FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
24
Adams has three employees and hires contractors, such as
captains and deckhands, as needed.
“My people are my best success — they make or break it,”
he said.
Marketing the marine business is a challenge because of the
confidentiality requirements around what Management Marine
Services does. Also it costs money to prepare bids and acquire
equipment for a potential contract. When a contract’s request for
quotation is canceled with no explanation, it’s almost impossible
to recover, he said.
Adams found help at the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance
Center PTAC and the Florida Small Business Development
Center SBDC at Indian River State College. Scotty Wilson, a
consultant for PTAC and the SBDC who specializes in government
contracting, helped Adams with market positioning and making
key connections. Wilson also connected him to other resources
and opportunities, such as SBDC at IRSC’s loan team, who helped
Adams secure a loan after Hurricane Wilma.
“Scotty has provided SBA internal contact information, which
helped me secure HUBZone contracts,” Adams said. “He also
keeps track of potential opportunities and makes me aware of
them. There is no such thing as an inside track, but if you know
the opportunity exists you are in a better position to respond.”
TIPS ON GOVERNMENT CONSULTING
For other companies interested in government contracting, Adams
said making relationships within the industry is important. If
you are trying to sell a product or service to the government, you
need to understand where the contracts come from, how they are
generated and supported and who the competition is. That’s all
in the public records and you have to learn to do a lot of research,
Adams said. “Learn how to get in and keep at it as best you can.”
If you want to learn more about government contracting, the
Small Business Administration offers a resource page at www.
sba.gov/federal-contracting. The Florida SBDC and Florida PTAC
offices can help with in-person consulting.
PTAC offers high-value confidential one-on-one consulting, at
no cost, to help Florida businesses prepare, research and bid on
government contracts. Local PTACs can be located at the Association
for Procurement Technical Assistance Center’s website:
www.aptac-us.org/contracting-assistance/.
PTAC consultants work with a small business on researching
Do you have a
best practice you’d
like to share
with our readers?
Contact Lisa Crawford
at 516.721.0848
or lisa@indianrivermag.com
TCBusiness.com
www.tcbusiness.com
308 Ave. A, Fort Pierce, FL 34950
www.indianrivermagazine.com
Produced by Indian River Magazine Inc. and the Small
Business Development Center at Indian River State College
Capt. George Adams, president of Management Marine Services, oversees a
training event along the Florida coastline.
>>
/www.tcbusiness.com
/federal-contracting
/
/TCBusiness.com
/www.tcbusiness.com
/www.indianrivermagazine.com
link