'Hidden gem' helps firm secure government contracts

That's when Heartland Procurement Technical Assistance Center of Joplin came to its rescue. Two months later, Radiophone Engineering had secured two government contracts and had five more nearly in the bag.

“They helped us out that much,” said Dave Daniels, federal markets specialist for Radiophone.

Heartland PTAC, located on the campus of Missouri Southern State University, is one of 93 PTACs across the country that help civilian companies secure government contracts.

“We work with multinational companies all the way down to the ma' and pa' grocery stores,” said Bernie Franks, associate contracting assistance specialist at Heartland PTAC.

Franks said PTACs originated in 1985, and 90 percent of the companies they help are small businesses, though the organization's charter simply states it is to aid American-owned businesses regardless of size.

He said PTACs have two main purposes: Supply the government with the most cost-effective goods and services and supply an economic stimulus to the civilian economy.

Heartland PTAC runs a satellite location at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and operates on about $600,000 annually from the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Logistics Agency.

Through 2005, Heartland PTAC, which serves southwest Missouri and all of Kansas, helped award 1,274 contracts and subcontracts worth $260 million.

Heartland PTAC Program Manager Terri Bennett said the center, which was started in 1985, is proud of the impact it has had on the local economy.

Nationally, in 2004 alone, PTACs helped award 88,000 contracts and subcontracts worth $13 billion. Bennett said 2005 national figures aren't yet available.

She said Heartland PTAC is something of a hidden gem - companies either don't know it exists or forego its free and at-cost services to pay private companies for the same thing.

“As time goes by, more people are realizing that we're available to help,” she said. “I wonder sometimes if people think we're too good to be true.”

Getting started

Radiophone Engineering's first contract was small, but it was a start - $300 for speakers the U.S. Army would mount on its vehicles.

However, owner John George Jr. said he wants his 26-employee communications-equipment outfit with locations at 534 W. Walnut St. and in Springdale, Ark., to eventually derive 20 percent of its business from government contracts.

“That's going to take a lot of work, but that's our long-term goal,” he said.

Radiophone Engineering started that effort with a trip to Joplin in November.

Radiophone's Daniels spent an entire day learning how to find and secure government contracts at Heartland PTAC's office.

The return was swift, with two contracts already under its belt and 15 more ranging from $150 to $15,000 out for bid.

Lifeblood

While Radiophone Engineering is off to a good start, Mary Barnes and Vita-Erb Ltd. are veterans of the PTAC system.

Vita-Erb, which manufactures skin care and cleaning products at 1358 N. Stewart Ave., has used Heartland PTAC every year since the center's inception.

Barnes said her 10-employee company generates between $700,000 and $1 million in revenues each year through government contracts for Vita-Erb's products.

She called Heartland PTAC “extremely vital” to keeping her business open.

“(The government contracts) have sustained us,” she said. “I highly recommend the government as a customer.”

PTAC Contracts

Government contracts that Heartland PTAC helped companies receive regionally:

2005 - 340 contracts worth $9.9 million

2004 - 270 contracts worth $44 million

2003 - 26 contracts worth $8 million

2002 - 88 contracts worth $20 million

(Note: Heartland PTAC only served southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri until 2004, when it picked up the rest of Kansas.)