Online
Course Part of Federal Government-wide Initiative
WASHINGTON
- The U.S. Small Business Administration today launched a new online training
course to help strengthen access to contracting opportunities for small businesses,
including those owned by women, minorities, disadvantaged individuals and veterans.
The
training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,”
is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last month by President
Obama and being led by SBA and the Department of Commerce.
“Government
contracts can play a key role in helping small businesses turn the corner in terms
of expansion and job creation,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said. “But
make no mistake, the benefits the government receives are equally as impressive
– working with small businesses allows the federal government to work with
some of the most innovative companies in America, often with direct contact with
the CEO.”
“The SBA online training
course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves
to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting,”
Mills continued.
In announcing the government-wide
initiative, President Obama reiterated his Administration’s commitment to
providing “our Nation’s small businesses with maximum practicable opportunity
to participate in federal government contracting.” As part of the initiative,
federal agency procurement officers are participating in more than 200 events
over the next several weeks to help connect small businesses with contracting
opportunities. Additionally, SBA and Commerce are expanding their outreach to
contracting officials across the federal government to ensure they have the tools
to meet their annual contracting goals and increase opportunities to small businesses,
including those owned by veterans, women and minorities, as well as those in designated
HUBZones.
As part of the outreach to small
businesses, the comprehensive online course uses both audio and script to provide
information about the federal marketplace, contract rules and, most importantly,
how to sell to the government and where to find contract and Recovery Act opportunities.
The new training portal is a free online training course designed to assist entrepreneurs
during this period of economic recovery. This self-paced, instructional guide
provides an overview of the federal procurement process.
The
Recovery Act Opportunities course is available on SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov
or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining.
The course is indexed by subject matter to allow ease of use, and it includes
multiple direct links to additional contracting resources.
The
Recovery Act Opportunities course includes direct links that highlight the best
contracting resources and engages small business owners in the contracting process.
The course also includes practical and fundamental steps to engage business owners
in the federal contracting arena.
It is one
of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA, and is available 24/7.
For
more information please visit www.sba.gov.
