Victory In Procurement (VIP) Program Present Small Businesses With More Opportunities To Win Government Contracts In 2012

American Express OPEN, the small business division of the financial services company, today announced the expansion of its annual Victory in Procurement (VIP) program, a national initiative to help small businesses at every level of contract readiness gain insight and build relationships that help secure government contracts. For 2012, the VIP program has added partnerships with local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) and the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to deliver curricula and workshops to help American small businesses get on the path to winning government contracts.

According to OPEN’s survey released in December 2011, “ Trends in Federal Contracting for Small Businesses ,” small business contractors spent an average of $103,827 in time and resources seeking federal contracting opportunities in 2010, up 21 percent from 2009. Despite the increase in investment by small firms, federal government contract spending is flat. In 2011, federal government contract spending amounted to just over $535 billion in fiscal year 2011, down slightly from $537.7 billion the previous year, and down from a high of nearly $542 billion in FY2008. ¹

“Small businesses are working harder for government contracting opportunities than in previous years,” said Alex Ytuarte, Senior Manager, Customer Advocacy of American Express OPEN. “To help them save time and money seeking government contracts, our Victory in Procurement initiative has added new programs and partners so business owners can get the connections and resources to forge ahead.”

The 2012 VIP Program elements include:

Public-Private Partnerships:

Collaborating with local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), which are backed by Cooperative agreements between the Department of Defense and state/local entities, the VIP program will roll out “Marketing to the Government” workshops across the country in 2012. The first workshop took place in Chicago, Illinois on May 3 with the Women’s Business Development Center, where roughly 50 small business owners learned about best practices on ways to market and successfully pitch their business to government buyers. Upcoming “Marketing to the Government” events include:

• May 16 in Atlanta, GA with the Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech
• May 30 in San Diego, CA with the San Diego Contracting Opportunity Center

More events will be added throughout the year.

1 2 Next › Last »