Sometimes, the statement, “I'm from the government and I'm here to help” brings results, as a recent recess tour of a local industry by U. S. Representative Mike Ross, D-Ar., demonstrated.
Ross has been able to help Government Sewing and Apparel, which manufactures uniforms and other clothing under federal contracts, to secure a special designation which will ensure certain aspects of the company's business before the federal government.
Government Sewing had applied for a Historically Underutilized Business Zone designation through the U. S. Small Business Administration, and the application was languishing, according to GSA Vice President/General Manager Brian Smith.
“We worked through the SBA for nine months, and we had a heck of a time getting through the SBA,” Smith said. “We had a deadline to get a bid on a project.”
He said Ross helped smooth out the glitches in the federal bureaucracy to obtain the HUB Zone designation, which gives point preference to those businesses with the designation where their place in line for federal contracts is concerned.
“If you had a tie on a contract, a HUB Zone business would automatically get it,” Smith said. “It really puts us up front.”
He said the designation should, ultimately, be a job-generator for Government Sewing.
“The contract that we just bid on, there are different portions you can bid between $16 million and $58 million,” Smith said. “We bid on all of them. If we get what we bid on, we'll have to double our production and build another facility.”
Smith said a decision on the contract is expected by February, 2011.
“We've already added 20 jobs since last fall, and we still need 15 more,” he said. “If we get this contract, we'll need 70 more.”
The company currently employs about 74 workers, Smith said.
Ross expressed his satisfaction with the result as he toured Government Sewing's Hope operations recently.
“One of my duties as a U. S. Congressman is to help those I represent to cut through the red tape of the federal government,” he said. “Whether you have problems with Social Security or VA claims, applying for federal grants or seeking a HUB Zone designation, I want to be there to help.
“I was pleased to help expedite Government Sewing and Apparel's HUB Zone designation, which will now give them an economic boost by allowing them to bid on certain government and military contracts,” Ross added. “GSA is an important source of jobs for the people of Hope and surrounding communities and I will continue to do all that I can to help our local small businesses grow and create new jobs.”
