Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Two new free webinars to be presented on Oct. 24th

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The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) has just added two new webinars to our free training roster.  Both webinars will be presented on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. 

Details, times, and registration details appear below.

“Capabilities Statement — What It Is and Why You Should Have One”  

  • Time: 10:00 to 11:30 am
  • Description: In order to effectively market yourself in the government sector, you should have a corporate résumé. Government agencies call this a Capabilities Statement.  A Capabilities Statement should contain information to tell buyers why you’re an expert and why they should feel confident about awarding you a contract. This workshop provides instruction on how to write a good Capabilities Statement, including all the right ingredients. If you are looking for help with how to present your company to government decision-makers, then attending this workshop is a must.
  • Register at: https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events/8558

“How to Create a Great Elevator Speech”

  • Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
  • Description: Ever wondered how to introduce your business to a government buyer? Like everything else, there’s a right way and a wrong way. Government officials are often pressed for time, so you usually have a limited amount of time to “sell yourself.” This workshop will teach you how to introduce yourself like a pro … and convince decision-makers that you are an expert at what you do!
  • Register at: https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events/8559

 

You are invited to be a beta-tester for a brand-new GTPAC service

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Raise your hand … if you’re interested in providing suggestions for a valuable new service that the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) is planning to launch in October!

GTPAC is creating a brand new, on-line tool that will allow clients to collaborate among themselves.  This means that GTPAC clients – exclusively – will be able to ask questions of other clients, share information, offer suggestions, recruit teaming partners, and lots more.

Before we launch this new tool – called The GTPAC Community – we want to solicit feedback from a group of users who will be given access to a beta version of the tool.

If you’d like to play a role in the beta testing before we launch The GTPAC Community, please send an email to: kedouard@georgia.org

  • In the Subject line of your email, put the words: GTPAC Community
  • In the body of your email, simply provide: your name, your company name, and your email address.

After we verify that you are a registered GTPAC client, you’ll be send a link to the beta version of The GTPAC Community, along with instructions for providing any feedback you’d like to share.

Thank you for playing a role in making GTPAC’s services even more valuable!

Be sure to read this reminder about upcoming events

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The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) wants to remind you of a series of events coming up in the next few months.

Each event is designed to provide businesses with instruction and information on how to do business with particular elements of the government.  Check them out below:

  • August 30 – Coffee Break with Small Business Specialists – Columbus, GA.  Click here for details.
  • September 6 – Coffee Break with Small Business Specialists – Albany, GA.  Click here for details.
  • September 26 – National PTAC Day, including a free instructional webinar.  Click here for details.
  • October 18 – NIST Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) webinar.  Click here for details.
  • November 1 – Warner Robins Air Force Base Civil Engineering Industry Day. Warner Robins, GA.  Click here for details.
  • November 30 – University System of Georgia’s annual procurement expo, Georgia State Univerity-Clarkston Campus  Click here for details.

And, finally, GTPAC also wants to remind of all of our own seminars and webinars.  They are free, and the complete list is available here: https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events.

 

You’re invited: Be part of the National PTAC Day celebration on Sept. 26th!

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All of us as the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) are proud to announce that GTPAC is a key participant in a national celebration.  You can be too!

National PTAC Day – Wednesday, September 26, 2018 – is a celebration of the contracting success of the thousands of small businesses who have benefitted from training, counseling and other assistance delivered by their local procurement technical assistance center (PTAC).

National PTAC Day unites the 95 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) in all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico) – and the 48,000 clients they serve – by sharing small business success stories in the government marketplace and the significant economic impact that PTAC clients create within their communities. This special day features a national social media campaign, public relations initiatives, online and in-person events, and more.

A major feature of PTAC Day – and one that GTPAC is directly supporting – is a national webinar entitled “Top Tips for Finding and Winning Government Contracts.”  GTPAC Procurement Counselor Tom Larkin is one of three panelists who will be providing his insights during the webinar.  This no-cost presentation takes place Wednesday, September 26th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern time.

By participating in the webinar you’ll learn how to:

  • Gett Ready to Enter the Government Marketplace
  • Find Government Contract Opportunities
  • Bid on Government Contracts

To participate in this free one-hour webinar, click here.

