Message from Frank Dixon, State Director |
- CTPTAC continues to be fully operational, and has strategically shifted our thinking on Doing Business During COVID - 19
- CTPTAC is innovating during these challenging times brought on by the pandemic and we have adjusted our training to a virtual platform when providing our many services.
- CTPTAC has enhanced its partnerships with CT municipalities, other government agencies and prime contractors to bring you: "How to do Business With... " webinar series
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November 3: Q & A with State Director, Frank Dixon
November 12: Understanding and Obtaining HUBZone Certification
November 17: Wide Area Workflow – The DoD’s Primary Portal for Invoicing
November 24: How to Navigate USASpending.gov
December 15: How to do Business with Pratt & Whitney
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Webinars that build your federal and state contracting acumen |
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Susan Bysiewicz, CT Lieutenant Governor &
Frank Dixon, CTPTAC State Director
2020 Minority Construction Council Expo
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2020 Minority Construction Council Expo |
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This is how CTPTAC is still here for you.
By:
- Continuing to provide government contracting services virtually and in-person while adhering to state mandated safety guidelines
- Educating client base on how to access federal, state and local government opportunities
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Connecting you virtually to Government Contracting Personnel, State and Municipal Purchasing units, and Prime Contractors
- Understanding how to build strategic partnerships to help you advance in the government marketplace
- Conducting virtual government and prime contractor contracting webinars and panel discussions
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How to do Business with Primes Webinar Series |
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The intention of the "How to do Business with Primes" webinar series is to bring CTPTAC clients local CT based opportunities, make connections and build relationships that will better position you in the government marketplace. |
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On July 30th, CT PTAC hosted the first of a series of How to do Business with Primes live webinar. Veronica Cook, presented detailed information on where to register, how to find opportunities, and who to contact within UCONN. The webinar was a major success with over 50 attendees! Read a few comments from attendees below.
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“The meeting was excellent and Ms. Cook’s presentation laid out a roadmap for any prospective UCONN contractor; highly satisfied!”
Reginald, Osagie, Akpata
New England Fancy Food Co, Inc.
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"I just wanted to follow up and say, “Thank you” for the webinar provided via CT PTAC “How to do Business with UNCONN”. I found the speaker Veronica Cook with the supplier diversity program very informative, and as a small minority woman owned business it is advantageous for us to utilize this asset to the best of our ability. All questions I asked were responded to during the webinar and was extremely helpful."
Pamela Jo McMahon
Government Account Manager
Interpreters and Translators, Inc.
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"I attended your excellent webinar this morning entitled “How to Do Business with the University of Connecticut” offered through CT PTAC and found it very useful and informative. I’ve completed the SMBE Connect online form for our company, and will continue to review bid opportunities and current contracts, as well as other pertinent information found on the University Business Services website that you reviewed during your webinar."
Stacey Rich, Admin. Asst.
Collier Electrical Corporation
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"Thank you for the follow-up on the webinar. RBH Designs, is a small women owned business located in Tolland specializing in technical textiles and sewing. The information PTAC and Veronica Cook supplied was very helpful and we look forward to taking the next steps toward doing business with Uconn!"
Ryan Hannigan
Co Founder
rbh designs
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On August 13th, Martha Crawford's How to do Business with Sikorsky-LM was another success with 60 attendees! Questions were asked and responses provided attendees with how to best connect with Sikorsky-LM. Major take-aways included: register to become a supplier, attach your capabilities statement along with your email when conducting outreach.
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"The webinar was very informative and got our company excited about the prospect of working with Sikorsky / Lockheed-Martin. The mentor-protégé program looks interesting & it was helpful to gain an understanding of the 4 business units."
Adam Greenberg
Executive Vice President
Birken Manufacturing
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FYIs from CT PTAC Procurement Specialists |
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Valerie Marchand
Procurement Specialist
Groton Office
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Interested in Government Procurements?
While working with the Federal government, businesses must learn to navigate the acronyms and numbers that each agency or department adopts. This can be hard for many small businesses, where employees are asked to wear many hats. Therefore, contacting Connecticut PTAC, who keeps up to date with the entire new and old lingo, are a great resource to ask… “What does that mean?”
Below is a quick guide to the more commonly known Federal government-wide language:
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FSG – Federal Supply Group – A two digit number assigned to a general group of products in the federal supply system. (The 1st two digits of a FSC)
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FSC – Federal Supply Code – A four digit number assigned to a specific subgroup of products within a Federal Supply Group. (The 1st four digits of a NSN)
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NSN – National Stock Number – A 13 digit number assigned to a single unique specific product which is purchased often enough to justify assignment of an NSN from a recent solicitation.
