Small businesses learn of opportunity with federal contracts

By Kalea Hall

khall#vindy.com

VIENNA

Business owner Stephen Coleman spent 20 years in the Navy and then decided he wanted to own his own business.

“I just wanted to spend more time with my kids,” the owner of Northstar Contracting said. “It gives me flexibility.”

Coleman started the Cleveland-based general contracting company 10 years ago with the help of the Small Business Administration.

The SBA helped him to get certifications, including the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business certification, and explained the opportunity in federal contract work.

“It wasn’t easy,” Coleman said. “There’s a lot of pre-qualifications for federal contracting.”

Today, Coleman’s business has 70 employees and promotes its work with the federal government – such as an $18 million project at the NASA Glenn Research Center – on its website.

On Monday, Coleman talked to a group of about 100 representatives from 30 small businesses about his work with the federal government, during a workshop hosted by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.

“This isn’t easy,” Ryan said. “It takes a little effort but from our experience if you can figure it out, it can benefit your business a great deal.”

The SBA can point out opportunities for businesses looking to score a federal contract. A business can contact the SBA office and see if the federal government has a need for the product or service that business offers.

“We can’t sell the product for them,” said Gilbert Goldberg, district director of the Small Business Administration’s Cleveland district office. “We can open up that door that may look like it is closed.”

The SBA also has a program to assist veteran business owners, and the organization can seek out opportunities to finance a business.

“You need to go to the SBA office,” Coleman said.

While getting a federal contract is difficult, the benefits are vast.

“It’s a force multiplier,” Goldberg said. “It creates economic growth.”

The Youngstown Air Reserve Station made about a $100 million economic impact in fiscal year 2015, officials said. The station has 130 suppliers that are located within a 70-mile radius.

“It’s competitive,” said Col. James Dignan, commander of the 910th Airlift Wing at the station. “You have to compete to get the contract.”

Monday’s workshop was a way for small businesses to learn how to compete.

“Our nation has the best Air Force in the world, but the men and women in uniform can’t serve alone,” Brown said in a statement. “They rely on our industrial power to provide them with the best support and equipment possible. That’s why workshops like this are so important. By connecting small businesses with our acquisition offices at the Defense Department, we both grow our economy and support our nation’s military.”

Both Ryan and Brown have advocated to bring more federal dollars to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station including the $9.4 million secured last fall to improve the indoor firing range facility.