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2015 Annual Report

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The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico stands today at the verge of a historical transformation. Driven by the need of renewed economic activity and investment, the local business ecosystem continues to evolve, opening and pushing opportunities never explored before by companies and individuals. In this process, the Federal Contracting Center (FeCC) of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) have been key partners, addressing the interest of those pursuing business opportunities with the federal government. At the conclusion of the natural year 2015, the FeCC has seen an increase in the share of Puerto Rico firms participating in federal contracts. This represents new investment and economic activity locally, estimated in approximately $395 million. Convinced of the potential that the federal and procurement sectors represent, PRIDCO continues to stimulate and promote the participation of local firms in the process. Puerto Rico provides strategic advantages for companies seeking new business opportunities in the federal sector. Meeting the requirements of the U.S. legal framework while providing competitive labor and operational costs, companies operating locally can find increased business

activity by exploring the opportunities available in the

federal contracting market. In this process, PRIDCO and FeCC stand as key partners for companies to provide the necessary tools are available for successful results.

A message from the Program Manager of the Federal Contracting Center

2015 was a successful step forward in furthering our mission to proactively position businesses in the federal government market while actively assisting and matchmaking companies with federal contracts available. Despite a challenging environment, and a decrease in Government procurement, our clients increased their sales from $65.3 million to $96.3 million in the federal market, helping create or maintain 1,927 jobs. Equally important, it is the value added that these awardees gained by being a federal contractor. Many commercial doors were open because of the standing that most government contractors enjoy. Characteristics such as being quality conscious, price competitive, technologically proficient and commitment to customer satisfaction are seen as synonymous of federal contractors. I am also proud to report that in 2015 we acquired 707 new clients and held 1,927 counseling sessions in addition to 26 training and outreach events that exceeded 736 attendees. These results demonstrate a measurable impact on Puerto Rico’s economy; nonetheless, they are only one piece of the puzzle. I am confident that after reviewing this report, you will appreciate the true impact FeCC is having in Puerto Rico. FeCC’s accomplishments could not be achieved without the selfless support from the staff; Bárbara Rivera, Nildalisse Rodríguez, Rey Torres, Lynette Serrano and Amanda Blanco. Nor without the inspiration of our clients and stakeholders. Their support, coupled with the strength and resources of the FeCC, form a solid infrastructure that leverages the power of federal and state programs for business owners on the Island. A special recognition goes to Bárbara Rivera who acted as program manager during the first four months of 2015. Her leadership and commitment played a key role in this year’s success. As we move forward in 2016, we will continue to develop innovative ways to assist entrepreneurs in adjusting to and capitalizing on the increasingly rapid changes in the federal marketplace.

Pedro J. Acevedo

Program Manager

To proactively position businesses in the federal government market while actively assisting and matchmaking companies with federal contracts available.

To become Puerto Rico's gateway for federal contracting opportunities by increasing local business participation in federal contracts.

Mission

Vision

“The Puerto Rico Federal Contracting Center (FeCC), is funded in part through a cooperative agreement from the Department of Defense (DOD) through a program that is administered by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The content of any written materials or verbal communications of the FeCC does not necessarily reflect the official views of or imply endorsement by DOD or DLA.”

The Puerto Rico Federal Contracting Center (FeCC), also known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), is a division of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) with more than 29 years of experience in federal contracting. The FeCC is focused in assisting local businesses to sell their goods and services to the federal government. The FeCC opened it’s doors in 1986-87 and it is part of a nationwide network of 92 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, a DoD funded program through cooperative agreements to assist US businesses in pursuing federal procurement opportunities. The FeCC provides exceptional quality service at no cost, to any business located in Puerto Rico, that is interested in selling their products or services to the Federal Government. Any business that is qualified and has potential and interest to sell to the federal government is more than welcome to apply for our services.

About Us

A snapshot of 2015 Metrics

Evaluation Factor Achieved

Active Client Base

921

Counseling hours 1755

Counseling activity 1927 sessions

Conferences / attendees

26/736

Contract Awards 96,331,963

Jobs created / Retained 1927

Return of Investment (ROI)

$1,000 invested in FeCC generated $257,522.52 in contracts awarded to PR firms

$1,000 invested in FeCC generated 5.15 jobs

FeCC currently serves 921 active clients. Below is the breakdown of the counseling activity by

client socioeconomic segment.

Clients Diversity

Events

Sponsored

Outreach

Seminars and Conferences

• 36 Seminars and conferences were sponsored or participating (outreach).

• 736 entrepreneurs participated in the training programs

• 19 trainings events were created and offered by FeCC consultants.

