The stories here are just a few from business owners who have prospered, in part, due to the services they received from our dedicated team of contract specialists, procurement advisers and administrative assistant. Upon receiving notice of a contract award from the Navy, one client commented that, “…we want to make a positive impact on the state. At full tilt, we’ll be hiring at least five more professional workers to produce and maintain the vehicle. Plus, we’ll be working with local vendors for the main components.”

NORTH RIVER AIR, LLC

Kodiak

Taj Shoemaker is the owner of North River Air. The company provides air transportation to remote beaches, rivers, lodges, and hunting spots on Kodiak Island, AK Peninsula, Interior & Arctic Alaska.

Taj contacted the Alaska PTAC for assistance with an RFP response he was preparing for the Alaska Department of the Interior for Alaska Fixed Wing On Call Aircraft. This was a pretty large proposal he was asking for help on before his submission.  Taj worked closely with our PTAC Contract Specialist over the course of several days and the Specialist reviewed over 30 documents and made numerous recommendations to the various requirements of the RFP

North River Air was awarded a contract with the Alaska Department of the Interior to provide fixed wing on call flight services in Alaska.

EQUILUX INC.

Anchorage

Maria Talasz has worked as a graphic and website designer in Alaska since 2002 and is a woman-owned small business. Equilux provides clients with a suite of graphic, website, and digital design services to facilitate communication of concepts, brand identity, causes, and other messages.

Maria contacted the Alaska PTAC for assistance with an RFP response she was preparing for Website Support for the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). She had questions regarding a number of items required in the response.

A PTAC Contract Specialist reviewed the RFP and guided Maria through how to repsond to various items along with providing additional recommendations.  Equilux was the responsive, responsible Offeror in accordance with the specifications and requirements described in the RFP.  Congratulations Maria!

HDR MARINE, LLC

Anchorage

Heather Ronek is the owner of this woman-owned small business since 2015. HDR Marine, LLC provides marine transportation and logisitics services. The company has operated sucessfully in the oil and gas industry and opted to change over to federal procurement to seek new opportunities.

Heather contacted the Alaska PTAC for assistance with an RFP response she was preparing for The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) requiring Vessel Charter Services for ocean acidification research in the Gulf of Alaska. This was a three Volume proposal request so she had many questions regarding the requirements of each Volume.

Working with our PTAC Contract Specialist over the course of a couple weeks, the Specialist guided Heather through how to respond to the various requirements of the RFP and what items went into each Volume-quite a labor-intensive undertaking.

HDR Marine, LLC was awarded the contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Congratulations Heather!

CORVID LLC

Anchorage

With 34-years of chemistry/biology and business experience, Gloria Beckman started her company August 2017 and it has quickly become successful.  Gloria leads the company but Corvid, LLC also includes support from other family members who bring their chemistry and environmental science backgrounds. As a combined-force behind Corvid, LLC, the family members provide environmental consulting services with core capabilities based around chemistry and biology and includes field and laboratory audits, writing plans and reports, providing field quality oversight, managing waste, validating data, conducting wildlife surveys, providing remedial actions, and managing projects.

Because of her relevant background experiences and willingness to learn, Gloria’s been especially capable in leveraging Alaska PTAC’s services. With the assistance of Alaska PTAC Counselor Gary Bushor, Corvid, LLC has become an SBA certified Woman Owned Small Business

registered in the System for Award Management, and avoided unscrupulous, predatory businesses. As a result, Gloria created a growing and profitable government-contracting client base. A recent project involved working with ADOT through subcontracting with Granite Construction on the Sterling Highway 

Rehabilitation Zone near the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Corvid’s capability in managing the environmental contamination resulting from five utility poles located along the Sterling Highway was recognized by the State of Alaska Department of Transportation as well as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Because this project went so well and the given the relationships she developed, Gloria believes she’ll have similar opportunities in the future.

When speaking of her assistance from Alaska PTAC, Gloria says, “The people at PTAC are friendly and quick to respond to telephone and email questions and available to meet one on one. I really don’t think I would have had such a successful first year without their support and I am looking forward to meeting my second-year goals.” With so much accomplished already, I’m sure Gloria and her family will take Corvid, LLC to new heights in the coming year.

