Articles by

djones

Thirty-seven years ago, Congress authorized an effort to expand the number of businesses capable of participating in the government marketplace. Since then, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, or PTACs, have been available to assist businesses to get them ready to work with local, state, and federal government agencies at no cost. On the 21st of this […]

Every solicitation generally receives multiple proposals. One area that should be discussed is why your proposal failed. How can you increase your competitive edge to win a contract? Not a pleasant subject; however, there are good topics to learn, discuss, and apply. Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) gives reasons that can cause a […]

  Do you ever worry that your business does not have the means of independently completing a prospective contract? The government does not expect that each of their contracts will be fulfilled by one business alone. Relationships and taking advantage of each other’s strengths are encouraged in federal contracting. There are three significant categories of […]

ND PTAC is sharing information from GSA Interact regarding entity matching in SAM.gov. On April 4, 2022, the federal government implemented a new process in SAM.gov to validate entities as a first step in requesting a Unique Entity ID and for completing a SAM.gov entity registration. This entity validation process includes checking that your entity […]

I had the opportunity to chat with Graham Pritchett, the Director of Business Operations and Small Business Professional with the 319th Contracting Squadron out of Grand Forks AFB. In 2008, his squadron was awarded the Air Force’s Special Achievement Award for their small business practices. Graham was named P-T Small Business Professional of the Year […]

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that asks for bids on a given project to which qualified businesses will enter competing offers. The requesting firm then selects which organization it sees most fit and capable to undertake the task in question. RFPs appear to demand a complicated and daunting bidding process, but with […]

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed into law what would become known as the Davis-Bacon Act, namesake of Senator James Davis (PA) and Representative Robert Bacon (NY) who co-sponsored the bill. The law required that contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded construction projects pay laborers “prevailing wages,” or the wages that laborers in the […]

There are different certifications and programs available to small businesses to support them in federal contracting; one of these is the HUBZone, or “Historically Underutilized Business Zone.” Sounds impressive, but what does it mean? The goal of the HUBZone program is to increase the number of federal contracts in urban and rural communities. This is […]

Here at the North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), we market our services to businesses in North Dakota interested in obtaining federal, state, and local government contracts. We provide technical assistance to clients through one-on-one business advising as well as through topic-specific training and professional development. Most clients we work with need assistance with securing an […]

“The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization.” (source www.sbir.gov) Clear as North Dakota’s Red River? Why were these programs created? “SBIR and STTR enable small businesses to explore their […]