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Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) Number – A prerequisite to getting registered to do business with the government. A DUNS Number will be assigned at no cost to you.
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CAGE Code - Commercial and Government Entity - A unique 5 digit alpha-numeric code assigned to each government and commercial organization doing business with the Department of Defense is assigned as a function of the System for Award Management (SAM) registration.
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NAICS Code - North American Industrial Classification System - A six digit code that is replacing the SIC Code, developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.
If you or another business needs assistance with government contracting and understanding something, contact your local PTAC Counselor. You can register to become a client at www.ctptac.org. “Let’s Get Started”
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Cheryl DeMarco
Procurement Specialist
Hartford Office
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Doing Business with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
One of the largest Government Agencies is one that you may not be too familiar with, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The DLA provides logistical, acquisition, and technical support for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and other Federal Agencies and Allies. Selling to the DLA is an involved process that is mapped out for you here, with additional support on an as needed basis from us at CT PTAC. Keep in mind that some of the items that the DLA purchases include military spare parts, food, fuel, uniforms, medical supplies, and construction material for all Armed Forces, so there is opportunity for a variety of industries, products and services.
The starting point to selling to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is their Training Knowledge Opportunities (TKO) series. TKO is designed to show you, the Small Business, how to begin your working relationship with the Agency, what to expect, what they purchase and how to get onto their roster, as well as knowledge about the Agency as a whole.
For information and registration for either the TKO and Webinar seminars, please visit https://tko.dla.mil/, and select DLA Land and Maritime in the drop-down box to begin registration.
As always, please reach out to your assigned CT PTAC Counselor for other networking and event opportunities with the DLA and other Agencies.
Training, Knowledge, and Opportunities (TKO) Seminar 2020 Dates:
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Yu-Han (Jamie) Yang
Database Media Manager/ Procurement Specialist
East Hartford Office
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Did you know CTPTAC has a new Blog page shown on our website? If you want to review previous counselors’ articles posted in the Newsletter, or read up to date CTPTAC news you can always go back to our Blog page to review it.
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Marisol Herrera
Procurement Specialist
Fairfield County
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What is a Micro-Purchase?
Federal Level: MICRO-PURCHASES: Micro-purchase means an acquisition of products or services where the aggregate amount does not exceed $10,000. COMPETITION: Purchases within the micro-purchase threshold can be awarded without soliciting competitive price quotations if the price is reasonable. Read more here: FAR 13.201
State Level: Procurement by micro-purchases. Procurement by micro-purchase is the acquisition of supplies or services, the aggregate dollar amount of which does not exceed $3,000. (varies by city/town)
Small Business Opportunities in Micro-Purchasing
Did you know that 70% of government procurement transactions are micro-purchases through credit cards?
Things You Must know!
- Micro-purchases are not published/not posted anywhere
- The process is open-market
- Awarded without soliciting competitive quotations
- Federal Contracting officers and State Purchasing Agents are looking for small businesses in their area
TIPS
- Market your business to your potential customers!
- Start and build relationships with government small business offices in your area
- Be creative, what can you sell (service/product) under the micro-purchase threshold?
Advantages of Procurements by Micro-Purchases
- Reduces administrative costs
- Reduces paper-work
- fast turn around means faster payment
- Build past performance
- Build trust
- Lower dollar contracts mean lower risk
- Improves opportunities for small businesses to do business with government
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Small Business Event
USTRANSCOM IT Programs & Support Services Industry Forum
December 2, 2020 @ 8:30 am – noon Central Time
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The goal of this industry day event is to discuss current issues, identify possible solutions to pressing problems, and have crosstalk with technical, business, and contracting representatives in a collaborative environment.
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TABA: Supplemental SBIR/STTR funding you might not know about.
Here’s what it is and how you can request it.
TABA is essentially a mechanism to help you cover commercialization and business costs that otherwise could not be included in your SBIR/STTR proposal. TABA stands for “Technical and Business Assistance”, and was authorized in the 2019 John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act.
TABA is an evolution from the previous Discretionary Technical Assistance (DTA) and allows additional types of expenses that can be reimbursed with higher spending limits than the previous DTA. TABA amounts are generally added to the usual agency SBIR funding thresholds. Some SBIR/STTR agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense have increased the TABA limits in their Fiscal Year 2020 solicitations. Read full article.
BBCetc is here to help! BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting (BBCetc) can coach you through the TABA solicitation process as well as handling most of the services allowed by the participating agencies. To learn more about TABA and how BBCetc can help, contact Kris Bergman at kris@bbcetc.com
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Meet the CT PTAC Team
Solving the Puzzle of Government Contracting
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