For more information about the national PTAC celebration, visit http://www.aptac-us.org/PTACDay.  Follow the hashtag #PTACDay on social media!

GTPAC is the PTAC, funded in part by the Defense Logistics Agency, that serves businesses throughout Georgia.  Through one-on-one counseling and training events, GTPAC assists 2,360 businesses, located in 135 Georgia counties.  In FY18, GTPAC clients won 2,645 government contracts and 540 subcontracts valued at a total of $927,076,307.

How ‘useful links’ can help you navigate the government contracting process

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Clients of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will tell you how helpful GTPAC’s “Introduction to Government Contracting” seminar is.  Hundreds and hundreds of Georgia businesses have used the “Intro” seminar as their first stepping stone into the government contracting arena.

What these businesses may forget is that GTPAC has a web page containing all of the resources featured in the seminar.

GTPAC’s “Intro” class outlines of seven steps that are essential to achieving success in the government marketplace.  The seven steps are:

  1. Registration in Government Databases
  2. Creating a Marketing Plan
  3. Knowing the Right People
  4. Developing a Reference Library
  5. Searching for Opportunities
  6. Bidding and Performing
  7. Marketing to State and Local Governments

Internet resources supporting the seven steps are valuable to businesses who have attended GTPAC’s “Intro” seminar as well as those who have not.

By reviewing the seven steps on-line — available here — businesses can familiarize themselves with all of the things they should do to prepare themselves before pursuing government contracts.  The resources listed on GTPAC’s “useful links” webpage inform newcomers to government contracting — and remind experienced government contractors — of each essential step that must be taken to achieve success in the government contracting marketplace.

Why not visit GTPAC’s Useful Links today to see what steps you may have neglected to take?  There are more than 160 government contracting resources posted there!

To register to attend GTPAC’s next “Introduction to Government Contracting” seminar — either in-classroom or via a webinar — check GTPAC’s training calendar at https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events.  All of GTPAC’s training seminars are free of charge.

 

Learn all about disaster contracting — before the storm — on July 27

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Hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters strike the United States and its territories every year.

While tragic, these events can create billions of dollars in contracting opportunities for government contractors that desire to help communities rebuild and get back on their feet.

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center is conducting a webinar on July 27, 2018 that will examine the federal and state funding streams related to disaster contracting, including tips on how you can best position your company “before the storm” to win disaster contracting opportunities.

To register for this free lunchtime webinar, please visit: https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events/8477.

 

New cyber rule requires critical documents

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Contractors and their supply chain with active Defense Department contracts, or those that plan on doing business with it, must assure that any of their data systems that transmit, process or store controlled unclassified information are compliant with National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 “Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Non-federal Information Systems and Organizations.”

It’s clear that meeting the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7012 mandate to comply to the special publication is a required priority for defense contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.

Making a system security plan and plan of actions and mitigations is crucial to winning new business and keeping existing contracts this year and moving forward. Here are some tips on how to approach creating and utilizing these complex compliance documents.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/3/30/new-cyber-rule-requires-critical-documents

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) has developed an instructional video and a template to help contractors comply with DoD’s cybersecurity requirements.  You can view and download these resources at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

 

Fort Stewart holding ‘forecast forum’ on April 18

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Fort Stewart is inviting vendors to attend a Forecast Forum where representatives of the Mission Installation Contracting Command {MICC) will provide details of their anticipated contracting opportunities for the remainder of FY18.

The event will take place on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm.

Location: SFC Paul R. Smith Education Center, 100 Knowledge Dr., Fort Stewart, GA 31313.

There is no fee to attend, but advance registration is required!

Register on-line at: https://gtpac.ecenterdirect.com/events/8468

See the agenda here: MICC Fort Stewart Forecast Forum Agenda 18 April 2018

Important access information: This event is being held outside Gate 1.  Make a right onto General Stewart Way, and then a left onto Knowledge Drive.

FEMA wants counties to take charge of pre-disaster logistics

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator urged county officials to arrange pre-event contracts for commodities ahead of disasters, instead of waiting for assistance that might not come.

Brock Long, speaking at the National Association of Counties legislative conference in the nation’s capital last Tuesday, said FEMA’s contracting processes during 2017’s devastating hurricane and wildfire seasons were a “huge success.” The agency secured 1,973 contracts on top of 59 that were pre-event for water, meals ready to eat, debris removal, disaster cost recovery and other services.

