Government Procurement Opportunities

Securing government contracts has served as an effective growth strategy for a range of Pace University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) clients. With local projects ranging from micro-purchases to multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investments underway and on-tap, business owners may want to explore opportunities with New York State, New York City, the Port Authority, the MTA, Empire State Development and/or NYC Economic Development Corp.

To hone in on projects where your small business may be a good fit, we encourage entrepreneurs to contact an SBDC Business Advisor to enroll in BidLinx, New York SBDC's web-based “bid-matching” service for government contract opportunities. This free service to SBDC clients monitors thousands of Federal, State, County/Local Government bid sources and sends email notices of opportunities tailored to match a firm’s products, services and capabilities. With this information in hand, small businesses can strategize with their Business Advisor based in part on their capacity as well as agency purchasing patterns to assess which contracts to pursue.

When relevant, our Business Advisor team also assist clients to secure Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and other certifications from the Federal, New York State and New York City governments as well as the Port Authority, and encourage them to build the certifications into their online, print and other marketing materials. One of the most effective procurement marketing materials is a capability statement, a 1-2 page summary of your business to provide to prospective clients at procurement and business networking events. In addition to relevant certifications, the capability statement should highlight the firm’s qualifications and select clients/projects, key leadership’s experience, and relevant codes (eg. NAICS). Think resume for your business. To complement this written piece, some clients seek guidance from our Business Advisors to develop a brief elevator pitch to deliver to prospective clients, investors and other relevant stakeholders.

To explore contract opportunities and develop or fine-tune your capability statement and/or elevator pitch, call us at (212) 618-6655 or email sbdc@pace.edu to set up a free 1:1 meeting with a Pace SBDC Business Advisor.