Celebrating National PTAC Day

 

UT CIS’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center works with hundreds of small businesses in Tennessee each year to help them compete successfully for government contracts.

To celebrate the work of PTACs across the country, our Tennessee PTAC participated in National PTAC Day on September 18th. This is the second annual National PTAC Day, and it takes place across the country to celebrate the success of thousands of small businesses who have benefited from training and technical assistance delivered by their local PTAC. 

The day kicked off with a welcome from Dr. Herb Byrd III, the Vice President for Public Service at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Paul H. Jennings, UT CIS Executive Director was also present to welcome guests and discuss PTAC's impact on the state. 

"If it seems like our PTAC team is everywhere, they probably are," said Jennings at the event.

Senator Brenda Gilmore joined the day's event to present the State of Tennessee Proclamation (transcript available below) along with PTAC counselors Debbie Barber, Russell Toone, Veronica Clark and Paul Middlebrooks, also the PTAC Program Manager.

The second part of the day's celebration involved a cybersecurity awareness training for participants.

State of Tennessee Proclamation

"WHEREAS, it is fitting that the members of this legislative body commend those long-standing networks that strive to promote economic opportunities for small businesses; and

WHEREAS, one such noteworthy network is the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), which will host its second annual National PTAC Day on September 18, 2019; and

WHEREAS, for thirty-four years, the PTAC have helped expand the number of small businesses that successfully compete for and win federal, state, and local government contracts; and

WHEREAS, there are ninety-four PTACs with more than 300 local offices, all of which form a nationwide network of more than 600 dedicated procurement professionals who work to help local businesses successfully sell their products and services to government agencies; in 2018, the PTAC network served more than 48,000 clients and helped them win more than $28 billion in government contracts and subcontracts; and

WHEREAS, on the second annual National PTAC Day, PTACs from around the country will come together to celebrate the successes of the tens of thousands of small businesses that have benefitted from training and technical assistance delivered by their local PTACs; and

WHEREAS, the more successful our nation's small businesses are in the government marketplace, the stronger our regional and national economies grow, and PTAC is worthy of our approbation; now, therefore,

I, Randy McNally, Speaker of the Senate of the One Hundred Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, at the request of and in conjunction with Senator Brenda Gilmore, do hereby proclaim that we honor and commend the procurement Technical Assistance Centers of the occasion of the second annual National PTAC Day and extend our best wishes for continued success.

Proclaimed in Nashville, Tennessee, on this the 29th day of August 2019.