With seven locations throughout Utah, the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) help small businesses expand by identifying and winning government contracting opportunities. PTAC is a part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and helps the agency to fulfill its mission to strengthen and grow existing Utah businesses.
Government contracts are complex affairs. PTAC’s services reflect this complexity, and include one-on-one counseling, workshop training and a Bid-Match program. PTAC procurement counselors provide individual counseling on all aspects of government contracting, starting from assistance in the initial stage of how to find the right match, how to market to military and government, how to request and prepare solicitation documents, financing alternatives, and more.
Counselors also provide information on other government programs including SBIR/STTR grants and government-guaranteed bank loans.
These services – free to Utah businesses – are available at the client’s site or at PTAC office.
Utah’s PTAC program is acknowledged as one of the best in the nation and is reaching record highs. Last year PTAC assisted in the completion of more than $346 million in contracts and the creation of more than 7,000 jobs for Utah businesses.
Seven months into Fiscal Year 2014 Utah PTAC counseling shows a record-setting level of $507,000 client contract awards. “Our best record during the past nine years was $517 million, however, that was for an entire year,” said PTAC director Fred Lange. “These contracts are a result of our seven statewide PTAC offices, and represent the hard work of our Regional Managers.”
One such regional manager is Jonnie Wilkinson, who worked with Juan J. Cardenas of South Mountain Builders Inc. in Riverton, Utah. Cardenas said:
“PTAC has been very helpful to our company in pursuing government contracts over the past several years. We have received training from Jonnie Wilkinson and companies he has sponsored us to meet with. The guidance and aid we have received has helped South Mountain Builders, Inc. obtain numerous contracts. We were recently awarded a contract with the Department of Defense for more than $2,000,000 and an Air National Guard MATOC with a $20,000,000 ceiling over five years. I sincerely believe that PTAC’s assistance has been essential in obtaining these and many other contracts.”
In addition to counseling, PTAC hosts outreach events that involve briefings by large prime contractors, and government agencies looking for subcontractors or joint venture partners. These events are attended by 50 to 150 companies at a time and represent excellent networking opportunities. Watch the calendar at http://business.utah.gov for future opportunities.