Enrollment is Open
Register before the launch Date: August 11, 2026
PROCUREMENT READINESS ACADEMY
Position Your Business to Win in the Government Marketplace
Build the knowledge, positioning, and strategy needed to compete for government contracts.
The next cohort is in September 2025. Enrollment will open on March 1.
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Registration is now closed!
Questions? Email apex@gmu.edu
What You'll Get
Training
Ten structured modules covering everything from market research and certifications to solicitations, teaming, and proposal writing.
Weekly Live Q&A
Weekly live sessions where you can ask questions, get unstuck, and learn from your cohort in real time.
Peer Group
Access to a peer group during the weekly live Q&A sessions.
Office Hours
One-on-one time with an expert counselor to get your questions answered and keep you moving forward.
HigherGov Trial
10-week trial of HigherGov - one of the best market intel and business development tools.
Lifetime Access
Lifetime access to the Academy training and technical support from Govology before, during, and after the cohort.
Certificate
Procurement Readiness Academy certificate granted upon successful completion of the training program.
Cohort Highlights
- Facilitated by Lisa Wood, Statewide Director of Virginia APEX Accelerator
- Kickoff: Tuesday August 11th at 2-3 PM Eastern
- Format: On-demand video course materials and assignments & weekly live virtual group sessions
- Duration: 10 weeks of live virtual cohort meetings/discussion, Tuesdays at 2-3 PM Eastern starting August 25th
- Total time commitment: 4 to 5 hours per week
- Fee: $200 technology enrollment fee provides lifetime access to all cohort training materials on Govology.com
- Certificate: Procurement Readiness Academy Certificate
Meet Your Cohort Facilitator
Lisa Wood
Statewide Director of the Viriginia APEX Accelerator
Ms. Wood holds an MBA from the University of New Haven and a BSBA through the Robert Morris University of Pittsburgh. She previously was the Statewide Director of the APEX Accelerator, formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), for the Connecticut PTAC, and prior to that was Statewide Director with the Ohio Department of Development after serving as PTAC Director for the Northwest Commission of Pennsylvania. Before joining the PTAC/APEX community, Lisa was a Contracting Officer for Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. In her prior roles, Wood performed contract administration and negotiation duties. She also recommended bidders, handled issue inquiries, negotiated bids, performed cost and price analysis, and prepared comprehensive letters to justify recommended contract actions.
Program Overview
Phase 1: Setting The Foundation
Module 1: An Introduction to Winning Business in the Government Marketplace
Learn how to navigate the government contracting landscape with clarity and confidence. Understand how procurement works, where small businesses fit in, and what it actually means to be procurement-ready.
Learning Outcomes
1. Identify small business advantages, including set-aside programs and incentives, that may apply to your business.
2. Determine how your business can participate and compete for government contracts.
3. Assess your current level of procurement readiness and identify the steps needed to move forward.
4. Recognize common barriers that may be limiting your business’s ability to pursue government opportunities.
5. Learn about practical strategies to overcome those barriers using proven, real-world approaches.
6. Identify tools, resources, and connections that support your business’s long-term success in government contracting.
Module 2: Leveraging Market Research for Government Market Opportunities
Learn how to use market research to compete smarter—not harder—in the government marketplace. This course shows you how to find the right opportunities, understand who buys what, and position your business with data instead of guesswork.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand why market research is a core driver of success in government contracting and how it impacts your ability to pursue and win contracts.
2. Use free government data sources to identify real opportunities relevant to your business.
3. Select and apply the correct NAICS and Product Service Codes to strengthen your registrations and marketing materials.
4. Apply qualitative and quantitative research methods to make informed, data-driven business decisions.
5. Analyze historical government spending data to identify target agencies, likely buyers, potential partners or competitors, and small business set-aside opportunities.
6. Build a practical market research foundation that prepares your business for advanced opportunity identification, competitive analysis, and long-term growth in government contracting.
Module 3: An Introduction to Government Small Business Certifications
Learn how to navigate small business certifications in the government marketplace and determine which programs make sense for your business. Explore federal certifications—including Small Business Self-Certification, SDB & 8(a), SDVOSB, VOSB, HUBZone, WOSB, and EDWOSB—along with an overview of state and local programs, and identify trusted resources to support your certification strategy at every level of government.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the benefits of certification programs for small businesses.
2. Determine your eligibility for federal small business certifications.
3. Know how to apply for various federal certifications.
4. Explore different types of state and local certification programs.
5. Understand the differences between state, local, and federal small business certification programs.
6. Discover additional training and resources for navigating federal, state, and local certification programs.
Module 4: Developing a Compelling Capability Statement
In the federal marketplace, your capability statement isn’t just a document – it’s often a government buyer’s first impression of your business. Whether you’re engaging with agencies or prime contractors, having a compelling capability statement is non-negotiable. In this dynamic course, you’ll discover how to create a capability statement that meets and exceeds expectations.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand how to format your capability statement.
2. Know what must-have sections to include and how to articulate your value through your text.
3. Understand when to use your capability statement strategically.
4. Discover best practices for repurposing your capability statement to tailor future versions to your customer.
Module 5: Vendor Activation, Visibility, & Engagement Best Practices
Before you can gain visibility, win awards, and receive payment from government agencies or prime contractors, you may need to complete vendor registration and onboarding. Too often, though, these steps are misunderstood or over-applied—and treated as compliance checklists rather than strategic business decisions. In this course, you will learn when registration is required (and when it isn’t), how vendor onboarding works across federal/state/local and prime systems, and how to stay active and visible—without wasting time on registrations that don’t fit your strategy.
