Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneur Scholarship

We need your help finding the best and the brightest young women entrepreneur community leaders to apply for the FIRST Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneur Scholarship. The scholarship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and guidance from successful women business owners – as well as have a chance to receive a cash award to help grow their business!

In tribute to her legacy of leadership, the Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneur Scholarship has been established to recognize high potential young women business owners who are leaders in their community, with resources and guidance to excel their businesses and personal success.

Here are the qualifications you will be looking for:

• At least 51% woman-owned
• Entrepreneur between the ages of 21-35
• U.S. Citizen
• Business 5 years old or less
• Revenue of $500, 000 or less for service industries OR $1milion or less for manufacturing industries
• The business has capacity to assume more debt
• Owner has a satisfactory personal credit history

More information about the program is available here and at www.WIPP.org. The deadline to apply is June 15^th, so please pass this on - this is a life-changing opportunity not to be missed!

Please have them contact Kathryn Mahoney, kmahoney@politicalcapitol.com (615) 346-9535, or Jason Lalak, jlalak@wipp.org (415) 434-4314, for more information.

8th Annual Small Business Conference

Washington, DC– The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that its Office of Small and Disadvantage Business Utilization will host its 8th Annual Small Business Conference, Exposition & Matchmaking Forum, June 26-28, 2007, at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. The Matchmaking Forum will provide over $1 billion in potential subcontracting opportunities in Fiscal Year 2007 through scheduled one-on-one meetings with procurement representatives from DOE’s prime contractors.

“Because small businesses are the driving force of this economy, the Department of Energy and this Administration are committed to putting in place pro-growth policies that encourage enterprise and enhance economic growth,” Secretary Bodman said. “We want America to continue to be the best place in the world to conduct business. Small businesses play a key role in helping DOE to advance its mission and DOE’s Small Business Conference provides a forum to compete in DOE’s contracting market.”

DOE is the second largest civilian purchaser, procuring over $23 billion in goods and services annually. DOE’s Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization will lead the Departments national outreach effort as outlined in President Bush’s Small Business Agenda. The Conference will provide insight and programs available to assist small businesses, small and disadvantaged businesses, women-owned, 8(A), HUBZone, veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, to engage in DOE contracting opportunities.

This year’s conference is co-sponsored by The Veterans Corporation, charged with creating and enhancing entrepreneurial business opportunities for Veterans, including those who are service-disabled. The Veterans Corporation is a 501(c)(3) organization.

To register for the conference, visit: http://www.smallbusiness-outreach.doe.gov or call (888) 246-2460. For more information on contracting with DOE visit: http://energy.gov.

President Bush has proclaimed April 22-28, 2007, as “Small Business Week,” signifying an ongoing commitment to honor small business owners and workers for their important role in ensuring that America remains the economic leader of the world. For more information on Small Business Week, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070419-6.html.

J-Ref’s “Down to Business”

Tune into J-Ref’s new television program “Down To Business.” The program airs on Comcast Howard County Channel 73 with host Michael Mobley on Mondays 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 8:00 pm and Wednesday & Fridays 8:00pm. May’s guests include our very own Gloria Berthold.

Berthold on HC Public Transportation Board

Berthold appointed to Howard COunty Public Transportation Board

Cleaning up Contracting

Government contracting is big business -- not only for the industrial behemoths like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, but also for thousands of small business owners located across the US. Yet, in recent years, it has become more difficult for many small firms to break into the government marketplace. A new report from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, contends that cronyism and corruption have played a big role in these trends. Last week, the Center held a conference and released several reports on this topic. The Center’s report notes that federal contract dollars grew by 86% between 2000 and 2005 (reaching $377 billion). The scale of non-competitive contracts doubled over that same period. The report recommends closer oversight of the contracting process as well as hiring of additional contract personnel to better monitor contractor performance.

Learn more about the Center for American Progress initiative on competitive contracting and read the May 2007 report, A Return to Competitive Contracting, by Scott Lilly. © 2007 The Public Forum Institute

Learn Powerful Sales Tools to Win Government Contracts

Learn How to Create A Strong Capability Statement

Baltimore, MD. The no-cost national teleconference “Powerful Sales Tools to Win Government Contracts” will be held on Thursday May 24, 2007 from 1:00-2:00pm EST. Attendees will also receive the exclusive TargetGov Government Sales and Capability Statement Toolkit, a 20+ page book detailing winning sales strategies, a sample Capability Statement, specific instructions to craft your best business development tool and over 100 contacts within federal agencies to which to send it.

One of the toughest challenges in selling to the government is applying an effective sales strategy that results in winning contracts. Hear from national sales expert, Michelle Nichols, a columnist and podcast host for BusinessWeek.com, with readers in over 50 countries. Michelle increases the sales and profits of organizations by understanding their unique situation and applying her cutting-edge thinking to create powerful results. Hear her specific tips and tactics to make an impact in your government sales strategy and ask her how to address the real challenges you experience everyday.

Your Capability Statement should be the strongest business development tool in your toolkit. A well done Capability Statement will open doors to great business opportunities; whereas a poorly done Capability Statement will slam the door before you get to square one. This teleconference will teach you the key features of a great Capability Statement, how to create a “living” Capability Statement that can be used for more than one agency or prime contractor, the differences between Core Competencies and Differentiators, the ideal length of a Capability Statement, the difference between a Capability Statement and a Capability Brief, and when to use each, and much more…

Gloria Berthold will cover the Capability Statement and related tips. She is the President of TargetGov and an expert on government procurement and related business development services. She is the author of “The Veterans Guide to Government Business” (book) and a series of Government Business Guides highlighting business development with federal agencies.

