Springs gets state's first Procurement Technical Assistance Center

Colorado Springs will be the site of the state's first office to help small businesses land federal contracts, Gov. Bill Ritter's office announced Thursday.

Federal regulations require that nearly a quarter of its procurement contracts go to small businesses, but many of them don't have the expertise or manpower to tackle the mountain of  required paperwork. The function of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers is to lend that expertise and assistance.

"This center will allow for all of Colorado's small businesses to get fair and equal access to do business with the government, at a time when there is much work to do to get our economy moving again," Ritter said in the statement announcing the new office.

Jonita LeRoy, a grant administrator for the state Office of Economic Development, said the new office will have a budget of $930,000 from federal, state and local sources. She said it would employ six people - five in Colorado Springs and one in Glenwood Springs.

"This kind of rounds out the picture for us to be able to provide education, training and support for our business community without having to cross state lines to get it, or to figure it out on your own." said Dave Csintyan, president of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, which partnered with the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. and the state Office of Economic Development to land the new office.

Other PTACs have a return-on-investment ratio of about 350 to 1, Csintyan said.

He said tentative plans were to house the PTAC in the Springs Chamber's offices on Tejon Street and to have it up and running this fall.

Brian Binn, who oversees military and business affairs for the  Springs Chamber, said the new office would assure that Colorado companies get more personal attention and assistance. There are 93 such offices around the country, but currently the nearest is in Cheyenne, Wyo.

"Colorado is one of only a handful of states that does not have such a program," Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in a statement. "That's a travesty, given the large federal and military presence in Colorado."
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