• These events were presented in format such as: seminars, e-labs, matchmaking, conferences and workshops.

Sponsored events are conferences, workshops, seminars , matchmaking or similar events hosted by the FeCC or others, where FeCC staff has served as a main speaker or resource.

Outreach refers to other events where the FeCC has participated to provide general awareness or guidance about its services.

• 17 events were attended by the FeCC staff in a liaison with entrepreneurs entities such as:

• MedWeek, • Puerto Rico IT Cluster, • Small Business Administration, • The Professional College of Engineers

and Land Surveyors of Puerto Rico, • PR United Retailers Association, • The PR Products Association, • PR Manufacturers Association, • EZ GSA, • PYMES, • PRIMEX, • Aerospace & Defense Space Cluster, • USDOL • Federal Agencies.

Seminars and Conferences: Client’s Reviews

“Excellent presentation. Very organized”

“The presenter was very well prepared!” “Great information!”

“Very informative!” “Information was clear and specific.”

“Very useful and user-friendly fundamentals essential to get your business going with the Federal Government. Great Presentation”.

“Great time management”

“Excellent seminar. Very informative and explanatory. Very good initial orientation ”.

“The seminar was excellent; the presenter was very pleasant, with full knowledge of the topics. Congratulations on this seminar and I hope you continue offering it.”

“The presenter has knowledge of the subject and shows confidence.”

“Excellent presentation. Straight to the point and useful information. I will

be interested in a meeting soon to discuss my business. Thanks!”

“Excellent job and tons of useful information.”

Going the extra mile

Working along with GSA FY 2015 was crucial to demonstrate the significant role of the Puerto Rico FeCC in connecting and promoting federal opportunities to our small business community. Even though, our center have always worked actively with federal agencies, assisting and supporting them to identify local capabilities to fulfill their specific needs; this past year we have been catalytic in promoting milestone projects opportunities, particularly with GSA. Due to our constant outreach efforts to key personnel within the government, in and outside of Puerto Rico, GSA offices in New York, Philadelphia and even Denver contacted us to request our support to promote main construction projects competition among local small contractors. The agency understands the great opportunity these projects represent to our construction industry due to the economic impact they will represent in terms of business activity, jobs creation and retention, not to mention, the importance of providing a fair opportunity to compete and win a federal contract. “Our work with the Federal Contracting Center (FeCC) was nothing short of amazing. The FeCC was an instrumental part in GSA conducting successful Solicitation phase kick-offs and Small Business Networking Events for the New Federal Building project in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The FeCC's role in coordinating space for the events, reaching out to local small businesses to take part in the events, and making themselves available to assist both GSA and the local community was commendable. Barbara Rivera was our main point of contact and liaison and she was incredibly helpful and accommodating at every step of the way. The GSA team appreciates the time and effort that the FeCC put in to assist GSA with providing an opportunity for the local community to become more involved with the New Federal Building project and attributes their efforts to the growing interest of this project.” Steve Kohri Contracting Officer GSA Mid-Atlantic Region (3PQCK)

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your professionalism in assistance me and HQJ Plumbing Supply Inc., understand the FeCC. PRIDCO is a vital resource to the economical growth in Puerto Rico, I have visited your office a number times and you were always available. We here at HQJ Plumbing Supply Inc., want to thank you and we look forward to using your services now and in the future.”

Gustavo A. Rivera HQJ Plumbing Supplies Inc.

“The Puerto Rico FeCC has been instrumental in our company’s recent growth. They have provided

not only in-depth training, but have also helped prepare us to sell to the Federal Government and

assist in all the documentation, including the correct preparation of collections. The Puerto Rico

FeCC is truly a one-stop-shop for anyone who wants to sell to the Federal Government.”

Carlos J. Toro Sárraga Oscar Super Cash & Carry

“We recently contacted the Federal Contracting Center for orientation and assistance with the

Women-Owned certification. The staff assigned to attend our inquiry was very knowledgeable

and attentive as they walked us through the requirements for such certification. They also helped

us clarify some of the questions on the application as well as with upload process in SBA and SAM

systems. Moreover, they were able to direct us to short term actions we could take to initiate

marketing with the federal agencies in regards to our services and our newest certification. We

look forward to continuing our collaboration with the FCC as we kick off 2016. Thank you again for

your assistance and follow through with this matter! ”

Aissa Betancourt Snelling Staffing Services

“When I received the notification related to a pre-solicitation notice for small businesses with the

NAICS code 541310 (Architectural Services), I took a moment to think about this opportunity. On

the past, I considered this an extremely time consuming process, but to find out more information I

decided to contact the Federal Contracting Center (FeCC). Since that first call, from the

receptionist, Amanda up to the Director Pedro Acevedo the support and assistance were

outstanding, specifically from the Specialist assigned to me, Ms. Nildalisse Rodriguez. She walked

with me all the steps of the process, always on time for our meetings, no time pressure to answer

my questions, offered valuable comments to the information provided, understand of my business,

asked clever question to know more about our capabilities, answered always my calls, help me in

all the process and more. With this team, I feel confident that a great job has been done, it’s an

spectacular and unique experience. Thanks a lot!”

