Maine APEX Newsletter: May 2025

Helping businesses find, win and perform on government contracts • maineapex.com

May 2025 Newsletter

PM’s Corner

A monthly feature from the Maine APEX Director, Bryan Wallace

Last Chance for Small Business Vendors and Sellers to Register for the Business Matchmaker

Maine’s Meet the Buyers Matchmaking Event is this week! This event will be held at the Augusta Civic Center on Thursday, May 15th. Registration for sellers, vendors and small businesses will remain open until noon on Wednesday, May 14. Please register as soon as possible so you can request your appointments with buyers. Register at https://www.MaineBusinessMatchmaker.com/.

I am excited to share that Maine DECD Commissioner, Michael Duguay, will present opening remarks, and Maine State Treasurer, Joseph C. Perry, will deliver a keynote address.

This single-day event will bring together federal, state, municipal and prime contractors with local businesses to discuss opportunities and solutions to upcoming procurements. We’re looking forward to this event and hope to see you there!

SAM Registration Dos and Don'ts

Jessica Crowley, Procurement Counselor for Washington County

Oftentimes as Maine APEX Accelerators, we get phone calls asking for assistance with the System of Award Management and registrations. Whether a business or municipality needs assistance with their first time registration or their annual renewal, we can assist you. I am going to discuss some Do's and Don'ts to be aware of in the SAM registration process.

Do's:

Prepare your documents like a bank statement with your company/organization's legal name and physical address. Other important documents to have handy are Articles of Incorporation/Formation, and utility bills.
Have a Point of Contact person: a member of your organization who is responsible, trustworthy and can answer any communication if needed.
Have your EIN or TIN information ready
Please update new information in SAM as things change from time to time
You can try to register your entity yourself, but if you run into difficulty, it is best to meet with an APEX accelerator.

Don'ts:

For the annual renewal process, do not wait until the week of expiration to renew your business's registration. Problems often arise at the last minute.
Do not create multiple SAM registrations for the same business/organization, this will just create issues later on.
If there have been any changes with your entity like legal name change, address change, etc, do not continue using the incorrect information. Most likely an agency like FSD, IRS or CAGE will find out the new correct information and your SAM registration will be in jeopardy.
Do not lie on your SAM registration.

As always, we are here for you and your business. If you have questions, thoughts or concerns, please reach out!

Free Upcoming Webinars

The Maine APEX team hosts free webinars for those interested in learning more about government contracting.

Maine's Meet the Buyers Matchmaker

5/15/25 • all day

Click here to learn more

I'm a New Client, Now What?

5/22/25 • 10:00am

Click here to learn more

Selling to the State of Maine

06/05/25 • 11:00am

Click here to learn more

What’s Up Doc? - CMMC Cybersecurity Implementation; A Mid-Year Update

6/24/25 • 1:30pm

Click here to learn more

View all events

Come Join Us!

Start Up Maine Week

Mon, May 19, 5pm - May 22, 7pm

Multiple Locations

Startup Maine is a resource hub within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It serves as a convener for founders, tech workers, entrepreneurial support organizations, funders, and those who are startup curious. The annual conference (Startup Maine Week) is the time of year where these groups come together to learn, share resources, and get inspired.

Join Maine's premier entrepreneurial event to connect, learn and grow within our vibrant startup ecosystem.

More information here!

Move Your Business Ahead by Tapping into Maine's Small Business Resource Network!

Christopher Paradis, Procurement Counselor serving Franklin, Oxford, and Androscoggin Counties

Did you know Maine has a wealth of no cost or low-cost small business resources to help assist and counsel your business on a wide range of subjects? Taking advantage of these resources offered by a number of organizations can help put your business on a stronger footing and pathway to success, sustainability, and profitability whether pursuing commercial business or government marketplace opportunities.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a start-up company or have been in business for a number of years- the three well-known organizations listed below, in addition to Maine APEX Accelerator’s government contacting resources, are great sources to find invaluable business advising and assistance. They provide one on one counseling covering such topics as business plan development, financial management, marketing and sales, e-commerce, customer service, personnel management, strategic planning, and information technology to name just a few.

The Maine Small Business Development Center (Maine SBDC) should be one of your first stops. SBDC is a partnership program with the State of Maine, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the University of Southern Maine. SBDC provides businesses with assistance to start and/or expand their business. The partnership offers a statewide network of business counselors providing one-on-one counseling to existing businesses and entrepreneurs on a range of topics and even offers an interactive on-line business start-up course. To learn more about SBDC and their available resources, visit www.mainesbdc.org.

Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) is a nonprofit organization providing educational workshops to help small businesses get started, grow, operate effectively, and promote greater job creation in local communities. Its network of entrepreneurs, business lenders, and executives who volunteer as mentors provide invaluable no cost assistance and expertise to entrepreneurs and business owners. You can access Maine’s network of mentors by going to http://scoremaine.org to find the office nearest you.

The Women’s Business Centers hosted by Coastal Enterprises, Inc. provide business training, coaching, mentoring, and other assistance with a focus on women owned businesses, particularly those who may be socially and economically disadvantaged. To discover out how the Women’s Business Centers could assist your business visit: www.wbdc.org.

Maine APEX Accelerator is a program of Eastern Maine Development Corporation and provides a wide range of resources to help Maine’s small business explore and pursue government contracting opportunities at the municipal, state, or federal level. This includes one-on-one counseling, federal and state procurement registration support, finding potential opportunities through its Bid Match Program, and application assistance for SBA’s socioeconomic certifications to name a few. Visit https://www.maineapex.com to learn more on how they can help better position your company to pursue government marketplace opportunities.

As a brand new or seasoned small business owner, you should always be striving to work smarter, not just harder and reaching out to one or more of these organizations to learn more about their invaluable resources, knowledge, and expertise available to you is the first step. I am confident that by taking the next step to take advantage of these resources, your business will be stronger and much better positioned for long-term success, sustainability, and most importantly profitability. So, what are you waiting for? Contact them today!

Recent Changes to the SBA Women Owned Small Business Application Process

Dana Delano, CPP, Procurement Counselor for Aroostook County

If you are thinking of applying to become a Small Business Administration (SBA) Certified Women Owned Small Business, a couple of changes and new provisions have been added to the program application process as of January 2025. Luckily, they are not ‘over the top’ changes and should actually help move the process along for all applicants.

Prior to the change, the SBA was directed to advise each applicant within 15 calendar days after the receipt of an application whether the application was complete and suitable for evaluation and, if not, what additional information was required to complete the application. However, since the SBA transitioned its application process to a new secure platform at certifications.sba.gov, applicants are generally not able to submit their application unless all required documents are uploaded and complete. As a result, we can be confident that the application was submitted in full and is ready for review. The new process generally does not allow a company to submit their application unless all documents are uploaded and complete. Therefore, we already know that the application is complete for review.

The SBA will continue to advise each applicant after the receipt of an application on what additional information or clarifications are required to complete the application review process. In addition, and this is the good news, the SBA will make its determination within ninety (90) calendar days after the receipt of a complete package. Before this change, we did not have an estimated ‘end-date’. Sometimes it was 60 days and other times 180 days…or longer!! Overall, we are happy with the changes to this program’s application process over the past few years, and specifically, the most recent change.

If your business is at least 51% owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens and they manage the day-to-day operations who also make long-term decisions, we encourage you to become SBA Certified and take advantage of federal opportunities to this select group of small business owned companies. Talk with your APEX Counselor. We would be happy to assist you with the application process.