NeoTech
"Federal Small Business Initiative"

Columbia, Md.

Carol Morrison, Director

www.hceda.org/thecenter/neotech.html

The problem: With its suburban Maryland location, the NeoTech Incubator is a prime location for clients hoping to win federal government contracts. But unfortunately for those clients, some government agencies don’t consider small businesses good candidates for many contracts because they lack the resources, experience and technical expertise to complete large jobs on their own.

The solution: Through the Systematic Entrepreneurship Program, NeoTech brings together interested incubator clients as a consortium to pursue federal contracts. One member of the consortium serves as the leader on any given project and other members divide the work, based on their expertise. “This allows each company to look bigger and act bigger in order to compete at a higher level,” says Carol Morrison, NeoTech manager. “Companies can benefit from the alliance with others through networking and sharing of ideas and resources, and the program removes some of the barriers raised by federal contracting officers regarding small companies’ depth of resources and ability to perform.”