Counseling and help

Discover counseling and training resources to help small businesses win federal contracts.

  • Contracting area directors

    Contracting area directors oversee Procurement Center Representatives, Commercial Market Representatives, and SBA's size determination programs.
  • Procurement Center Representatives

    PCRs help small businesses win contracts, conduct market research, assist small businesses with payment issues, and provides counseling.
  • Commercial Market Representatives

    CMRs work to ensure that small businesses are receiving maximum practicable opportunity to participate as federal subcontractors.

Get the help you need

Whether you’re trying to win your first government contract or you’re an experienced contractor, SBA and its partner organizations can be valuable resources.

Procurement Center Representatives

Procurement Center Representatives (PCRs) help small businesses win federal contracts. PCRs view many federal acquisition and procurement strategies before they’re announced. This enables them to influence opportunities that should be set aside for small businesses.

PCRs also conduct market research, assist small businesses with payment issues, provide counseling on the contracting process, and more.

Subcontracting Program Assistance

Subcontracting Program Assistance (SPA) can help you with subcontracting questions after a contract is awarded. SPA can help you with tools to match prime contractors and subcontractors, help small businesses market their services to prime contractors, and more.

SBA Learning Center

SBA offers free online courses to help small businesses understand government contracting. You can find these video classes in the SBA Learning Center.

APEX Accelerators

APEX Accelerators (formerly known as Procurement Technical Assistance Centers) help small businesses that are interested in government contracting. APEX Accelerators can help you determine if your business is ready for government contracting, register in the proper databases, find and bid on contracts, and more.

SCORE

SCORE is a nonprofit association of thousands of volunteer business counselors around the country who educate small business owners. SCORE provides free in-person and online counseling, as well as educational workshops.

Small Business Development Centers

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) offer free, one-on-one counseling and low-cost training services. Business owners can go to SBDCs for help with procurement and contracting, market research, 8(a) program support, and more.

Small business offices

Many federal agencies have what’s called an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or an Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). These offices work to identify opportunities to contract with small businesses.

Need help?