Isabel Piñeiro Genex Engineers, PSC

Success Stories

New Garden Design Inc. is a company dedicated to

the making of designs, construction, plants rental

for the interior or exterior, maintenance, cut and

trim of illuminated trees, sprinkling and drainage of

gardens and green areas, commercial and

industrial. Their main objective is that their projects

easily integrate to the physical facility in order to

create natural environments throughout Puerto

Rico. The company considers that thanks to their

cost control and organization of resources they

have become a leader in the Landscaping industry.

The company became a FeCC client on February,

11, 2015. The FeCC counselor gladly helped the

client by providing orientation about the services

offered by the center. The client learned how to

find and evaluate bid announcements, and the

correct way to respond to them. Not only was the

client oriented, but he was also guided step-by step

through the process of selling to the federal

government, complying with all the necessary

requirements.

By that time, the Puerto Rico Air National Guard

(PRANG) reached out to the FeCC to receive

support in organizing a site visit with small

businesses to discuss a landscaping opportunity at

Camp Santiago in Salinas. The FeCC immediately

responded to the PRANG request and a site visit

was held on April 7, 2015.

As a result of FeCC’s outreach efforts, 40

landscaping small businesses participated in the

event, and New Garden Design Inc. was one of

them. During the site visit, the FeCC counselor and

PRANG personnel oriented the companies about

the opportunity the agency had. New Garden

Design Inc. worked closely with the FeCC counselor

on this opportunity in order to submit a

competitive proposal. As a result, they were

awarded the Camp Santiago Drop Zone Ground

maintenance contract; their first federal contract

for the amount of $9,000.00. Mr. Raul Malavé and

his team were excited about this achievement, due

to the fact that very few companies obtain a

contract on their first year approaching the federal

government market. Motivated by this opportunity

New Garden Design, Inc. started working with the

FeCC counselor on their 8(a) certification

application which will provide them access to other

targeted business opportunities within the federal

government. At the present time, the services are

still being provided to the client and they are

currently undergoing the 8(a) certification.

Success Stories

Confianza Exterminating Corp. has been serving

Puerto Rico since 1993 and specializes in pest control

services such as prevention, baiting, beneficial insects,

and traps; providing to commercial, residential,

institutional, governmental and Industrial customers

throughout all of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Mr.

Francisco San Miguel and his wife Sofia combined their

skills, education and experience to manage the

business. The staff is all licensed Pest Control

Technicians who have worked in the field enabling

them to provide the clientele with accurate and

concise information dealing with pest control

situations. They believe that their success was built on

a standard quality control procedure: inspection,

identifying the problem, educating the customer and

implementing appropriate and customized treatment

plans. Mr. Francisco San Miguel, president & owner is

also the President of the Puerto Rico Pest Control

Association.

The customer segmentation for the company was led

by the health industry; they serve the main hospitals in

the Island. When the economy began to change, they

lost some contracts in the aforementioned industry as

well as local government contracts. Given that

situation, Mr. San Miguel had a vision of looking to the

federal marketplace to balance the company’s

customer portfolio.

They met with a FeCC counselor to get the

company ready to do business with the federal

market.

He participated in several seminars to understand

the process. The counselor guided him by offering

technical assistance to get registered in the System

for Award Management, and helped him

understand how to conduct a market research in

order to establish a federal opportunity capture

plan. As part of that plan, he received assistance in

preparing a capability statement, as well as

preparing, completing and submitting the firm’s

application for the 8a Business Development

Program. As a result, the company was awarded

two federal contracts, one in the Island awarded

by the Puerto Rico Air National Guard for the

amount of $18,830.00 and the other in the Virgin

Islands, giving the company entrance into the

federal market, and the opportunity to offer their

services in other territories. The company was also

approved to enter under the 8a Business

Development Program.

