OHIO Procurement Technical Assistance Center has banner year helping clients earn $952M

The Ohio University Procurement Technical Assistance Center (OHIO PTAC), part of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, successfully connected small and mid-sized business owners with federal, state and local government contracts worth more than $952 million in fiscal year 2019.

OHIO PTAC provided consultation services to 471 clients and contract award values increased by approximately 6% when compared to 2018.

“These high award values prove that our clients are benefitting from our assistance,” Sharon Hopkins, director of OHIO PTAC, said. “When our clients follow our advice, they are sure to become successful in the government realm of contracting.”

OHIO PTAC helped clients create and retain 20,248 jobs and expanded economic development, especially among minority and women-owned businesses, by helping them win contracts at all government levels.

“We’re happy when our clients win these awards,” Hopkins said. “Our clients are becoming more mature and a lot of them are no longer afraid of going after the big government contracts. Many of them aren’t overwhelmed by the bureaucracy as they used to be, which is contributing to their success.”

In 2019, OHIO PTAC client Baker & Associates benefitted from OHIO PTAC’s advice when they became one of the 11 vendors who won the prestigious Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the Department of Defense, worth more than $950 million.

Buckeye Fabricating, another client, benefited from OHIO PTAC services by winning the prestigious Small Business Vendor of the Year Award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

“Our company wouldn’t be here without PTAC’s help,” Buckeye Fabricating Sales Manager Cheryl Schuster said. “They helped us achieve this award, which serves as a proof that we can definitely take on big projects and deliver on them as a small business. Failure was not an option. We set a goal, and we met it. This award is a validation of our company’s hard work.”

OHIO PTAC currently serves 62 counties in Ohio and provides clients free help with drafting capability statements, marketing, one-on-one training, seminars, direct counseling, bid preparation, certification assistance, computerized bid match services, registration assistance and more. PTAC is one of many state and federal partnerships at the Voinovich School, which provides public service leadership for the state, region and university in economic and community recovery.