “procurement ready.”
  • Boost vendor registrations in the General Services Administration’s System for Award Management (SAM).
  • Show businesses how to use DLA’s Internet Bid Board System (DIBBS), radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging and unique identification (UID) marking.
  • Increase qualified sources, competition and create better value for the military, agencies and American taxpayers.
  • Stimulate local economic activity by helping businesses across the country navigate federal, state and local government contracting processes.
  • Educate businesses on how to meet stringent government standards and complex contract requirements.
  • Help large government contractors identify qualified subcontractors and suppliers to address their small business subcontracting requirements.

30th Anniversary - GTPAC 2016In Georgia, the PTAC is known as the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC).  In 2015 alone, GTPAC:

  • Served 2,568 businesses across the state, providing representatives of these firms counseling, instruction, and bid opportunities.
  • Sponsored 169 seminars and webinars, and participated in 52 events state-wide where more than 6,112 business people received instruction on how to effectively compete for government contracts.
  • Conducted 8,737 counseling sessions with small businesses as well as 368 counseling sessions with large businesses.
  • Assisted clients in winning 4,526 government prime contracts and 764 subcontracts worth a total of $1.2 billion.

For more information about APTAC and the national network of PTACs, visit www.aptac-us.org.  For more information about GTPAC, including how to enroll as a client, please visit www.gtpac.org.

To see a fact sheet on APTAC, click on this link: PTAC Fact Sheet – May 2016.

To see a fact sheet on GTPAC, click on this link: GTPAC Fact Sheet – April 2016

GTPAC receives funding commitments to enter 30th year of service to Georgia businesses

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30th Anniversary - GTPAC 2016On Feb. 1, 2016, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will enter its 30th year of continuous operation, serving Georgia businesses with assistance in winning and managing government contracts.

GTPAC is one of about a dozen programs – known as Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) – that were established shortly after Congress launched the initiative in 1985. Today, there are 97 PTACs across the nation that serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

GTPAC’s continued operation is possible based on a 50-50 funding match between the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and state funding made available through Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

On Jan. 22, 2016, GTPAC received a fully executed award document from the DLA ensuring that funding would be made available to Georgia Tech for another year of PTAC operations in the state of Georgia.

The Georgia Tech program is recognized as a PTAC with one of the strongest track records. Last year, GTPAC was ranked as one of the top five programs in the nation by the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. On average, GTPAC helps Georgia businesses annually win between $500 million and $1 billion in government contracts.

In calendar year 2015, GTPAC’s clients won 3,618 government prime contracts and 613 subcontracts worth a combined total of $1.2 billion.

GTPAC counseled, instructed, and provided bid opportunities to an active client base of 2,500 businesses across the State of Georgia last year. GTPAC also conducted 126 classes and participated in 33 events statewide where more than 6,000 business people received instruction on how to effectively compete for government contracts. In all, GTPAC staff members conducted 6,339 counseling sessions with Georgia-based small businesses in 2015 as well as 262 counseling sessions with large businesses.

GTPAC maintains staff in Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Gainesville, Carrollton, Savannah, and Warner Robins.  All businesses in Georgia are eligible to receive GTPAC’s services at no cost. The program provides Georgia businesses with counseling, training, and a complete set of electronic tools to research and identify government contracting opportunities.

For contact information, and to register for any GTPAC workshop statewide, visit the program’s website at www.gtpac.org.

Robins Air Force Base to hold contract data mining summit on Nov. 9th

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Robins Air Force Base (Warner Robbins, GA) is holding an summit meeting to assist industry with learning more about the Air Force’s drive toward utilizing strategic/enterprise contract vehicles vs. individual stand-alone contracts.   The summit will be held on Monday, November 9, 2015.

Robins AFBIn order to assist industry to be better prepared, subject matter experts will provide guidance on how to perform requirements/contract data mining using NAICS codes, the Federal Procurement Data System, FedBizOpps, and other resources.  In addition, Anthony Baumann, Director of Contracting, AFSC/PK-R, will provide information on potential future contracting requirements.

The summit will be held in the Aviation Museum and will begin at 8:00 am.

American Express OPEN Atlanta Guide features GTPAC

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On January 21, 2015, you may have had a chance to attend the latest in a series of national forums on government contracting hosted by American Express OPEN.  On that date, OPEN conducted a forum in Atlanta designed to help businesses build connections with government officials, contracting experts, and other businesses to assist in winning government contracts.

American Express OPEN published a contracting guide in conjunction with its Jan. 21st event.  Entitled “Government Contracting in Atlanta: Maximizing Your Success,” the guide features interviews with Chuck Schadl of Georgia Tech; Necole Parker of The Elocen Group (a client of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center); Cassius Butts, regional director of the Small Business Administration; and Adam Smith, purchasing director for the City of Atlanta.

