Congratulations to 4 New Federal or State Contractors.

In the first Quarter of this year (11/01/04-01/31/05), four PICC clients became contractors for the first time. The 4 contracts totaled $344,527.
In addition, our other clients totaled $5 million in new contracts and $15 million in contract renewals for a grand total of $20 million dollars in contracts.

PICC Schedules Workshops

Meet Our Instructors…
Joann Ostrognai is a Certified Professional Contracts Manager, Certified Contracts Assistant Specialist and designated Fellow by the National Contracts Management Association. She was the Regional Director for the Government Marketing Assistance Group in Fort Wayne for 5 years. She worked as a civilian for the Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison where she was first trained in procurement, and she worked in contracts management for Magnavox (now Raytheon), Bowmar Aerospace, Bhar Plastics Wayne Home Equipment, and Valspar.

Is There a Federal Market for Your Product or Services?

• Make sure that you are ready to tackle Government contracting by having the necessary resources in place

• Learn how and where to find appropriate bids for your company

• Find out which Government Prime Contractors are looking for good subcontractors for your product or service

• Gain knowledge about pricing history and learn the Government paid your competitors for an item or service

• Get assistance in targeting your federal marketing in a cost-effective way

Workshop participants will receive:

• Bid leads for items or services that they sell

• Counseling by a Certified Contract Assistance Specialist

• Excellent lists of websites for further reference

How to complete a Bid Package for a Federal Contract

• Learn the 10 Most Important Points about Completing a Bid 

• Discover which sections need to be filled in and which can just be read through for understanding and compliance 

• Learn how to correctly complete the Certifications and Representations for your company 

• Get an “insider’s” perspective on the most common mistakes made on bids. 

• Find out what can disqualify your bid 

Package and Bar coding to meet Federal Standards
(for company’s with existing contracts only) 

This workshop is for companies that already have contracts. Will cover; an overview of Government Packaging requirements, Basic flow of the contract requirement to end-item packaging, hands on presentation using specific packaging requirements, selecting the correct packaging and demonstration of packaging techniques and bar code applications.

Packaging seminar a tremendous success. This program, which was suggested by one of our clients and board member Tom Smith of Swiss Controls, had 11 companies attend. The program was provided by Ted Hollanders and Dian Newcome of Advanced Soft Where Systems.

All of the companies participating in the workshop rated it as a must attend for shipping managers and those doing bid preparation for companies that have contracts.

In Kind Contributions

PICC would be at a great disadvantage without the In Kind contributions and wants to thank the following businesses, institutions and associations:

• La Porte Chamber of Commerce,

• The Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce,

• Merrillville Chamber of Commerce,

• Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce,

• Michigan City UEA,

• Hammond Development Corp.,

• Indiana University Northwest,

• NIPSCO,

• Netnitco,

• NIRPC,

• NWIN Forum,

• SBDC,

• Starke County.

Cash Contributors

 Cash contributions are necessary for PICC to obtain its federal grant. The government matches 75% to 25% of the total contributions. Contributors for last year were:

• The Hammond Urban Enterprise Association

• City of East Chicago

• Lake County Council

• La Porte County

• Regional Development Corp.

• NIPSCO

PICC would like to thank these sponsors for their generous contributions.

Learning To Better Serve

PICC staff members Dennis Terry and Erin Arreguin will be attending training at the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers in Nashville Tennessee April 3rd through the 7th.

New Board Members

Two new people have been added to the Board of directors at the March board meeting: Michael Bullock of the Northwest Indiana Minority Business Opportunity Committee and Jim Ventura the new Economic and Business Development Director for the City of East Chicago.

PICC Teams Up With SBDC

In an effort to aggressively market their programs the Northwest Indiana Small Businesses Development Center and PICC have teamed up to contact all of the business in Porter, Jasper and Newton county. The two organizations have contracted with Donna DeRuntz and Lorie Franke- Polz pilot project to promote the two programs in those areas one day per week. The goal is to make contact with every business to let them know about the services being offered by the two organizations.

Partners in Contracting Corporation
6100 Southport Road, Portage, Indiana 46368 219.762.8644

Satellite Offices: (By Appointment)
LaPorte Chamber of Commerce, 414 Lincolnway 219.362.3178
Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, 150 Lincolnway 219.462.1105
Hammond Development Corporation, 5246 Hohman Ave. 219.853.6399
Michigan City Urban Enterprise Assoc. 2601 E Michigan Blvd, Ste 200 219.873.2300
IUN, 3400 Broadway, 219.981.4258
Pulaski Co. Community Development Commission, 623 W. 11th St., 574.946.3869
Starke Co. Development Foundation, 4 N. Main St., 574.772.5627