Frequently Asked Questions:

What is SBA’s Gulf Coast Business Matchmaking initiative?

SBA’s GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING initiative has been created to assist small businesses whose primary customer base has been greatly decreased, displaced or in some cases eliminated by the affects of Hurricane Katrina. GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING will provide accelerated access to contracting opportunities with federal, state and local government agencies, their prime contractors and major corporations. These participating procurement organizations will offer contract opportunities for both the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast Region, as well as ongoing procurement opportunities.

What does the initiative entail?

The initiative includes registration of eligible small businesses through an eight-day Gulf Coast mobile tour and subsequent matching of these participating small businesses with procurement organizations from federal, state, city government agencies, prime contractors and major corporations that have immediate and long term contracting opportunities. GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING will become a central point in aligning actual contract opportunities with the small businesses in the affected region that are ready to respond with capabilities, delivery and product quantities needed by participating procurement organizations.

How does it work?

The initiative kicks off on November 1, 2005 with an eight-day, six-city mobile registration tour of affected areas in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi conducted by SBA and its team of procurement experts who will register affected small businesses to participate in the initiative. The mobile tour will visit central locations in six cities along with SBA, Small Business Development Centers and SCORE counselors and a specially-equipped RV donated by Microsoft for the purposes of providing instant, electronic registration. Once the tour concludes, the initiative’s dedicated procurement experts will go to work on behalf of each registered small business to align them with procurement organizations that have specific contract opportunities and those seeking longer-term relationships with these qualified businesses. The result is expected to be an accelerated process to contracting for registered small businesses with participating procurement organizations.

What are the dates/time/locations of the GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING Mobile Tour?

Click for schedule

What entities are eligible to participate in the GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING?

The initiative is available to small businesses that meet the following eligibility requirements for this accelerated initiative:

1. Must be a small business (for SBA size standards, visit http://www.sba.gov/size/)
2. The place of business must be located in one of the FEMA declared disaster counties located in the Gulf Coast that were severely affected and are currently recovering from Hurricane Katrina. For the list of official disaster areas, please visit: http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm
3. The business must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (www.CCR.gov).
4. The business must be capable of meeting the delivery and quantity needs
specified by the contracting officials or organizations.

What if my business is not located in one of the declared disaster areas of the Gulf Coast, can I participate in this initiative?

At this time, the initiative is limited to eligible small businesses located in the FEMA declared Gulf Coast disaster area. If you are not located in one of these regions (the registration process will entail validation of your principal place of business zip code to participate), please visit SBA’s website at www.sba.gov for additional information about procurement opportunities, resources, and local events.

I am located in one of the declared Gulf Coast disaster areas and qualify to participate, but you are not visiting my city. How do I register?

Registration for the GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING initiative is currently accessible only by visiting one of the mobile registration tour locations during the period of November 1-9, 2005.

The GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING mobile registration has been strategically planned to visit those cities that have been most affected or have a large population of displaced small businesses in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. If you are prepared to participate in this accelerated contracting initiative and can meet the eligibility requirements for participation, please visit the mobile tour registration stop most convenient to your location.

The only method of registration for this initiative is by visiting one of the six cities and designated locations where the mobile registration tour will visit. These locations were selected to provide a central point of access by small businesses in the areas most affected by Hurricane Katrina. The procurement experts assisting small businesses in the registration process will interface with every single small business during the mobile registration tour to ensure they are able to respond to the near term opportunities as well as direct these small businesses to the counselors from the SBA, SCORE, SBDC and additional resource partners who will be on hand at each location to assist in other aspects of business recovery. Because the success of a participating small business in the initiative is integral to a highly interactive registration experience, it must be completed in person at one of the registration locations offered in one of six cities in the Gulf Coast Region.

Are small business owners charged to participate?

Small businesses are not charged a fee to participate in this initiative. Resulting contracting opportunities are negotiated between buyer and seller.

How many registrations are permitted per small business?

A maximum of one registration will be accepted by each participating small business, but up to two procurement contacts may be provided for each participating small business.

How does the process of matching registered small businesses with available contracting opportunities work?

Once qualified small businesses are registered, the system inputs their company’s profile into our customized Matchmaking database. The system will then “match” a registered business with available contracting opportunities.

Registration encompasses providing basic contact information, a descriptive business profile, and a statement of capabilities, delivery and quantities as appropriate and the selection of keywords for encoding each registration. This profile is then used for the matching with contract opportunities with participating procurement organizations from government, prime contractors and major corporations.

The GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING team of procurement experts will contact registered small businesses in the days and weeks following their registration to individually assist in the introduction of their services and capabilities with actual contract opportunities provided by participating procurement organizations. These matches will results in telephone-based appointments with buyers to discuss potential contracting opportunities.

Technically speaking, how are the buyers and sellers actually matched?

Utilizing the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code®
(UNSPSC®), small businesses are able to highlight their products and services. The system then uses the codes as the basis of determining matching contracts and buying organizations these small businesses align with in order to set up resulting appointments. Every small business that registers during the mobile registration tour will enter their codes with the assistance of the procurement experts on hand throughout the registration process.

What can a small business expect from registration in this initiative?

Small businesses will be assisted by a team who is dedicated to finding actual contract opportunities that match with their product/service offering and ability to respond with delivery and quantity demands of procurement organizations. This notification and process will occur via e-mail generated by the procurement team working full time on the initiative in the weeks and months following the mobile registration tour to assist in the matching of participating companies with the contract opportunities. Because the focus of the initiative is to ensure the right contracts are going to the qualified small businesses that need them most in the affected region, and the availability of contracts is based on stated needs by participating procurement organizations. Thus, the outcome for registered small businesses will vary based the actual contract opportunities available.

What is the period of time the GULF COAST BUSINESS MATCHMAKING initiative will be available to affected Gulf Coast small businesses?

SBA and its team of procurement experts are dedicated to assisting affected Gulf Coast region small businesses for the duration of the recovery effort. While the initiative has a defined start date, it does not have a determined end-date.

How is small business defined?

To learn more about size standards outlined by SBA, visit http://www.sba.gov/size/

What time will the RV mobile registration be available?

Hours in each location will be 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On November 3rd, registration will be open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. See the schedule above for more information.

Please visit SBA’s website at www.sba.gov for more information and any updates.