Flossmoor entrepreneur Monica Dixon wants a slice of the billions of dollars in federal government contracts awarded each year.
The founder and CEO of M & M Staffing Agency is among south suburban small business owners who are taking advantage of needed free government contracting assistance services offered by the Women’s Business Development Center at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. The WBDC Procurement Technical Assistance Center helps small businesses seek contracts and apply for government certification.
“One on one advising is our priority,” said Jaemie Neely, director of PTAC at the WBDC. “We talk about contracting strategies, whose buying what you’re selling in the government space, the socioeconomic and diverse certifications one may be eligible for to leverage government contracting opportunities. We hold workshops, seminars and procurement events bringing these prime contractors or government agencies to their communities to network, to have very specific conversations about government contracting.”
Many small business owners with an interest in pursuing government contracts often lack knowledge “about government buying cycles, contacts they need to know to facilitate certain transactions or contract opportunities, the steps they have to take that may include registering in different procurement databases, preparing a capability statement,” Dixon said.
Small business owners also often are unaware of government subcontracting opportunities. The center assists the entrepreneurs in identifying firms that have won contracts.
“The subcontracting piece is huge for those small businesses that may not yet be ready to be those prime contractors,” Neely said. “What we try to push is get your foot in door, learn from the experiences and then graduate and move into that prime contracting seat.”
Neely, who meets with entrepreneurs on Thursdays by appointment at Prairie State, is assisting Dixon in getting a federal government certification. Overall, Neely said the center helps about 100 south suburban businesses annually.
“(Neely) has also worked with me to show me how to navigate the federal government web sites, how to submit a bid proposal if I see something I want,” Dixon said.
Dixon’s four-year-old company provides temporary staffing services, temporary to permanent hiring services and human resources consulting.
The business, which had $200,000 in revenues last year, has won state government contracts, but has no federal government contracts, Dixon said, adding she expects to generate $250,000 in revenues this year. She is working to double revenues in the next few years in part by building federal government sector business. She wants to ultimately generate 50 percent of her revenues from federal contracts and the remainder from private sector and state and local government contracts, she said.
Dixon, who targets a variety of private sector fields ranging from accounting and finance to health care, manufacturing and transportation, sees government contracting opportunities for M & M Staffing in the automotive, military, aviation and construction industries.
“It’s important to be diversified,” she said.
That’s a message Neely stressed.
“In our economy, every industry has its day,” she said. “We’ve experienced the recession where corporate America dried up. There weren’t a lot of opportunities. We have experienced government shutdown, the state of Illinois not having a budget for a couple of years. In different sectors, there are implications that may affect a business’ revenues. To be sustainable, we encourage really diversifying streams of revenue so in the event one dries up, you are still sustaining on the others.”
Government contracts could potentially be a significant revenue generator for many small businesses, she said.
Businesses typically best positioned to succeed in government contracting are ones operating at least three to five years with access to financial resources, Neely said. They also have systems in place to deliver projects on time, she said.
Dixon said she believes she is well positioned for such contracts. She has 15 years of experience in human resources and a master’s degree in human resources management and worked for many years in HR at other companies before starting her own business. She is a participant in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, which provides free training, technical assistance and support to help small businesses get to the next level.
“There are many opportunities out there,” Dixon said.
Growing her government contracting business will enable her to provide more job opportunities for diverse job seekers — one of her goals.
“As a minority woman-owned business, I want to be able to make a difference,” she said.
