Mayor Hardie Davis Jr, Augusta Metro and Columbia County Chambers, NOW Corp and Peach State Federal Credit Union offer free breakfast workshop to small businesses wanting to get slice of Fort Gordon $233M Contracting Pie.

Fort Gordon awarded over $233 million in contract opportunities in 2015 according to Nelson Keeler, deputy to the commanding general. Small businesses play a large role in Fort Gordon. "I'm very pleased to see that greater than 40 percent of our contracting activities so far have gone to small businesses" Keeler said.

However only 1.5% of Small Businesses are even registered to begin to position for contracts according to the US Small Business Administration.

Small Businesses wanting to learn how to get in on the contracting action with Fort Gordon and government agencies should register for a complimentary breakfast event sponsored by Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr,  the Augusta Metro Chamber, Columbia County Chamber, Peach State Federal Credit Union, the US Small Business Association, Georgia Small Business Development Center, and NOW Corp on Thursday, February 11.

The 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. program, which is open for small businesses, is titled “Grow Your Business NOW with Fort Gordon and Other Government Agencies: Tips to Help You Win and Deliver on New and Larger Contracts” and is being held at the Kroc Center in Augusta. Registration link: bit.ly/SBAGROWBizFortGordon

The workshop aims to arm local small businesses with knowledge of how to register to bid on government contracts, effectively position their business to obtain new and larger contracts, and then manage the cash flow challenges of doing business with Fort Gordon and the Federal Government.

Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr will open the session.  JoAnn Braxton, Business Opportunity Specialist with the US Small Business Administration, and Lara Hodgson, President and CEO of NOW Corp will host the working session, with Rufus Gates, Small Business Specialist with Fort Gordon's MICC on hand to answer questions.

Similar events were hosted in Valdosta, Georgia and Columbus, Georgia last year.  “This was one of the best business seminars I have ever attended and was well worth my time” Terry Luke, Owner of Luke Electrical in Valdosta.

 “It is important that small businesses have every opportunity for growth as small business growth strengthens our community as a whole. I’m happy to join the US Small Business Administration, NOW Corp, Peach State Federal Credit Union, the Augusta Metro Chamber and Columbia County Chamber in this great event to provide an educational workshop to small businesses in the Augusta area” Mayor Hardie Davie Jr.

“We are looking forward to sharing practical information with the small business community in and around Augusta to help small businesses have a fair access to opportunities” Rufus Gates, Small Business Specialist with Fort Gordon's MICC.

“At NOW Corp, we’ve been fortunate to help a wide range of small businesses significantly expand their government and commercial contracts and, as a result, they’ve been able to create more than 1,500 jobs in Georgia over the last couple of years,” said Lara Hodgson, president and CEO of NOW Corp. “We recently participated in a similar event with the Small Business Administration in Columbus, Georgia for small suppliers and prospective suppliers to Fort Benning, and it was amazing to interact with such an incredible group of highly engaged small businesses from so many different industries. We’re looking forward to doing the same in Augusta with Fort Gordon.”