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SBA contracting official urges compliance, diversification and use of Apex assistance
Summary
A long‑time SBA contracting official on HTV advised Houston small businesses to diversify customers, build performance capacity and use Procurement Technical Assistance (Apex) resources — noting a University of Houston partnership for local procurement help and stressing that compliance matters in government contracting.
A longtime government-contracting official with the SBA's Houston office told HTV that small businesses seeking government contracts must prioritize performance, compliance and diversification across public and private clients.
"What we're looking for contracting officers is for someone to provide a quality product or service delivered on time and at a competitive price," the official said, explaining why contracting officers emphasize performance. The guest urged businesses to gain experience at city, state and school-district levels before pursuing federal contracts.
The guest described Apex Accelerators (the rebranded Procurement Technical Assistance Program) as a national network that provides free procurement help. He noted a local partnership with the University of Houston and called the Apex node an important free resource that "swims in all the government waters" to help companies with compliance and bidding.
"Compliance is the biggest thing about government contracting," the official said. He warned that failing to meet performance or compliance requirements can remove a firm from consideration and be difficult to reverse.
The guest encouraged firms to diversify — selling to private-sector clients as well as government — to reduce risk from changes in public programs and contracting cycles. He illustrated with a historical example of the impact when a large federal program ended, noting that firms invested only in one sector can suffer severe consequences.
The program closed with the host thanking the guests and reiterating that SBA Houston offers contracting and business-development support through partner programs and training events.
