Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center opens office at NWACC

Northwest Arkansas businesses can get help for government contracts

BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas businesses looking to win a government contract can now get help locally.

The Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center opened a satellite office Monday at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

Contract help

The Northwest Arkansas office of Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center is on the first floor of the Shewmaker Center for Global Business on the Northwest Arkansas Community College campus in Bentonville. The office is open one day a week until July 1, when it will be staffed Monday through Friday. To set up an appointment contact Max Franks at 501-671-2004 or [email protected].

Source: Staff report

The center works with small and large Arkansas-based companies wanting to sell goods or services to local, state, federal or educational agencies. It offers free counseling and consulting services and workshops.

Max Franks of the center said the government buys all kinds of goods and services. The program is headquartered in Little Rock and this is its first satellite office. It's part of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

"The goal is to continue growing the economy of the state of Arkansas in the fastest-growing part of the state," Franks said.

Franks said the center has been around 20-plus years and helped businesses get more than $1 billion in government contracts. It helped 672 clients obtain 674 contracts worth nearly $24 million from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014. The contracts helped created 8,411 jobs since 2009, he said.

Ray Blevins, the center's program director, said 330 Benton and Washington county businesses have contacted the center and 89 are considered to be active clients.

"We have a lot of talented people in the state," he said. "A lot of time we bring people together."

The Bentonville office will be open one day a week through July 1, then it will be staffed Monday through Friday.

Evelyn Jorgenson, NWACC president, said the center complements the school and fits into its mission statement to help small businesses with training and assistance.

The college's business students will also benefit from having another resource on campus, she said. The center will also bring more people to campus, Jorgenson said.

"A lot of small businesses can benefit by getting government contracts, and it's hard for them to do on their own," she said.

The program is for any company, but small businesses tend to need the most help navigating the government contract process, Franks said.

"They can research and try to do it themselves, but we can save them time and money," he said.

NW News on 04/07/2015

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