February Success Story: A and A Fire and Safety Company

April Broderick’s company, A & A Fire and Safety, was started in 1993 by her fire fighter father as a side business. A & A specializes in fire extinguisher recharge and maintenance, Arkansas fire codes, residential, commercial fire suppression systems, and rapid response and fire safety planning and training. Broderick joined her father in the business in 2000 and worked in all aspects of the business for 14 years. In 2014, she and her father formed a partnership with Broderick being the majority owner.

At the time, it was difficult for her to compete with two other well established businesses of the same nature in the area. She took to Google to search for women owned business assistance and government contracting. That’s when she discovered the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center (APAC).

APAC Counselor Max Franks helped her get registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and set her up with APAC’s bid match service. She attended several APAC trainings. Broderick was awarded her first government contract in August of 2014. APAC Counselor, Mary Love assisted her in obtaining financing to purchase the product to complete her first large government contract. Broderick completed her contractual obligations, was paid by the government, and able to pay her loan in full before the first loan payment was due.

APAC staff encouraged her to apply for the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program in September of 2015. The 8 (a) Business Development (BD) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individual(s). She was awarded her 8(a) certification in March 2016 and awarded her first 8(a) sole source contract for $1.1 million over the course of five years in the fall of 2016.

Broderick credits Ms. Love in several areas of assistance regarding government contracting: interpreting clauses, directing her where to get needed information, teaching her how to use government websites, attending meetings with her, and suggesting best ways to proceed with difficult contracts.

"APAC was instrumental in laying the foundation for A&A to enter the federal contracting arena. APAC's support has been invaluable in assisting me to both gain the knowledge in order to win federal awards, and also helping me navigate the obstacles once a contract was in place," Broderick said.

As of mid-February 2018, A & A has been awarded $1.9 million in state and federal government contracts. We would like to congratulate them on recently being awarded their second 8(a) sole course contract with Little Rock Air Force Base for $340,000.

Connect with our APAC counselors at 501-671-2390 to learn how you can expand your business into new areas.