Helping Small Manufacturers Do Business with Government

A new memorandum of understanding aimed at helping small manufacturers better understand how to do business with federal, state and local governments was signed on Feb. 13, 2006, by Roger Kilmer, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and Rebecca Peterson, president of the Association for Procurement Technical Assistance Centers(APTAC).

As part of the agreement, MEP centers nationwide will have the opportunity to refer interested clients to the local Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) for training and counseling on government contracting, including bid and proposal preparation and government procurement policies, and PTAC will have the opportunity to refer manufacturing customers to MEP centers for technical assistance.

Administered by the Defense Department's Defense Logistics Agency, the nationwide network of 93 PTACs provide a wide range of assistance covering all phases of government contracting. MEP is a nationwide network of resources transforming manufacturers to compete globally, supporting greater supply chain integration, and providing access to technology for improved productivity.

Reprinted from NIST TechBeat.