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.