Arkansas APEX Accelerator Success Story: Jorge's Forrestry Service, LLC

by Kim Magee - October 2, 2023

Jorge Velasquez operates a small minority-owned forestry service in Dardanelle. He specializes in cutting and planting trees along with spraying non-hazardous chemicals and has been in business since June 2021.

He became an Arkansas APEX Accelerator client in January 2023 and began working with Procurement Counselor Kimberly Randle. Randle worked with Velasquez and his daughter Carla to obtain his Unique Entity Identifier Number (UEI), to activate his System for Award Management (SAM) registration, and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code to secure government contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). His most recent government contract with the U.S. Forest Service was awarded in 2023 for jobs ranging from $2,000 to $40,000 throughout Arkansas.

When Velasquez was having difficulty receiving payment for his USDA contracts, he reached out to Procurement Counselor Tierra Hutley for assistance while Randle was out of the office. Hutley was able to get him re-registered in SAM and Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE). She also got him connected with a Spanish-speaking liaison. These steps led to Velasquez eventually successfully getting paid.

In a message sent to his Procurement Counselor Tierra Hutley, Velasquez said, “I just wanted to let you know that my payments have come through in IPP and I have finally got paid today! The invoices that were returned because of my bank account being closed were fixed, reissued and the three recent invoices I was waiting for came through. I really appreciate your patience and help. I will be in contact with you if I have any questions or need help. Thank you so much.”

If you are having issues getting paid or need other government contracting assistance and you want to learn more about the free services offered by Arkansas APEX Accelerator, please get in touch with us at: APEX@uada.edu