The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering several free online training courses for entrepreneurs interested in government contracting.
Several available courses are designed to help entrepreneurs understand the basics about government contracts. These self-paced courses are easy to use and understand and will take about 30 minutes to complete. it’s a good first step to take for those considering contracting for the first time.
Link to the courses: Government Contracting Courses
The press release below was issued earlier today (Sept 1, 2009)
Online Course Part of Federal Government-wide Initiative
WASHINGTON ─ The U.S. Small Business Administration today launched a new
online training course to help strengthen access to contracting opportunities
for small businesses, including those owned by women, minorities,
disadvantaged individuals and veterans.
The training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal
Contracts,” is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last
month by President Obama and being led by SBA and the Department of
Commerce.
“Government contracts can play a key role in helping small businesses turn the
corner in terms of expansion and job creation,” SBA Administrator Karen G.
Mills said. “But make no mistake, the benefits the government receives are
equally as impressive – working with small businesses allows the federal
government to work with some of the most innovative companies in America,
often with direct contact with the CEO.”
“The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal
purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial
opportunities offered by government contracting,” Mills continued.
In announcing the government-wide initiative, President Obama reiterated his
Administration’s commitment to providing “our Nation’s small businesses with
maximum practicable opportunity to participate in federal government
contracting.” As part of the initiative, federal agency procurement officers are
participating in more than 200 events over the next several weeks to help
connect small businesses with contracting opportunities. Additionally, SBA and
Commerce are expanding their outreach to contracting officials across the
federal government to ensure they have the tools to meet their annual
contracting goals and increase opportunities to small businesses, including
those owned by veterans, women and minorities, as well as those in
designated HUBZones.
As part of the outreach to small businesses, the comprehensive online course
uses both audio and script to provide information about the federal
marketplace, contract rules and, most importantly, how to sell to the
government and where to find contract and Recovery Act opportunities. The
new training portal is a free online training course designed to assist
entrepreneurs during this period of economic recovery. This self-paced,
instructional guide provides an overview of the federal procurement process.
The Recovery Act Opportunities course is available on SBA’s Web site at
www.sba.gov or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining. The course
is indexed by subject matter to allow ease of use, and it includes multiple
direct links to additional contracting resources.
The Recovery Act Opportunities course includes direct links that highlight the
best contracting resources and engages small business owners in the
contracting process. The course also includes practical and fundamental
steps to engage business owners in the federal contracting arena.
It is one of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA, and is available
24/7.
For more information please visit www.sba.gov.