Free Government Contracting Help: APEX Accelerators, SBDCs and Other SBA Resources

Where to get free government contracting help

Free help exists because Congress wants small businesses competing for federal work, and it funds a network of counselors to make that happen. Between DoD’s APEX Accelerators and SBA resources, government contracting assistance falls into three groups:

• Contracting specialists. APEX Accelerators focus only on selling to government: registrations, bid searches, solicitations, proposals and contract questions.
• General business advisors. SBDCs, Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers and SCORE help with the business itself, such as planning, finance, pricing, marketing and growth.
• Government-side contacts. SBA district offices, SBA procurement center representatives and agency small business offices work inside the system and can explain how a particular agency buys.

Counseling from all of them is free or low-cost. Most offices serve businesses in a defined state or region, so start with the one closest to you. If you are just starting out, our step-by-step guide on how to get government contracts shows where each kind of help fits.

APEX Accelerators (formerly procurement technical assistance centers)

An APEX Accelerator is the closest thing to a free government contracting consultant. The network began in 1985 as the Procurement Technical Assistance Program, whose local offices were called procurement technical assistance centers, or PTACs. When the Department of Defense’s Office of Small Business Programs took over the program from the Defense Logistics Agency in fiscal 2023, the centers were renamed APEX Accelerators.

DoD funds more than 90 APEX Accelerators, many with several local offices, run by host organizations such as universities, state agencies, local governments and nonprofits. Despite the defense funding, they help with federal, state and local government contracting, not only defense work.

What an APEX Accelerator can do for you

• Readiness check. An honest assessment of whether your business is ready for government work and which markets fit.
• Registrations. Help with SAM.gov, the UEI, NAICS code selection and agency vendor portals. See our SAM.gov registration guide for the basics before you go.
• Bid matching. Setting up searches or notifications for opportunities that fit your codes and certifications.
• Market research. Who buys what you sell, at what prices, and through which contract vehicles.
• Certification guidance. Whether you are likely to qualify for SBA programs such as 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB or VetCert, and what the application needs.
• Proposal support. Explaining a solicitation, reviewing your approach and checking for compliance gaps.
• Events. Training, matchmaking sessions with agencies and prime contractors, and industry days.
• After award. Questions about invoicing systems, contract modifications and the compliance requirements that come with a federal contract.

Find yours by state on the APEX Accelerators website.

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs)

The SBDC network has nearly 1,000 local centers, hosted mostly by universities, colleges and state economic development agencies and funded in part through SBA. Advising is no-cost and training is low-cost, for both new and established businesses.

An SBDC is where you fix the business underneath the bid. Government buyers check whether you can perform and whether your price holds up, and SBDC advisors help with exactly that:

• Business plans, cash flow projections and financial statements.
• Pricing, cost structure and understanding your overhead.
• Access to capital, such as preparing for a loan or line of credit to carry a new contract.
• Marketing, hiring and operations as the business grows.

Some SBDCs employ their own government contracting specialists, and in some states the SBDC network and the APEX Accelerator share a host organization. Use the locator on America’s SBDC or SBA’s local assistance pages to find yours.

Women’s Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers

Women’s Business Centers

Women’s Business Centers are part of an SBA-supported national network that offers training and counseling to women who want to start or grow a business, at free to low cost. SBA lists help with federal contracts among their services, and they are a natural place to prepare a WOSB or EDWOSB certification application.

Veterans Business Outreach Centers

Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) serve service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses. They offer workshops, counseling and mentorship, and teach SBA’s Boots to Business entrepreneurship courses for people leaving the military. For a veteran-owned firm, a VBOC is a good first stop before applying for VetCert, which you need for SDVOSB set-asides.

Each SBA district office also has a veterans business development officer who can point you to local programs. Our guide to SBA certifications explains VetCert and WOSB in detail.

SCORE mentors

SCORE is a nonprofit SBA resource partner with more than 10,000 volunteer mentors, many of them current or retired business owners and executives. Mentoring is always free, no matter how many times you meet, by video, phone, email or in person. Some workshops carry a fee, but you never have to pay to get a mentor.

