Small businesses find help in getting noticed

Tempel was at New Jersey City State University in Jersey City yesterday, where an all-day contracting expo was showing small companies such as hers how to work with big corporations and government agencies. Many of these small businesses will take a page from Tempel's playbook and bid as subcontractors on a slice of work a small farm can handle. Tempel hopes to be a subcontractor to the giant construction firm Skanksa USA, now building the new $1.4 billion football stadium in Secaucus that is targeted for completion in 2010.

The three years of networking Tempel invested in getting her foot in the contracting door is about par for the course, said Stephanie Burroughs, director of procurement for the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers, one of several nonprofit groups that coaches small-business contracting skills and which sponsored yesterday's expo.

"It has always been a slow process, but you have to stay in the game," she said, adding while networking is essential, firms need to develop a track record of successfully filling small contracts, thus building their reputation.

Several hundred small businesses came out to meet the buyers who award contracts for companies, such as Novartis, Schering-Plough and Public Service Electric & Gas, and government entities, such as the Port Authority, New Jersey Transit, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. Burroughs said the SBDC either runs or participates in about 25 of these contracting expos throughout New Jersey each year, and these events are essential for firms hoping to make a contracting breakthrough.

The state of New Jersey's goal is to award 25 percent of its $2 billion in annual state contracts to small businesses, and has certified about 5,000 firms as small businesses eligible to bid on contracts, said John Cronin, a certification official for the state. Like Burroughs, he wants to see small firms get out to workshops and meet the buyers. Cronin also teaches "Next Step," a half-day course on how to navigate procurement. He offers the course each month at a different location. On July 16, Cronin will be at Gibbs College in Livingston. The full schedule of classes can be found at njsbdc.com. Help is also available from the NJIT Defense Procurement Center (aptac-us.org) and the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (njawbo.org).

Glen Garth's firm Garth Solutions was retained by Skanska more than a year ago to help find a diverse group of suppliers to build the Giants/Jets stadium. Garth led a workshop at yesterday's expo, coaching small firms interested in bidding on the stadium project. The goal was to award 15 percent of the work to small, women- and minority-owned firms, those with fewer than 100 employees, and less than $12 million in annual revenue. With about 85 percent of the contracts awarded, the project has achieved a 30 percent diversity share, Garth said.

His firm reached out to the construction industry and put together a database of 600 diverse suppliers who could do the work, Garth said. The prime contractors were given the list of candidates to choose from. Diversity is being achieved at the stadium, "and that is a reflection on the leadership of Skanska; there was a commitment from the top of the organization," Garth said.