082: Melissa Burant - The free government resource that all small businesses should use, PTAC

For the first time ever we are interviewing someone from APTAC (Association of Pocurement Technical Assistance Centers).  If you have never heard of APTAC or PTAC for short, the non-organization has offices around the country in every state that provide free and low cost training and technical assistance for small businesses. They host workshops and matchmaking events, offer one-on-one counseling and can provide you with resources to reach federal, state and local government agencies. My recommendation is that every small business owner should at the very least try and get acquainted with their local PTAC. If not for the fact that the organization is funded bytax payers, so to do a free consultation is a no brainer.  Our guest today, Melissa Burant is a Government Contracting Specialist with the Iowa Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) serving clients in Scott and Clinton counties. Before working at PTAC Melissa served as a federal contracting officer at the Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, and has more than 15 years of federal service. In this episode she shares:  ▪how to help small businesses avoid pitfalls  ▪some of the service offered by PTAC  ▪small business horror story and more