Quick Thinking - Another PTAC Success Story

Debbie Barber has seen a lot of Request for Quotes (RFQ), but on March 16, she received one that was posted with less than 12 hours till close.

Barber is a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) counselor with UT CIS and helps businesses win contracting opportunities with the state and federal government.

A contracting officer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) called Barber that Monday morning asking if she had any janitorial small business clients. The request was for an emergency one-time cleaning of a 30,000 sq. ft. FEMA Joint Field Office in Nashville for a local small business.

"The contracting officer was specific that 'the cleaning staff will have to use COVID-19 cleaning products and follow those cleaning guidelines'", Barber recalls. The EPA has recently released a list of disinfectants to use against COVID-19 that the organization is updating often since the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Debbie provided the FEMA contracting officer with a list of six or so PTAC clients and was pleased to hear the next day that one of those businesses was awarded the contract. "I am happy to report the award went to Ms. Kendal Payne, Owner of K. Payne Contracting, LLC.," said Barber. " This is a small, minority, woman-owned business who was so appreciative of the opportunity, albeit last minute." 

Congratulations to Payne Contracting, LLC and thank you to Debbie Barber for her quick thinking!