SKYDANCE AVIATION

Anchorage

Scott Amy has taken wing to the Alaskan skies. As a professional pilot and business owner for 26 years, he recently started a new on­-demand air charter company, Skydance Aviation. If it’s an Alaska adventure you want, Skydance Aviation will get you safely to and from fishing, hunting, snow kiting, and kayaking destinations along with flight-seeing around some of Alaska’s incredible parks. Flight seeing trips may not be in demand in the government marketplace, but Scott discovered there is a demand for air transportation services. With help from the Alaska PTAC staff, he is anticipating his first government contract.

“The learning curve has been steep for getting set up to bid and except contracts with federal entities and state agencies. PTAC has been invaluable in their assistance.” PTAC walked Scott through the many requirements for becoming a qualified government contractor that included SAM registration, how to read and respond to a solicitation, how to prepare a bid, and how Bid Match can identify potential work for his company. His passion of flying and knowledge of the great outdoors are great marketing tools for attracting business and will no doubt keep his bottom line AGL (above ground level) as Skydance Aviation enters the government marketplace. Congratulations Scott!

TESLA ELECTRIC

Anchorage

How do you make time to look for new work when you are busy doing the work you have? Some businesses lurch along in classic “feast or famine” fashion, but a better run business looks for upcoming opportunities. Although, by law, most federal open­ bid contracts above $25,000 must be made public, it can be difficult to make time to find and sort them. The Bid Match program, offered to Alaska PTAC clients, makes looking for new contracts easy: this database program uses a targeted profile to filter posts and send them in a daily email.

Tesla Electric initially met with Alaska PTAC in 2007 and received general information and assistance in the government contracting process. They successfully used this information to win and process a number of successful bids. To stay engaged, Tesla Electric actively uses the Bid Match program. Kim Amar, Tesla Electric HR Generalist, says, “We’ve been awarded several airport reconstruction jobs this year starting at $50,000 and up. With Alaska PTAC daily emails, it ensures no bidding opportunities pass us by.”

Tesla Electric is a successful commercial electrical contracting company which has recently completed jobs in Prudhoe Bay, Kodiak, Petersburg, and Bethel and performs electrical contracting services from sites as diverse as drill rigs and pump stations to construction projects and villages. Like many successful companies, Tesla Electric has entered the government contracting marketplace in order to expand their base and add municipal, state, and federal customers. Through government contracts, they have worked on health clinics, schools, and airports throughout Alaska. It is always rewarding to work with clients who so successfully apply the guidance and information Alaska PTAC provides. Well done Tesla Electric!

ALASKA PELLET SUPPLY

Wasilla

Al Roskam, owner of Alaska Pellet Supply has tenaciously stayed with government contracting despite a very difficult initial experience. In July 2016 APS secured a contract with the U.S. Forest Service in Sitka for a small annual wood pellet supply worth $3,324 a year and APS continues to supply wood pellets in the Juneau market, including a contract with Sealaska Corporation.

Things looked very different in 2012 when Al worked with Jody King, one of Alaska PTAC’s contract specialists, to secure a $338,000 contract delivering wood pellets to the U.S. Coast Guard wood pellet boilers at the Sitka Coast Guard air station base located in southeast Alaska. Unfortunately, after one initial delivery, the wood boilers shut down due to a mechanical issue and were not used for the next two and a half years.

Alaska Pellet Supply was then caught in the middle of mechanical breakdown and the inevitable bureaucracy involved with resolving a difficult government situation. APS did not immediately find another wood pellet customer and in a sad twist of irony, worked as a subcontractor to remove the very pellets they filled in 2012 when working to replace wood pellet burning boilers with oil fired boilers. Al says, “Even though it has been rocky start for APS, we still owe a lot of gratitude to Jody and the Alaska PTAC team for showing us the way to get started.”

Today, between their commercial contracts and the contract with the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Pellet Supply continues to promote alternative energy in Alaska and run a successful small business. Al is an inspiration and example for anyone who has the the creativity and grit to start a small business and pursue both government and commercial contracts.

ROBERT B. BLODGETT & ASSOCIATES

Anchorage

Robert B. Blodgett & Associates provides consulting services to oil exploration companies throughout the world. As part of his work he continues to maintain the Alaska Paleontological database: a site he started when he working in the USGS Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy.