Learning Outcomes
1. When registration is required—and when it may not be necessary.
2. How to determine which registrations apply to your business and target buyers.
3. The benefits of registration.
4. Why maintaining and updating registrations is critical to remaining active and visible.
5. How federal, state, and local vendor registration processes differ.
6. Where to find trusted training, resources, and support for registration and onboarding.
7. Why small business certifications and status matter in vendor and supplier systems.
Phase 2: Plan, Prepare, and Pursue
Module 6: Prospecting for Government Market Opportunities
Learn how to find government opportunities beyond a basic SAM.gov search and build a pipeline you can actually work. Discover how to uncover visible and hidden opportunities, forecast future buys, and create a repeatable prospecting system tailored to your business.
Learning Outcomes
1. Identify and qualify government opportunities that align with your business’s capabilities and goals.
2. Locate federal, state, and local solicitations using the right tools and sources.
3. Forecast upcoming government purchases before they are publicly posted.
4. Uncover hidden opportunities through direct outreach, relationship-building, and strategic engagement.
5. Build and manage a targeted leads list using LinkedIn and other prospecting tools.
6. Implement daily, weekly, and monthly prospecting routines that support a consistent, sustainable pipeline.
Module 7: Advanced Market Research for Adaptive Sales and Marketing
Government marketing isn’t B2B marketing with extra paperwork—it’s a different game entirely. Success in government contracting requires strict regulatory compliance, sustained relationship-building, and a strategic focus on procurement cycles rather than short-term sales tactics.
Learning Outcomes
1. Identify and use advanced market research resources to uncover higher-value opportunities relevant to your business.
2. Apply adaptive marketing and sales strategies aligned with government buying behavior and procurement cycles.
3. Analyze the “big picture” within your NAICS to understand market demand, buyer behavior, and competitive positioning.
4. Identify and evaluate successful competitors and potential teaming partners to strengthen your pursuit strategy.
5. Locate and assess high-value contracting vehicles that align with your business’s offerings and growth goals.
6. Analyze historical government acquisitions to identify patterns and position your business to compete for similar future opportunities.
Module 8: Breaking Down Government Solicitations
Part 1: Introduction to Solicitation Terminology and Breaking Down Opportunities
Stop guessing your way through government solicitations. Learn how to decode the language, break down requirements, and make confident go/no-go decisions that align your team and increase your chances of winning.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand common solicitation terminology, including special notice, solicitation, award, presolicitation, sources sought, justification and approval, sole source, and other relevant terms.
2. Identify and differentiate between various solicitation formats, recognizing key areas that demand careful attention for effective interpretation.
3. Know how to capture critical keywords essential for crafting responsive and compliant offers.
4. Understand the concept of being a "responsible contractor," including federal, state, and local criteria, to ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
5. Independently conduct a contractor responsibility self-check, demonstrating the ability to assess your team and subcontractors against federal, state, and local responsible contractor criteria.
Part 2: Navigating Government Regulations in Solicitations and Contracts
Navigate procurement regulations without the overwhelm. Learn how to break down the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and related rules so you can identify what applies to your business, understand key requirements, and efficiently find the guidance you need to stay compliant and move forward with confidence.
Learning Outcomes
1. Know how to navigate the FAR to find the information you need.
2. Know how to access and navigate other federal contracting regulations, such as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR), and Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations.
3. Apply knowledge to identify federal contracting regulations pertinent to your business, discerning those that are applicable and those that can be disregarded.
4. Recognize state and local contracting rules relevant to your business and locate resources to help you understand these rules better.
Module 9: An Introduction to Teaming
Learn how small businesses strategically use teaming and joint ventures to compete for larger federal contracts. Understand how to identify potential partners, leverage complementary capabilities, and address common limitations such as past performance, capacity, and geographic reach.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand how teaming arrangements work in the federal marketplace and when they make sense for your business.
2. Identify the types of opportunities where teaming can strengthen your competitiveness and reduce risk.
3. Evaluate potential teaming partners based on capabilities, past performance, and strategic fit.
4. Understand common teaming structures and agreements, including key roles and responsibilities.
5. Apply practical considerations to decide when to pursue opportunities independently versus through a teaming approach.
Module 10: Submitting Compliant and Competitive Offers to Government Agencies
Prevent frustration for both your team and government buyers by avoiding minor oversights and missed deadlines that can disqualify an otherwise strong offer. Learn how to develop compliant offers by understanding the core types of government submissions—quotes, bids, and proposals—and the key considerations that drive effective bid/no-bid decisions.
Learning Outcomes
1. Implement essential business controls required to qualify for and perform government contracts, including maintaining active registrations, meeting compliance and reporting requirements, managing records, ensuring financial readiness, and addressing ethics, cybersecurity, and security clearance considerations.
2. Calculate the true cost of compliance for your business and any subcontractors, and factor those costs into your pricing and planning to support long-term sustainability.
3. Understand cybersecurity requirements that may apply to your business, including the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) for Department of Defense contractors.
4. Identify and effectively use key professional resources—such as attorneys, accountants, and subject matter experts—to strengthen proposal quality and maintain compliance.
5. Establish processes that support timely payment to your business and subcontractors, helping maintain cash flow throughout contract performance.
6. Evaluate financing considerations for proposals and contract performance, and assess available options to support execution while managing financial risk.
Who Should Attend
The Procurement Readiness Academy is designed for businesses that want to pursue opportunities in the government marketplace, including:
- Small businesses interested in expanding into government contracting
- Companies that want a structured approach to government business development
- Firms looking to improve their ability to identify and pursue the right opportunities
- Businesses seeking practical guidance on positioning themselves for government work
Ready to Position Your Business for Government Opportunities?
Join the next cohort of the Procurement Readiness Academy and start building the strategies and capabilities needed to compete more effectively for government opportunities.
Seats are limited for each cohort.
Your seat will be reserved in the upcoming cohort once registration is complete.
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