Situation

Mr. Mark Vaca came to Inland Empire SBDC in Dec 2014 to meet with Karla Gonzalez, after attending a Certification Workshop in Temecula. Mr. Vaca wanted to get guidance and assistance with the SBA 8(a) application and SBA HubZone. He was looking for ways to be more competitive in bidding for federal contracts that would in turn generate more revenues.

We Provided

Karla Gonzalez of the Inland Empire SBDC worked with the client to determine if his business met the qualifications to apply for the SBA 8(a) and HubZone. After initially prescreening the client, Karla assisted Mr. Vaca in registering him into the appropriate systems that would enable him to begin the SBA 8(a) and HubZone application online. Together they completed his SAM registration, his DSBS profile, and his General Login System registration. Mr. Vaca prepared the applications and gathered all the supporting documents and brought it to Karla for review before submission. Mr. Vaca also met with Karla throughout the process to get assistance in addressing any questions or discrepancies that the SBA Analyst had regarding the 8(a) and HubZone application.

The Results

OCS Construction Services, Inc was successfully certified as a HubZone Firm on July 22, 2015 and as a SBA 8(a) firm on July 30, 2015.

Client Testimonial

Before I came to the SBDC workshop, I was very uneasy on how to proceed with the 8 a and HUBZone certification as I had large load on my shoulders trying to accomplish this task. When I attend the SBDC workshop in December 2014 and was told by Karla that the SBDC was here to help and all for “FREE”. The assistance that Karla provided OCS Construction Services was not only a load off my shoulders, but a great relief of stress in getting government certified. During the application process duration, Karla was always there to help.

I am a very big advocate for the SBDC and will continue to spread the word to all small businesses that the services that the agency provides is all “FREE”.