Clearly, owner Dr. Blodgett, is a man who understands details and complexity, but despite this, he found accessing some of the government bid proposal and payment systems difficult. He especially credits Alaska PTAC contract specialist Jody King for assisting him with registering in the System for Award Management and the IPP federal invoicing system. She further guided him through other aspects of government contracting and he still calls when he finds a particularly perplexing issue. Dr. Blodgett says, “Alaska PTAC has saved many, many hours of trying to scope this out on my own, and I am eternally grateful for this help. They make work as a consultant pleasant and easy.”

With Ms. King’s assistance, along with his private consulting, Dr. Blodgett explanded his services to include geological data, primarily paleontological data, for federal and state agencies including the US Geological Survey, National Park Service, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey. In 2016, Dr. Bodgett successfully won and completed two USGS contracts, one for $24,000 and the other for $20,000. He has also recently completed a National Park Service contract. It is at the core of Alaska PTAC services and purpose to assist experts, like Dr. Blodgett, match their skills with agencies designed to protect and catalog United States national resources. Congratulations on your success Dr. Robert Blodgett!

FISHEYE CONSULTING LLC

Anchorage

Stephen Grabecki is the owner of FISHEYE Consulting, a one-person firm that provides consulting on all aspects of fisheries, and as Stephen says, includes “from boat to throat.”  He specializes in biology, ecology, environmental studies and permitting, fishery development & management, and seafood safety & quality.  Many of his clients are in the petroleum, mineral, hydroelectric, and seafood industries, and now the government sector.

In 2012, a decline in fishery dollars coming into the state moved Stephen to revise his business services to greater emphasize his environmental and bio sciences capabilities rather than his fisheries services. FISHEYE Consulting was created and he began to explore the government as a potential customer.  He worked with the Alaska PTAC first on setting up a Bidmatch profile, developing a Statement of Qualifications, attending several PTAC events, and eventually bidding on a contract:

“We received our first federal award, from the US Forest Service, to develop a plan to deal with the waste from the sockeye salmon sport fishery in the Kenai / Russian River Complex.  PTAC’s My Bid Match service presented the opportunity, and PTAC’s training sessions showed us how to best work with USFS’ Contracting Officer.”

Stephen continues to utilize our services and attends many of PTAC’s “Meet the Prime” and “Meet the Agency” events for networking opportunities and to continue to understand government contracting processes as FISHEYE Consulting moves through the present and future changes in government purchasing.

WORK ZONE TRAFFIC CONTROL & MAINTENANCE LLC

Wasilla

Trish Early and Cindy Hudgins started their own traffic control company in 2014 by bringing Trish’s already established business training and certifying flaggers for road construction industry and Cindy’s background in office management to start their own traffic control company. With a lot of questions, they contacted the Alaska PTAC for help.  PTAC specialists provided assistance with obtaining a DUNS number, registering in the SAM database, navigating the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) application process, creating a Statement of Qualifications, and then finally activating a Bid Match profile.

Work Zone started with nothing more than determination- no equipment, work truck or money for payroll.  Trish and Cindy were their own employees. Using Trish’s pickup truck and renting various devices, they secured and finished 2 DOT drilling projects.  They were soon able to purchase their first flatbed work truck, signs and other equipment for the business.  They look forward to growing their business in the years ahead, knowing that the Alaska PTAC will be there every step of the way.

NORTHERN JANITORIAL

Bethel

After being laid off and with job prospects scarce in the Alaskan Community of Bethel, Jody Malus decided to attend several PTAC workshops being presented in Bethel to learn more about doing business in the government marketplace. The workshops included an introduction to government contracting and an overview of federal and state socio-economic programs like 8(a), HUBZone, and DBE. As a female military veteran, Jody had expressed interest in starting a business that had government contracting opportunities.

Working together with the Alaska SBDC, Jody developed a business plan that included PTAC assistance with market research to identify contract dollars being spent in the region and lead Jody to open a janitorial supply service. She won her first government contract 90 days later with the City of Bethel and another contract award five months later. She said without PTAC’s help she would never have had enough information on how to bid on a contract and a great service was provided to a small business in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.