Small businesses in southeast Nebraska can find help in getting government contracts through a new office of the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) in Auburn. The new office is being funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, according to Robert E. Bernier, assistant dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Business Administration.

The program, Bernier said, is designed to improve competition among government suppliers by helping small businesses meet government procurement regulations. Although the program is partially funded by the Defense Department, NBDC is allowed to help businesses win government contracts at any government level and from any federal agency. The NBDC office is at 816 Center Street in Auburn. Julie Wilhelm, a former business owner in Humboldt, will operate the office. A grand opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, August 21.

NBDC provides management and technical assistance to Nebraska businesses through several programs, according to Bernier. These include the Small Business Development Center program, partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration; the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, partially funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development; and the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of all of our programs, Bernier said, is to grow businesses and jobs in Nebraska.

For many years NBDC funded a small business assistance center at Peru State College. Funding for that center was discontinued in 2003 because of a reduction in SBA funds, according to Bernier. We do not have sufficient SBA funds to re-open that center, Bernier said. However, we hope that by having the procurement assistance program in Auburn we can again provide a point of access to all NBDC services for businesses in southeast Nebraska.

Andrew Alexander, who heads the government contracting assistance program for NBDC, says that excellent opportunities for expanding government small business assistance contracts exist in southeast Nebraska. NBDC, he said, will reach out to manufacturing firms, service firms and even some retail firms to expand government contracting in the region. Last year NBDC clients did about $150 million in government contracts, up from $98 million the year before. We expect to continue our success rate, Alexander said.

To assist businesses in obtaining government contracts, according to Alexander, NBDC helps businesses get listed on the federal governments central contract registry (CCR), learn how to properly price for government bidding, learn how to electronically submit bids and manage awards electronically, and discover bid opportunities. NBDC uses standard industry codes to classify business offerings and alert its clients to bid opportunities.

NBDC has small business assistance and government contracting assistance at offices in Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, and Wayne. It offers small business assistance at offices in North Platte, Scottsbluff and Chadron. Its manufacturing engineers provide assistance from offices in Omaha and Columbus.