Government contracts can be a valuable source of business for your small business - whether your company is in manufacturing, service, professional service, wholesale or even retail. While some small businesses have traditionally avoided government contracts due to fears of slow payments, overdependence on the government, too much interference, more have realized that today's government contracting arena is very different. There are prompt pay acts, signs of the government adopting private sector good business practices, etc. As long as your business maintains a diverse customer base (concentration with any one customer is rarely good), government contracts can be an important part of the mix.
The government on all levels (federal, state, county, town, local, government related entities) purchases anything and everything. Even if you're a local retail delicatessen, you can still do government contracting if you can cater at the school functions down the street or supply sodas to the government subsidized hospital in your town.
How do you know if you are a candidate for government contracts? Where do you start to look for contracts? How do you fill out the paperwork?
There are a myriad of resources on Long Island to help you with all these questions. The US Small Business Administration (sba.gov) can provide procurement technical assistance including helping you get certified as a small disadvantaged business for purposes of government contract preferences or set asides. Empire State Development (ww,nylovessmlalbiz.com)(formerly NYS Dept. of Economic Development) can point to NYS resources including a division which will certify minority and women owned businesses for purposes of preferences on state contracts. The Nassau County Office of Minority Affairs and Dept. of Economic Development (www.co.nassau.ny.us) can assist you with Nassau County contracts. In Suffolk County, the departments of minority affairs and economic development can assist your business with government contract information (www.co.suffolk.ny.us). The Small Business Development Centers at SUNY Farmingdale and Stonybrook are another resource in this area (nyssbdc.org).
One of the best resources for procurement assistance is the Long Island Procurement Technical Assistance Program (www.lidc.org) sponsored by the Department of Defense, local industrial development agencies, community development agencies, towns, villages, banks, and businesses. Don't be fooled by the DOD affiliation. PTAP provides free counseling to help small businesses and start up entrepreneurs find, obtain and perform on all government contracts. PTAP also works with Black Women Enterprises (BWE) (www.nwboc.org), a statewide organization which works with the National Women Business Owners Corporation to access Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 company contracts for Long Island businesses. Recent types of companies assisted by LIPTAP include a hair braider who wanted to establish a hair braiding salon at a naval shipyard, a fireworks manufacturer who wanted to expand beyond fireworks shows and did expand into the manufacture of munitions for the US Army, an accountant who worked with a NYS loan program to help package small business applications.
There are opportunities for Long Island businesses in the government contracting arena. To access your fair share, contact one of the resources listed here today.