Arkansas Procurement Technical Assistance Center Success Story: MST Group LLC

Construction runs in Betty Vanbuskirk’s blood. Her father is a civil engineer and as a result, she was around construction her whole life. She even built her own house and in July 2018, she turned that family interest into a business – MST Group, LLC.

The business has also been shaped by another bond Vanbuskirk shares with her father – they are both veterans.

MST Group, LLC is a service disabled veteran & woman-owned licensed general contractor construction firm in West Fork, started with the assistance of Patrick Murray who serves as a business consultant. Because the military has been so good to her and her family, Vanbuskirk donates a percentage of her proceeds back to veterans.

MST Group became an Arkansas APEX Accelerator client shortly after going into business in October 2018. Vanbuskirk learned of APEX Accelerator and its services online after registering in System of Award Management (SAM).

In September 2019, MST Group was awarded their first government contract for almost $5 million. The contract will consist of replacing the nurse call systems at the Department of Veteran Affairs on the North Little Rock and Little Rock campuses. Vanbuskirk will temporarily relocate to the Little Rock area for the duration of the project and add two superintendents to the team.

Vanbuskirk said she owes much gratitude to APEX Accelerator counselor, Max Franks for helping to get her business off of the ground.

“Max has been a tremendous asset,” Vanbuskirk said. “If I ever had questions or needed to know which direction to take, he was there to offer assistance. I also had difficulty getting my business certified. He helped with that process.”

Connect with our Arkansas APEX Accelerator counselors at 501-671-2390 to learn how you may also be able to expand your business through government contracting.