The guide offers practical tips for pursuing government contracts.  You can download a copy by clicking on this link: Atlanta_Insight_Guide_01.21.2015

AMEX OPEN Atlanta Guide

For more information about American Express OPEN and related business resources, visit: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/explore/?linknav=us-openforum-global-header-whatsnew

Government agencies offer advice on avoiding contracting mistakes

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[Editor’s Note: The Raleigh, NC News Observer’s “Shop Talk” reporter Virginia Bridges attended Marketplace, a local workshop and networking opportunity to help small businesses identify government contracting opportunities, and asked representatives from various agencies about common mistakes small-business owners make when seeking government contracts.  Below is a list of tips offered.]

•  “One of the major components is small-business owners fail to actually understand what the city really needs,” said Luther Williams, Raleigh’s Business Assistance Program manager. “I think this could be solved if individuals would just look at the request that the city has out there and do a little research on the city’s request to determine if their product is compatible with the city’s needs.”

•  “They haven’t made the internal decision as to whether or not they really want to do business with the federal government,” said Bruce Osborne, a customer service director with U.S. General Services Administration. “Seventy-five percent of them have not asked themselves that question and afforded the opportunity to debate it with their organization.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/10/2953923/government-agencies-offer-advice.html 

14 Tips for Attending a Government Expo or Trade Show

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Federal, state and local government agencies frequently host trade shows or expos to publicize their contract opportunities and attract new vendors.   Wonder whether you should attend a government-sponsored business expo?  What should you expect if you go?  How should you prepare?  Are you disappointed in the last trade show you attended?

These are the kinds of questions often posed by clients of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC).  Fundamentally, businesses want to know how they can gain a competitive advantage by attending an event sponsored by a government agency.  The answer lies as much in preparation and follow-up as it does in actual attendance.

GTPAC Counselors believe these kinds of events are what you make them.   If you go to just listen, you may come away disappointed.  If, on the other hand, you go to make something happen, you can come away with some good contacts,valuable insights, and solid business leads.

Here are a few tips …

  1. Establish some objectives for yourself – what do you hope to accomplish by attending?  State this in concrete, quantifiable terms.
  2. Think about the specific kinds of opportunities you want to go after and be prepared to explain how you represent the solution to the government’s contracting objectives.
  3. Identify who is going to be in attendance and research in advance as much as you can about who will be there and those persons you want to meet.  Think about why they are going to the show and what they want to accomplish there – align yourself with their objectives.
  4. Familiarize yourself with all details of the show so that you can envision how you are going to use the structure of the show to accomplish your objectives.
  5. Be prepared with marketing materials, including business cards, brochures and/or product/service fact sheets, product samples/portfolio, and a detailed capabilities statement.  (Don’t have a capabilities statement?  See our article on this subject here.)  Tailor at least one of your handouts to the expo or show itself.
  6. Be prepared to talk about pricing.  You may not need to, but be prepared just in case someone asks.
  7. Begin to envision how your competitors at the show can be potential partners as a result of the show.
  8. Develop and be prepared to deliver a 30-second “elevator speech” which explains in layman’s terms exactly what you are an expert at doing.  Don’t be shy to explain what’s special about your company and why your products/services are the best.  (If you need help constructing an elevator speech, see our article at http://gtpac.org/2010/07/whats-an-elevator-pitch-and-why-you-need-one.)
  9. Remember that buyers don’t have time to waste.  Buyers want specific information, and buyers want to know what’s special about you (that’s your competitive advantage).
  10. Preparation is essential.  It’s better not to go than to go unprepared – you never have a second chance to make a good first impression.
  11. Dress to impress.  And wear comfortable shoes!
  12. At the show, listen to how your competitors are selling themselves and learn as much about their marketing as possible.  Also learn from their mistakes.
  13. Understand that follow-up after the show is critical.  Gather all the business cards you collected, write follow-up notes or emails – promptly.   Set-up follow-up meetings/conference calls, if possible and appropriate.  Send more marketing materials.
  14. Write yourself a report on lessons-learned.  Review this report before planning to participate in another event.

Your GTPAC Counselor will be glad to elaborate on this topic and provide you with additional advice.  You can find our contact information right here.

© 2010 Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center – All Rights Reserved.

Looking for help with government contracts, but not located in Georgia? There’s help available

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The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center provides help to businesses located in Georgia.  But what if your business is loacted in another state — is there help available for you, too?

The answer is yes!   There are what are known as Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) located in all 50 states, and each one is in business to provide assistance to businesses on how to identify, compete for, and win government contracts.

You can find the complete list of PTACs nationwide at http://www.aptac-us.org/new/Govt_Contracting/find.php.  On this web site, just select a state or click on the map to find complete details on the PTAC nearest you.

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