SCORE is strongest as a long-term sounding board: someone who reviews your plan, asks hard questions about pricing and growth, and checks in every few weeks. You can search for a mentor by expertise, and some have government contracting backgrounds. For the mechanics of registering and bidding, though, an APEX Accelerator is usually the better fit.

Request a mentor at SCORE.org.

SBA district offices, PCRs and agency small business offices

The counselors above work for host organizations. These contacts work for the government itself, which gives them a different kind of insight.

SBA district offices

SBA has 68 district offices covering every state and territory. They run local events and connect you with resource partners, and their business opportunity specialists work directly with firms in the 8(a) program. Find yours on the SBA district office page.

Procurement center representatives

SBA places procurement center representatives (PCRs) at major federal buying offices. They review agency acquisition plans, often before solicitations are released, and push for set-asides where small businesses can do the work. They also counsel small businesses and can help with problems such as late payments. A related role, the commercial market representative, works with large prime contractors on their small business subcontracting plans.

Agency small business offices

Every federal agency with buying authority has an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or, at the Defense Department and the military services, an Office of Small Business Programs. These offices hold outreach events, publish procurement forecasts and can introduce you to the program offices that buy what you sell. Their specialists are measured on the agency’s small business goals, so a well-prepared capability briefing is welcome.

Prime contractors’ small business liaisons

Large companies that hold big federal contracts must usually carry a small business subcontracting plan, and that plan names a person who administers it. These small business liaison officers run supplier registration portals and outreach events. If subcontracting is your way in, they are free contacts worth having, and APEX counselors can often make the introduction.

Which free resource should you call first?

Match the program to the problem in front of you:

You don’t have to choose just one. A common pattern is an APEX counselor for the contracting side, an SBDC advisor for finances, and a SCORE mentor to keep you accountable.

For example, a two-person IT services company owned by a service-disabled veteran might start at the APEX Accelerator to finish its SAM.gov registration and set up bid searches, visit the VBOC for help preparing its VetCert application, and ask the SBDC to build a cash flow plan that can carry a contract through the gap before the first government payment arrives.

How to get the most from free counseling

Counselors serve many clients. The ones who arrive prepared and follow through get the most attention and the most introductions.

1. Bring the basics. Your legal business name, UEI and SAM.gov status, NAICS codes, any certifications, a draft one-page capability statement, and a list of past customers and projects.
2. Come with a specific question. “Is this solicitation a fit for us?” gets further than “How do I get government contracts?”
3. Do the homework between sessions. Finish the registration, revise the capability statement, run the searches. Momentum is what turns counseling into contracts.
4. Ask for introductions. Counselors know agency small business specialists and prime contractors looking for subcontractors.
5. Use them for review. Counselors explain solicitations and review your work, but you write the proposal. Our guide on how to write a government proposal covers the structure they will expect to see.

Questions worth asking at a first APEX meeting

• Which agencies in this region buy what we sell, and how do they usually buy it?
• Are we likely to qualify for any SBA certifications, and which would matter most in our market?
• Is our capability statement specific enough for a contracting officer?
• Which upcoming events or matchmaking sessions should we attend?
• Should we start as a prime, a subcontractor, or both?

Some programs now pair counseling with software. A few assistance programs use tools like BidForge to give clients their own accounts for bid matching and proposal drafting, while the counselor reviews the results. If you run or work at such a program, see our guide to tools for procurement assistance programs.

Free help vs paid services

Several of the most common things small businesses pay for are free from the government or its partners:

• SAM.gov registration is free, including the UEI and yearly renewal.
• SBA certifications such as 8(a), WOSB, HUBZone and VetCert cost nothing to apply for through MySBA Certifications.
• Bid searches on SAM.gov are free to anyone, and APEX Accelerators will help you set them up.

Paid help still has its place. An experienced proposal writer can be worth it on a large, complex bid, an accountant can set up the cost accounting some contracts require, and an attorney is the right call for protests, joint venture agreements and other legal questions. Start with the free programs, learn what you actually need, and pay only for that. Once you know which set-asides you qualify for, our guide to small business set-asides explains how to target them.

Frequently asked questions