“I would like to recognize the professional support

that the FeCC provided since 2014. We thank the

team for helping us achieve the 8a certification and

the required registrations. We also hope to work

closely this year with the FeCC”

Francisco San Miguel, President

Success Stories

Oscar Super Cash and Carry is a committed company

since its beginnings in 1974. It has accomplished its

mission of “Providing merchandisers the widest

variety of products at the best prices at the precise

moment”. Even though they have been present in

the commercial market for 40 years, they have never

considered selling to the federal government before.

As soon as they heard about this potential market

through a close friend they decided to contact the

Federal Contracting Center (FeCC). The company

became a FeCC client on July 2014 when they

received orientation on how to do business with the

federal government. With the help of the FeCC

counselor they created their Capability Statement, a

key federal marketing tool. They also received

technical assistance from the FeCC counselor

through all the registration process (SAM) and the

billing system (WAWF).

Looking to identify small business capabilities within

the food sector, once again, the Puerto Rico Army

National Guard (PRANG) contacted the FeCC to

coordinate a Matchmaking Event for Food

Distributors to discuss their needs of food supplies

for the current fiscal year. Oscar Super Cash & Carry

was identified as a prospect to fulfill the PRANG

needs to supply food to kitchens in several military

bases around the Island.

After attending the event mentioned before,

it became clear to them the tremendous

opportunity the federal market represents

for their business growth. Soon after, and as

a direct result of FeCC assistance, in 2015

Oscar Super Cash and Carry was awarded

$455,758.13 in government contracts, being

able to supply several orders of provisions to

military bases in such a short period of time.

Also, the company has attended various

workshops offered by FeCC counselors,

where they have improved their abilities to

continue selling to the federal government.

“In the perspective of a small business

they transform a hard and complex

process in an easy and reachable one.”

Carlos J. Toro Sárraga, Vice President &

General Manager

Success Stories

Eden’s Creation

Eden’s Creation is a landscaping services provider.

They offer a full service approach enabling them to

respond to any landscaping need. They do new

installations, renovations & ongoing maintenance.

Eden’s Creations approach assures they deliver a

consistent, value-based service no matter what the

customer budget is. Eden’ staff is comprised of full-

time, highly qualified professionals experienced in

every aspect of the landscape industry.

Eden’s Creation was referred to the FeCC by the

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to

receive assistance on how to sell to the federal

government. Mr. Obed Ortiz, President, visited the

FeCC to take advantage of the benefits of the

program. FeCC staff provided technical help to get

Eden’s Creation registered in the System for Award

Management (SAM). Rural Housing Services

expressed the need for ground maintenance

services to maintain repossessed houses they are in

charge of. Eden’s creation was chosen to sign a

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with the USDA;

which is a simplified acquisition method that

government agencies use to fill anticipated

repetitive needs for supplies or services. The

company has been awarded $16,110 in federal

orders, during its first year selling to the federal

market.

“Excellent service! Thanks to the FeCC Staff the

idea of selling to the federal government

became a real business to my company. I could

not be more thankful for the service and their

commitment.”

Obed Ortiz, President

The Puerto Rico Federal Contracting Center relies on a great team of dedicated professionals, who are truly committed to support PRIDCO’s mission and the Puerto Rico’s local businesses needs at all times. As part of our ongoing commitment to exceed our customers expectations in a constantly changing environment of federal procurement standards and requirements, our agents participate in continuing education programs and seminars, and specialized courses. Our goal is to generate employment and improve the general economy of Puerto Rico by assisting business firms to obtain and perform under federal government contracts.

Our team

Federal Contracting Center

Amanda Blanco Reception desk

787.758.4747 x. 3181 fecc@pridco.pr.gov

Nildalisse Rodríguez Procurement Specialist

787.758.4747 x. 3179 Nildalisse.rodriguez@pridco.pr.gov

Rey Torres Procurement Specialist

787.758.4747 x. 3180 Rey.torres@pridco.pr.gov

Bárbara Rivera Procurement Specialist

787.758.4747 x. 3175 Barbara.rivera@pridco.pr.gov

Pedro Acevedo Program Manager

787.758.4747 x. 3177 Pedro.acevedo@pridco.pr.gov

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Thank you

The FeCC team would like to take this opportunity to thank PRIDCO and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for their partnership and support, year after year, and enabling the continuance of our program by making the services we provide to our clients possible. Also, we would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to PRIDCO employees, our team, and all coworkers and colleagues in every department that help us in so many ways and create an enjoyable and collaborative environment everyday. A special thank you to our clients and partners for trusting and allowing us to contribute to their businesses and entities in a professional and valuable way.

Visit our website: www.federalcontractingpr.com and follow us on

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