Arkansas APEX Accelerator Success Story K and M Enterprises of MN, LLC

by Kim Magee - April 1, 2024

Marc Harrison, owner of K & M Enterprises of MN, LLC, located in Maumelle, has a military background and is in the insurance industry full-time.

K & M Enterprises is a minority-owned business and specializes in personal protective equipment (PPE), including disposable masks and gowns, nitrile gloves, face shields, hand sanitizer, shoe covers and more. The business began in 2020 after the pandemic hit, and Harrison saw the need for PPE items and began selling these items in Minnesota. Harrison has since registered his business in Arkansas and concentrates on State of Arkansas contracts as well as federal contracts. K & M possesses the advantage of being able to offer their products to agencies at a fair price due to its contacts and the way that they can purchase inventory along with low overhead. 

While working with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) on other business aspects, Harrison learned of the services offered by Arkansas APEX Accelerator and became a client in 2021. He has worked with APEX Procurement Counselor Tim Hicks on his service-disabled veteran owned business certification, researching contracts and who to reach out to, VetCert, GSA and VA schedules. 

After being unsuccessful when applying for a state contract, Harrison benefited from Hicks walking him through the process. Harrison considered that effort a great learning experience.

“Tim genuinely wants to help! If he happens to not know the answer, he will find out or refer me to the appropriate resource for the answer,” Harrison said.

Harrison also mentioned the helpfulness of the System for Award Management (SAM) assistance that he received from Client Intake Specialist Savanna George when beginning his journey with Arkansas APEX Accelerator. Harrison’s current APEX Procurement Counselor is Tierra Hutley. 

In October 2023, Harrison attended the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Government Contracting, and the Road Ahead classes at the Willie L. Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center in Little Rock. Arkansas APEX Accelerator co-hosted the program with the City of Little Rock. While at the event, he met Grace Enlow with City of Little Rock. Following the event, Enlow spoke with a Little Rock Police Department sergeant on Harrison’s behalf about exam medical gloves. Although they did not purchase from K & M at that time, the police department did recently order 30 boxes. Although this may seem small in terms of monetary value, it is an enormous success as he is now a supplier for the police department and they will order gloves from K & M in the future. 

To view upcoming APEX trainings to make possible connections similar to Harrison, view our events page on our website:  https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/Arkansas-APEX-Accelerator/trainings.aspx 

To learn more about Arkansas APEX Accelerator and the services that we offer, free of charge, please reach out to us at APEX@uada.edu.