Growing your business with government contracts

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If you’ve ever filled out a request for proposal for a government contract, you know those RFPs require some I dotting and T-crossing expertise. Enter PTAC.

The Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center was developed in September 2014 through a federal grant awarded by the Defense Logistics Agency; the grant was matched by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and other organizations in Lexington. The program was formerly known as the Kentucky Procurement Assistance Program and was run by the state. Now PTAC is an organization operated by the Small Business Development Center and the University of Kentucky.

Dee Dee Harbut

“We’re not just for small businesses,” said Dee Dee Harbut, PTAC’s program director, “but most of the time those are the ones that don’t have the resources to go after contracts with

state, local and national government.”

Harbut has had several positions with the Small Business Development Center since 2001, from the local SBDC level to the state. As the director of PTAC, she oversees the program’s various offerings, including one-on-one procurement counseling for business owners who want to build a proposal or need one reviewed. PTAC also has a computerized bid match service that sends RFP notifications via email to registered users based on keywords

from that business’s profile.

“It’s a great timesaver,” Harbut said. “You can get proposals that are pretty huge, sometimes 30 to 50 pages,” she said. “We’re here to help cut that learning curve.”

One of the most common mistakes she has seen people make is leaving off their own signature. “They don’t sign the proposal they’ve submitted that they’re in compliance with the rules and regulations.”

Speaking of paperwork, governmental agencies have to pay within 30 days of a properly submitted invoice. PTAC can help translate a government entity’s rules and regs for sending invoices.

Yet another service provided by PTAC is helping business owners get certifi cations for designations such as women-owned businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, among others, as there are often government contract set-asides available for them.

“We tend not to work with startups or those that are not doing well in business,” Harbut said. “You have to have resources to get government contracts.”

Employees and materials need to be already in place, for example.

Specializing in helping startups, as well as existing businesses that are looking to change or expand, is the Small Business Development Center itself. The SBDC’s state office is here in Lexington and oversees 15 centers in the commonwealth, one of which is also located in Lexington.

The Bluegrass SBDC operates out of the Commerce Lexington building downtown. Staff members at both offices work well with one another and refer clients back and forth, and they have relationships with other local, state and federal organizations, including the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Shirie Hawkins is the director of the Bluegrass SBDC.

Shirie Hawkins

“What we do is provide excellent consulting services to make you a better, more successful business,” she said. “What we don’t do is lend money.”

The Bluegrass SBDC works with any for-profit business of any size.

“Our sweet spot is 50 employees or less,” Hawkins said.

In addition to one-on-one counseling, the SBDC conducts training seminars throughout the year. Summer workshops are being finalized and will likely include a business version of speed dating, giving 20 to 30 entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their ideas for funding to bankers.

“You and that banker would talk one-on-one for three to five minutes,” Hawkins stated. “If interested, the banker would contact you later.”

A recent “small-town merchant program” sent the Bluegrass SBDC team to rural areas in central Kentucky for evaluations of retail businesses and in-depth consultations with store owners, giving them suggestions for revitalization.

“You can buy pretty much anything online,” Hawkins said. “The reason we go to a small storefront is because we like the people in that store and how we’re treated.”

Whether you are a solopreneur or the owner of a large company, government contracts are worth pursuing. The federal government, through its thousands of agencies, spends more than $500 billion per year.

“The government buys almost everything, from pencils to buildings to services. It is one of the largest consumers of goods,” PTAC’s Harbut said. “If you are an existing business looking to expand your revenue streams, look at government contracting.”

Yes, it is competitive. That’s why PTAC exists: to help local companies with the paperwork.

“We we want to bring those federal dollars here,” Harbut said, “and keep local and state dollars from flowing out.”

For more information about the Small Business Development Center or PTAC, visit www.ksbdc.org.

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