Taking the Business to the Next Level: Maryland Electric Connecting with Its ”Dream” Clients

Florida PTAC at UCF Assists Company Grow Government Contracting Business

August 27, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or hthayer@ucf.edu

                 Kara Vernon, PTAC Specialist, Florida PTAC at UCF, 407.420.4890 or Kara.Vernon@ucf.edu

Orlando, FL – For small and medium sized businesses, there is nothing better than getting in front of one or more of their “dream” clients – the ones who can award a contract or buy a service that takes their business up to new heights of success. It was exactly that goal – the desire to take her business to the next level – that prompted Rita Dancey to come to the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center at the University of Central Florida (Florida PTAC at UCF) for assistance with government contracting.

Dancey is the CEO of Maryland Electric Company, Inc., a commercial and industrial electrical contractor serving a wide range of customers on a variety of projects including commercial and retail construction, industrial facilities, data centers, universities, hospitals, military bases, airports and more. Headquartered in Clarksville, Tennessee, the company is licensed to do business across the Southeast and is focused on growing in Florida.

“I came to PTAC to get us from where we are – our business has sort of plateaued – to the next level,” recalls Dancey. “While we already do government contracting work, they have helped us fill in a lot of the gaps we had related to topics we hadn’t been exposed to. And they helped me brush up on some of the things we are already doing. With help from our PTAC Specialist Kara Vernon, we learned how to facilitate our proposals a little bit better, how to make sure we dotted all our i’s and crossed our t’s and really delivered a professional product.”

Dancey also took advantage of PTAC’s Government Contracting Reverse Trade Show, an annual networking event with a twist. The PTAC at UCF turns the tables and gives small businesses the opportunity to market their services and products directly to government agencies and prime contractors! At a reverse trade show, suppliers come to meet with buyers as opposed to the other way around.

“The Reverse Trade Show is probably the best event that I’ve attended yet with PTAC,” says Dancey. “Out of 28 different agencies and primes, I was able to interview with 11 of them, delivering my elevator speech and Capabilities Statement. I targeted the clients and it was a true success. Of the 11 companies or agencies I saw, 7 have contacted us to talk about doing business together.”

“The people you get to network with at PTAC’s Reverse Trade Show are amazing,” continued Dancey. If ever there was a room of people you wanted to walk into to do business, theirs was the one. I was exposed to some of my dream clients – NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin — thanks to PTAC at UCF.”

“‘Endless opportunity’ is what PTAC has provided Maryland Electrical Company,” concluded Dancey. “They will assist you with all the resources that you could possibly use to enhance your business and make it more successful. Since starting with them, we have seen a plethora of new quote requests come in. I’d encourage anyone to work with PTAC. The depth of resources is wonderful.”

For information about Maryland Electric Company, please visit http://www.maryland-electric.com/.

— FSBDC —

About the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at UCF

Government Contracting Services offered by the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the University of Central Florida provide high-value, confidential one-on-one consulting at no cost to help Florida businesses prepare, research, and bid on federal, state, and local government contracts. Since 1986, Florida PTAC client businesses statewide have won $9 billion in contract awards, helping to create and save almost 200,350 jobs. This PTAC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency. For more information, please visit www.fptac.org.

About the FSBDC at UCF

Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of the UCF Office of Partnership & Innovation and the Florida SBDC Network.

The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 10 service centers across Central Florida.

In 2018, the FSBDC at UCF served over 2,500 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 6,500 jobs created, retained or saved; $749 million in sales growth; $36.1 million in capital formation; $178.3 million in government contract awards; and 277 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com.

About the Florida SBDC Network

For over forty years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.

In 2018, Florida SBDCs have provided professional business consulting to 11,500 client businesses, resulting in more than 38,400 jobs impacted; $4.4 billion in sales generated; $520 million in government contracts acquired; $201.8 million in capital accessed; and 665 new businesses started.

A statewide network of over 40 offices, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 2016 recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.

FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com