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Sciencix, Inc., was founded in 1985 by a service engineer and is a small, minority-owned supplier of parts for laboratory testing equipment. The company has administrative offices located in Cary, NC and manufacturing and distributing facilities located in Burnsville, MN. Sciencix has design, part testing, volume manufacturing, custom manufacturing, and distribution capabilities that allow them to meet a customer’s need for HPLC and Mass Spec parts and performance maintenance kits, along with the capability to engineer and manufacture new products that are “off the main menu.”
Sciencix has exported to over 100 countries, and their parts are made in the USA of domestically-sourced raw materials. With over 40,000 parts in inventory, Sciencix takes pride in their ISO9001:2015 Quality Management System and ensures that every product goes through a rigorous quality control testing process. Unlike their larger competitors, Sciencix offers same day shipping on orders received before 5:00 p.m.
Sciencix’s Global Marketing and Account Manager, Lisa Bamford, began taking a serious look into government contracting as a potential for business development. She was approached by a for-profit firm seeking to provide Sciencix assistance with government contracting for a substantial fee. Bamford felt that there had to be a better alternative and, through an internet search, came upon the North Carolina GCAP program.
Bamford made a cold call to the GCAP counselor in the Raleigh region in October of 2021. NC GCAP provided Sciencix assistance with updating and completing their SAM registration and Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) profile. GCAP also assisted Bamford in updating Sciencix’s Capability Statement, making it more useful for marketing to both government agencies and prime contractors for subcontracting opportunities. Bamford and GCAP worked together to develop a focused government contracting marketing strategy to reach these potential customers.The GCAP counselor assisted Bamford with getting Sciencix in the purchasing system for the DLA and DIBBS platform, along with Proxity and other visible online platforms. GCAP ensured that Sciencix was using the best NAICS codes and keywords to be easily searchable on these platforms.
Most recently, GCAP provided Bamford assistance with preparing for an in-person capability briefing with a small business liaison representing a branch of the military. GCAP has also connected Bamford with another local partner to support Sciencix in the process of NIST800-171 compliance and is providing resources to educate and provide options for Sciencix to achieve this goal. Along with the capability briefing opportunity, Bamford has received several positive responses to her marketing emails. Additionally, Sciencix received a purchase order from a military base testing laboratory in Maryland and a department of health facility in Minnesota as a direct result of the marketing outreach.
The GCAP counselor connected Sciencix and Bamford with the SBTDC's International Business Development program. The IBD counselor has been assisting Sciencix in export compliance, market research, market development, export training, costing & pricing analysis, and developing a proactive and comprehensive international sales and marketing plan. The IBD counselor has also made Sciencix aware of and connected her with the different federal and state resources to support her exporting activities. Recently, Sciencix received approval of the use of the STEP Grant funding for strengthening of their exporting footprint. IBD has also provided Sciencix with the opportunity to work with an NC State MBA graduate team to research and provide extensive market analysis to grow Sciencix’s exporting potential and opportunities to the Near East.
On February 9, the GCAP counselor met Bamford and Sciencix president Raj Bhandari on-site at their newly purchased building in Cary, NC to tour the building, understand the growth potential, and make further recommendations and connections. With NC-based employee growth as a goal, the GCAP counselor made recommendations for local resources and job boards where candidates for additional team members might be found.
“Making that first call to GCAP has made a dynamic impact on our company and our growth projections in a short amount of time. Our company president, my colleagues, and I have felt a renewed momentum and developed a much more strategic focus due to the support, coaching, and resources that GCAP has provided. Discovering the support of GCAP is literally going to change the way we move forward and write the story of Sciencix in the days ahead, and we are tremendously grateful!”
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