Pick up know-how for tackling diseases, pests and weeds.
Farm bill, farm marketing, agribusiness webinars, & farm policy.
Find tactics for healthy livestock and sound forages.
Scheduling and methods of irrigation.
Explore our Extension locations around the state.
Commercial row crop production in Arkansas.
Agriculture weed management resources.
Use virtual and real tools to improve critical calculations for farms and ranches.
Learn to ID forages and more.
Explore our research locations around the state.
Get the latest research results from our county agents.
Our programs include aquaculture, diagnostics, and energy conservation.
Keep our food, fiber and fuel supplies safe from disaster.
Private, Commercial & Non-commercial training and education.
Specialty crops including turfgrass, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.
Find educational resources and get youth engaged in agriculture.
Gaining garden smarts and sharing skills.
Timely tips for the Arkansas home gardener.
Creating beauty in and around the home.
Maintenance calendar, and best practices.
Coaxing the best produce from asparagus to zucchini.
What’s wrong with my plants? The clinic can help.
Featured trees, vines, shrubs and flowers.
Ask our experts plant, animal, or insect questions.
Enjoying the sweet fruits of your labor.
Herbs, native plants, & reference desk QA.
Growing together from youth to maturity.
Crapemyrtles, hydrangeas, hort glossary, and weed ID databases.
Get beekeeping, honey production, and class information.
Grow a pollinator-friendly garden.
Schedule these timely events on your gardening calendar.
Equipping individuals to lead organizations, communities, and regions.
Guiding communities and regions toward vibrant and sustainable futures.
Guiding entrepreneurs from concept to profit.
Position your business to compete for government contracts.
Find trends, opportunities and impacts.
Providing unbiased information to enable educated votes on critical issues.
Increase your knowledge of public issues & get involved.
Research-based connection to government and policy issues.
Support Arkansas local food initiatives.
Read about our efforts.
Preparing for and recovering from disasters.
Licensing for forestry and wildlife professionals.
Preserving water quality and quantity.
Cleaner air for healthier living.
Firewood & bioenergy resources.
Managing a complex forest ecosystem.
Read about nature across Arkansas and the U.S.
Learn to manage wildlife on your land.
Soil quality and its use here in Arkansas.
Learn to ID unwanted plant and animal visitors.
Timely updates from our specialists.
Eating right and staying healthy.
Ensuring safe meals.
Take charge of your well-being.
Cooking with Arkansas foods.
Making the most of your money.
Making sound choices for families and ourselves.
Nurturing our future.
Get tips for food, fitness, finance, and more!
Understanding aging and its effects.
Giving back to the community.
Managing safely when disaster strikes.
Listen to our latest episode!
Arkansas Procurement Technical Assistance CenterPhone: 501-671-2390Fax: 501-671-2394Email: ptac@uada.edu
by Arkansas Procurement Technical Assistance Center - July 15, 2020
Arkansas Procurement Technical Assistance Center can be a great resource to better understand varied types of government acquisitions and even help you be more efficient in your prospecting efforts.
Below are a few suggestions for accessing opportunities specific to each type of acquisition.
Create an account at beta.sam.gov and work with a PTAC counselor to learn how to navigate the contract opportunities portal.
Work with a PTAC counselor to establish a bid match profile - this will help you be more efficient in finding federal as well as state and local opportunities. In addition to scanning federal contract opportunities, our bid matching service also queries top state and local government websites and sends you a daily email of opportunities specific to a unique set of search parameters established by you and your counselor.
Tweak your bid match profile. As you begin monitoring opportunities coming into your email box, check in with your counselor to adjust your profile to hone in on more of what you want to see, and exclude some of the irrelevant results you don't want.
Ask your prospective buyer (who buys the types of products and services you sell) where they post opportunities between $15,000 and $25,000. Contracting officers have their preferred way of publicizing this type of acquisitions, which may vary from one office to the next.
Create a relationship with the agency’s end-users. Quite often, they will collect quotes directly from the marketplace and forward them to the buyer for acquisition. If you are among the three quotes requested, you will likely not have to worry about where the government is publicizing these opportunities. In this case, publicizing the requirement is more of a formality to satisfy the law.
Work with one of our PTAC counselors to ensure your SBA profile is optimized. If a buyer is looking for quotes from SAM-registered small businesses, they often query and solicit quotes directly from contractors listed in the SBA’s Dynamic Small Business Search website at DSBS.SBA.GOV.
The problem is that the majority of contractors do not fully complete their SBA profile when they register at SAM.GOV. So, be among the few who optimize their profile, and your chances of getting an invitation to provide a quote, bid, or proposal will improve.
When it comes to micro-purchases, it's all about creating relationships and ensuring that your target end-users know about your product or service. Remember, micro-purchases don't have to go through the formal contracting process and are typically made through a department or unit-level purchase cardholder.
Keep your products or services visible and in the minds of these potential customers any way you can. If you have an established sales process outside of government that works well, you may be able to use it for government opportunities at this level, even if it requires a minor adjustment. The key is to establish and use a repeatable process that works.
Ensure you can accept credit cards and ask your merchant processor if there is any additional setup required or a separate fee structure associated with accepting a government purchase card.
Make sure your vendor profiles indicate that you accept government purchase cards.
Position yourself as a prime contractor on the parent contract where the delivery orders and task orders are flowing. Work with a PTAC counselor to help you do some market research to identify these parent IDIQ contracts and develop a strategy to win a spot on these highly sought after contract vehicles. Some of these IDIQ contract solicitations are always open for competition on the contract opportunities portal at beta.sam.gov, and some come around only once every few years.
It’s important to have advanced knowledge of upcoming IDIQ solicitations, so that you can begin crafting your win strategy before they are posted.
Look for subcontracting opportunities by building relationships with prime contractors who currently hold the parent contract. You can find these incumbent contractors with a little bit of market research and some help from a PTAC counselor and contracting personnel at the agency you seek to do business with.
Finding opportunities can be challenging, but if you take the right action, seek support from a PTAC counselor, and ask agency buyers the right questions, you will quickly start building a pipeline of opportunities.