But in the event communities are cut off by a serious earthquake that cripples infrastructure, Long said, they may need to provide life-saving resources for 48 to 72 hours before the feds can backfill.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.routefifty.com/public-safety/2018/03/fema-brock-long-counties-disaster/146447/

Note to Our Readers: GTPAC hosted a conference in January on the subject of disaster-related contracting.  You can read a report of that conference, and download the resources that resulted from that conference, at: http://gtpac.org/2018/01/10/gtpacs-before-the-storm-event-helps-vendors-with-governments-emergency-contracting-protocols

GTPAC’s cybersecurity initiative recognized with national ‘Outstanding Project Award’

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GTPAC received the Outstanding Project Award at APTAC’s annual training conference on Mar. 7, 2018.

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) was honored this week by the Association of Procurement Assistance Centers (APTAC), the organization which represents 98 procurement technical assistance centers (PTACs) across the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico.

GTPAC was presented with APTAC’s Outstanding Project Award which annually recognizes an accomplishment that stands out from the day-to-day activities that all PTACs organize and undertake.

The project recognized by APTAC is GTPAC’s instructional video that provides step-by-step guidance to government contractors on how they can achieve compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) cybersecurity requirements  designed to safeguard DoD information and report on cyber incidents.

GTPAC’s video and accompanying resources – including a template which contractors may use – are made available free of charge on the GTPAC web site at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video.

The video and template have been heralded both by PTACs, who counsel businesses, and by businesses themselves as valuable one-stop resources for existing contractors and aspiring DoD contractors alike.  Since the launch of these training tools at the end of last year, 1,284 persons have viewed the video and downloaded the template 1,508 times.

Specifically, the video explains Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252.204-7012, including its key definitions and cyber obligations, including its primary requirement that defense contractors which process, store or transmit “covered defense information” must address 110 individual cybersecurity controls outlined in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171.

The 20-minute video not only provides information on these requirements, but also provides specific guidance on how government contractors can achieve compliance with the DFARS clause and the NIST standards.  The video guides government contractors on how they can perform a “self-assessment” of their information system using NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Cybersecurity Self-Assessment Handbook.

One of the most creative and innovative aspects of the project is the 127-page cybersecurity template GTPAC created in conjunction with the video.  The template provides step-by-step instructions on how government contractors can create a “Systems Security Plan” and “Plan of Action” – documentation necessary to achieve compliance.

The resources GTPAC created are very timely in light of recent warnings from DoD that it plans to request and evaluate cyber plans from businesses as a part of the contract award decision-making process.   If the video is carefully reviewed and the template is fully completed and properly filled out, contractors will be in a position to document their compliance with the DFARS cybersecurity requirements.

Members of the GTPAC team proudly show off the national award they received.

GTPAC program manager Joe Beaulieu points out that “by providing the video and cybersecurity template, GTPAC’s objective is to make the process of achieving compliance much easier, especially for small defense contractors who may not have the resources necessary to develop such plans from scratch.”  Indeed, the template makes the process of drafting the required documentation easier, as contractors merely have to fill in the blanks and answer specific questions, rather than work from a blank slate.  While it is ultimately up to the contractor to meet the requirements and to provide accurate information, GTPAC’s video and template provide contractors with an excellent starting point for assessing, achieving and documenting compliance.

In honoring GTPAC with the Outstanding Project Award, APTAC encouraged other PTACs to make use of the video, template, and resource materials posted at http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video.  NIST recently provided similar encouragement to their nationwide network of MEPs in their work with U.S. manufacturers.  GTPAC coordinated the creation of the cybersecurity materials with the Georgia MEP (GaMEP) which, like GTPAC, is a part of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2).

EI2 is Georgia Tech’s business outreach organization which serves as the primary vehicle to achieve Georgia Tech’s goal of expanded local, regional, and global outreach.  EI2 is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development.

GTPAC is a state-wide program operated by EI2 under a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).   In 2017, Georgia businesses won more than 5,000 government contracts – worth more than $1 billion – with GTPAC’s help.  All totalled, GTPAC provided counseling, instruction, and bid opportunities to 2,548 Georgia businesses during the past year.

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