Senator Patrick Leahy announced Thursday that more than 30 government agencies and prime contractors will be available to meet with Vermont’s small businesses during a contract matchmaker event next Thursday, February 24th, at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington. The event will also feature Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Small Business Administration New England Regional Administrator Jeanne Hulit, and U.S. General Services Administration Regional Administrator Robert Zarnetske.
During the ‘Contacts to Contracts’ event, small businesses will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with government officials and private contractors to learn about how to do business with local, state and federal government. Small business representatives will arrive early the day of the event to sign up for ten-minute one-on-one meetings with each of the exhibitors they are interested in doing business with. There will also be a panel discussion on how to do business with state government after the matchmaker sessions.
‘The federal government is the biggest potential customer for many products that Vermont businesses produce,’ said Leahy, a champion of a federal grant program that funds the Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center, a sponsor of the Contacts to Contracts event. ‘Many of the Vermont firms that could be selling to federal agencies today are not. The key to doing business with the government, as with other customers, is understanding how the procurement system works, what the government needs and what the government will need in the future. This matchmaking event will give Vermonters the chance to talk directly to the people who know the answers to all of those questions. It’s a chance to create long-lasting relationships and to tap information that can lead to bidding on and winning contracts.’
‘The U.S. Government is the largest procurer of goods and services in the world,’ said SBA New England Regional Administrator Hulit, who will speak during lunch. ‘At the SBA we work to ensure that America’s small businesses have the opportunity to compete for these contracts, bringing cutting edge technologies to the government and creating jobs in their communities.’
For more information or to register, visit www.vtsbdc.org or call 1-802-828-5243. A list of registered government agencies and prime contractors available to meet with small businesses follows.
Government Agencies
Prime Contractors
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
AMETEK SCP Inc.
Vermont Agency of Transportation
Boeing
Chittenden County Transportation Authority
DEW Construction
U.S. Army, Watervliet Arsenal
EADS Supply and Services
U.S. Army, Natick Soldier Systems
Engleberth Construction
U.S. Navy Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Forensic Technology Inc.
U.S. Navy Undersea Warfare Center
GE Aviation
U.S. Navy Public Works Department, Maine
General Dynamics
U.S. Air Force, Electronic Systems Center
Goodrich Corporation
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
U.S. Department of State
Neagley & Chase Construction Company
U.S. Forest Service
Northrop Grumman Corporation
U.S. General Services Administration
QinetiQ
U.S. Department of Transportation
Raytheon
Vermont National Guard
Sikorsky Aircraft
Vermont Historic Sites
Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.
Vermont Office of Purchasing and Contracting
The event is sponsored by Leahy, the Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services, the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center, the Vermont Small Business Development Center and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (THURSDAY, Feb. 17, 2011)
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