Register for this free teleconference at http://www.targetgov.com/; click on the Teleconference button in the top right corner.

TargetGov is a division of Marketing Outsource Associates, Inc., a full service business development and marketing firm. It is woman-owned, privately held company specializing in government contracting business development at federal, state and local levels. Ms. Gloria Berthold, president, is a government contractor and an expert author and speaker regarding government contracting. She has instructed contractors regarding government business development in recent teleconferences and procurement conferences and has been quoted in USA Today, Inc. Magazine and Government Executive Magazine. She may be reached through the web site: http://www.targetgov.com/ or at 866-579-1346.

Small Business Contracting Goal May Increase

Federal agencies would be required to spend at least 30 percent of their prime contracting dollars with small businesses under legislation approved by the House Small Business Committee. If enacted -- and enforced -- this could mean billions of dollars' worth of new contracts for small businesses. The current contracting goal is 23 percent.

The Small Business Administration contends agencies exceeded the contracting goal in fiscal 2005, but its calculations exclude contracts performed overseas. The legislation ends this exclusion, which the National Small Business Association says will result in a more accurate accounting of small business procurement.

The bill also includes provisions aimed at making sure that contracts awarded to large businesses aren't mistakenly counted as small business contracts. An analysis by House committee staff found that $12 billion in contracts credited to small businesses in fiscal 2005 actually went to large businesses or other entities that weren't small businesses.

The legislation also expands the definition of contract bundling, thereby making it more difficult for agencies to combine contracts into packages that are too large or complex for small businesses to handle. The bill also allows business or trade associations to appeal agency procurement decisions. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy would review disputes between the SBA and procurement agencies over contract decisions.

The text of the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act (H.R. 1873) is available at thomas.loc.gov

White House Opposes Small Business Measure

The White House announced its opposition today to a measure intended to increase the amount of federal contracts awarded to small businesses.

Bill supporters nonetheless expect the legislation (HR 1873) to pass with broad bipartisan support when it comes to the House floor tomorrow. The House Rules Committee was to meet at 3 p.m. to consider a rule for the bill.

In a statement of administration policy, the White House said it supports efforts to boost contracting opportunities for small businesses, but opposes this bill because “it would impose broad, burdensome statutory restrictions on federal agencies’ ability to conduct acquisitions and establish unrealistic small business procurement goals.”

Sponsored by Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, the bill would increase the federal government’s small business procurement goal to 25 percent from 23 percent. That goal reflects an amendment adopted during the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee markup scaling back a higher bar of 30 percent approved by the Small Business Committee during its markup.

The bill would further clarify the definition of contract bundling, a change the White House criticized as “overly-expansive” and one that “would impose costly and time-consuming requirements on thousands of agency acquisitions.”

Source: CQ Today Midday Update

Will Taxes Increase Soon?

$1.5B Maryland budget gap looms

State sales tax receipts rebounded last month after a poor showing in March, assuaging fears that Maryland would face an even bigger deficit than the $1.5 billion projected shortfall. After March’s 3 percent decline from the same period last year, sales tax revenues grew by 2.8 percent last month over April 2006, according to numbers released Tuesday by the comptroller’s office. Fiscal analysts still consider that to be slow growth for the sales tax, most likely an indicator of the slow housing market, because construction materials are subject to the sales tax.

April also saw strong individual income tax growth, with a jump of more than 13 percent from the April 2006 numbers. Income tax receipts for March had been weaker than expected.

March’s decline had policymakers and fiscal analysts worried that, if the decline was indicative of what was to come in future months, the state’s total revenue for the fiscal year would be well below estimates. With lawmakers already grappling with a $1.5 billion gap between expected revenues and spending commitments, any further revenue decline would have had serious implications.

“It’s just a relief,” said Warren G. Deschenaux Jr., chief fiscal analyst for the legislature. “There was concern that, given the softness that we saw in March, that it foretold something ugly with respect to final payments of the income tax.”

April’s revenue collections indicate that, despite March’s blip, the state is on track with the official estimates for the year, with the exception of the sales tax. Comptroller Peter Franchot’s letter accompanying April’s revenue summary noted that sales tax receipts are the only revenue source that is below expectations for the year. Deschenaux said analysts had expected to see growth in sales tax collections of about 4 percent for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. But so far collections for the year indicate growth of only 2.2 percent. “So long as the housing sector is soft, that sector of the sales tax is going to be depressed,” he said.

Gov. Martin O’Malley and legislative leaders put off dealing with the budget deficit during the session that ended last month, allowing O’Malley to take time to look for efficiencies in state agencies. But chatter has increased about the possibility of a special session later this year to deal the shortfall. The General Assembly is expected to consider a combination of budget cuts, tax increases and slot machines to raise the money needed to fulfill the state’s spending commitments.

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May 18: Government Contracting Workshop

May 18: Government Contracting Workshop - Sales Strategy
Friday, May 18, 8 to 10 am
Hampton Inn & Suites
124 Womack Drive, Annapolis
$25 members; $40 non-members Register Here

Join the AATC and Chesapeake Innovation Center for our 2nd workshop in our Government Contracting workshop series, Sales Strategy. Hear from experts on how to successfully gain entrance to the government contracting market, or how to drive further sales for companies already in the realm.

Panelists:
Guy Timberlake, The American Small Business Coalition
Mark Amtower, Federal Direct
Lee White, Technology Specialists Inc.
Gloria Berthold, TargetGov

J-Ref’s “Down to Business”

Tune into J-Ref’s new television program “Down To Business.” The program airs on Comcast Howard County Channel 73 with host Michael Mobley on Mondays 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 8:00 pm and Wednesday & Fridays 8:00pm. May’s guests include our very own Gloria Berthold.