About the Massachusetts APEX Accelerator

  

The Massachusetts APEX Accelerator results are impressive...

With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development—through the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Isenberg School of Management—the Massachusetts APEX Accelerator (formerly the Massachusetts PTAC) was established in November 1999.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) signed a memorandum of understanding on December 2, 2022, in a bid to strengthen and expand small business development nationally. The most obvious immediate change is that the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) were renamed as APEX Accelerators.

Many forms of service are provided to Massachusetts APEX clients. The most valuable of these services is one-on-one business assistance, both during the proposal process and the subsequent contract period. When a client talks to a APEX specialist, he/she is talking with a member of one of the strongest APEX Accelerators in the nation. Massachusetts APEX specialists have over 150 years of combined experience, both as government buyers and industry sellers. 

Clients receive an understanding of contracting requirements and the know-how to obtain and successfully perform federal, state and local government contracts. Small businesses headquartered in Massachusetts and in business for at least one year can subscribe to a free bid-matching service informing them of bidding opportunities (when electronically available) matching their specific product and/or service profiles. APEX provides a wide range of assistance, such as: guidance on initial registrations and small business certifications, researching procurement histories, small business matchmaking conferences, proposal guidance and review, contract performance issues and much more.

Business advisory sessions can involve discussing a client's issues or problems, researching potential solutions, and conveying those solutions back to the client. Through a combination of research and team brainstorming, APEX specialists work to provide the most accurate and comprehensive information to all their clients. APEX also can supply technical information, such as specifications and standards (MIL-SPEC or MIL-STD) and pricing history. Pricing histories are available on any federally procured item with a National Stock Number or NSN (a number assigned to stock listed items of the Federal Government). Using past pricing helps clients gauge their competitiveness. Another valuable service is the bid match—a compilation taken from various bid notice sources, including the Fed Biz Opps, a vast number of government agency electronic bid boards, electronic-response-only bid notices, and state and municipal listings.