Looking for new ways to grow your small business in this flaky economy? Here is one of the best kept secrets to moving your business forward. Of all of the agencies out there, the PTAC system has to be one of the best at growing and supporting small businesses nationwide.

Did you know that the Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest government buyer of products and services? The DOD offers a great deal of opportunities through this little known resource to small business owners known as Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). There are 94 PTAC’s with over 300 local offices across the nation, form a network of support to small business owners. The overall PTAC mission is to assist local business owners to learn how to compete successfully in federal, state and local government contracting.

These small business friendly PTAC centers offer a variety of training related services including business development workshops, procurement seminars, and email newsletters to keep small business owners informed. But the best service is the bid-match service that is provided free of charge (or at least it is free at my PTAC at Angelina College – Lufkin, Texas).

Bid matching is a daily email service that matches your NAICS code to bids from local, state and national agencies. It is a great time saver so you do not have to spend the time visiting multiple sites to locate potential bid opportunities. On any given day, I have access to 20-40 bid opportunities to review. I have been a PTAC client since 2005. The bid-match service is an important part of my ongoing business development and marketing plan. If I were to pay for a comparable service, it would easily cost several hundred dollars each year. My only obligation to the PTAC is to complete a yearly survey listing the bids I have won based upon my access to the service.

In addition to the bid match service, I have participated in several yearly regional conferences that give me an opportunity to conduct one-to-one meetings with purchasing representatives from local colleges, state and federal agencies. They offer information on how to get local, state and federal certification processes including the HUB Zone and SBA 8(a)certifications. I personally enjoy the great networking opportunities to get acquainted with, meet and visit with other regional small business owners, agency purchasing agents and area prime contractors.

If you are looking for new ways to promote your business and locate new bid opportunities, check out PTAC association site at: http://www.aptac-us.org.

V. Karen Miller is the founder of The 8a Mentor, a website that helps small business owners to complete their SBA 8a application and social / economic disadvantage narrative. Check out the free special report at the: http://www.the8amentor.com.

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