I've Signed Up for the Matchmaker, What's Next?

The New England Regional Matchmaker website is up and running! Many of you have already registered and many more are getting ready to register. By the way, this is looking to be a very big and popular event, so don’t wait until the last minute. Number one, its less expensive to register early. Number two, if you wait too long, you run the risk of getting shut out if we hit capacity, or that the folks that you want to meet with run out of appointment times. You can reach the Matchmaker website directly by clicking here, or by going to maineptac.org for a link to the Matchmaker website.

Due to the large number of attendees, we will be pre-scheduling appointments. For those that are registered, you will receive a follow-up email approximately 14 days before the event requesting additional information and offering you the opportunity to request up to eight specific appointments. A detailed schedule will be emailed to you approximately 72 hours before the event. We will also have a free smart phone / tablet app that you can download.

Starting later this month, your local PTAC Counselors will be conducting “Matchmaker Prep” workshops. These will have information on how to prepare for the Matchmaker, what materials to bring and not bring, as well as how the Matchmaker will work. Look to our events page or on our Facebook or Twitter feeds for more on them.

As we’ve been saying here for a while, the Portland event will have a half day of small business training, a networking reception and a full day of small business matchmaking. It is s a joint effort between Maine PTAC, NH PTAC and the New England SBA. And its endorsed by the DoD Northeast Regional Council. If you have any questions, please reach out to Erin Severance at [email protected] or your local PTAC Counselor. I hope to see you there!

Are you interested in selling your goods or services to the government?

Join us on April 25th and 26th in Portland Maine and build long lasting relationships through networking, training, and one-on-one meetings.

This is your opportunity to meet:

Maine PTAC Locations

THOMAS M. WHITE | ASSOCIATE PROCUREMENT COUNSELOR - CENTRAL

The benefit of Maine PTAC being a statewide program is being easily accessible to your local counselor. Currently, our five counselors divide the State of Maine into 5 regions: North, Central, Downeast, Midcoast, and Southwest. However, we’re not glued to one specific office location. Many times we’re on the road meeting with you, our clients, at your places of business or at one of our off-site offices. Here’s a quick list of where we can be found:

Dana Delano, our Northern Counselor, is available to meet with clients at:

Thomas White, our Central Counselor, is available to meet with clients at:

Katie Bragg, our Downeast Counselor, is available to meet with clients at:

Bryan Wallace, our Midcoast Counselor, is available to meet with clients at:

Ed Dahl, our Southwest Counselor, is available to meet with clients at:

If interested in our services, please contact your region’s PTAC counselor and schedule a meeting at one of our 18 office locations or at your place of business! To find out more visit us at www.maineptac.org or follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

Are You Considering Government Contracting? Subcontract First!

BRYAN WALLACE | PTAC COUNSELOR - MIDCOAST

When the Government awards a contract to a large prime contractor, that business is required to have a Subcontracting Plan. A Subcontracting Plan describes how that large business will utilize small businesses as they perform the project. The percentages and dollar amounts of the prime’s workload vary and can be a substantial opportunity for small business. 

What are the benefits of subcontracting to a prime?

What are the keys to being a good subcontractor?

Subcontracting can be a great way forward for Maine small businesses. For more information, please reach out to your local PTAC Counselor.

Calling All Washington County Businesses

KATIE BRAGG | PTAC COUNSELOR - DOWNEAST

Is your business in Washington County? If it is, you should think about becoming HUBZone certified. What is HUBZone? HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zones. This is a program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that helps small businesses that operate and employ people in any area designated as a HUBZone. It has been implemented to help increase economic development and bring more employment to areas that are considered distressed. In some situations, an entire county is considered a HUBZone, which Washington County is. So, why does this matter to you? The government has a goal of doing 3% of its business with HUBZone certified companies. If you become HUBZone certified, that allows you to be in the running for that work. There are often HUBZone set asides as well. This means that you can only bid on these solicitations if you are a HUBZone certified company, narrowing the amount of competition.

Plus, the big government contractors are required to subcontract 3% of their work to HUBZone firms as well. So have a product that they need AND being a HUBZone company can make you pretty attractive to them.

If you would like to know more about HUBZone certification and how to do it call Katie at 255-0983 if you live in Washington County. She can help you with the process and answer any questions. If you don’t live in Washington County but are interested in if you are HUBZone eligible, contact your PTAC counselor and they can help you.

Forgetting Your Product Service Codes Could be Costing You Opportunities

DANA DELANO | PTAC COUNSELOR - NORTH

I am sure you are all familiar with NAICS Codes ( North American Industry Classification System) or NAICS. NAICS (pronounced "nakes") is a system for classifying business establishments by “ type” of economic activity. Federal agencies use NAICS Codes to search for buyers and to identify solicitation needs based on business activity classification. But there is another ‘code’ that is equally important when registering in SAM and the SBA Dynamic Small Business Search profile. That is the Product and Service Code (PSC).

Product and service codes (PSC) are used to describe products, services, as well as research and development (R&D) purchased by the federal government. They differ from NAICS Codes in that PSC Codes describe " what" is being purchased for each contract or solicitation action. Think of it this way, if an agency is conducting market research based on "what" they intend to purchase and you don't have PSC Codes listed, then you're not as likely to be "seen" as often as your competitors. Leaving out PSC Codes in your efforts to identify customers, competitors, solicitations, etc. just means you have a limited view of the field of play and opportunities that may be available to your business.

From the standpoint of visible, PSC Codes should be included in your System for Award Management (SAM) profile, and in the SBA Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) profile if you are a small business concern. Let Maine PTAC assist you in identifying your Product and Service Codes and include them in your government profiles.