Tester urges Montana contractors, businesses to attend ‘opportunity workshop’ Saturday

Great Falls seminar will help Montanans compete for Jobs-Stimulus Bill opportunities

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Senator Jon Tester is urging Montana contractors and businesses interested in competing for opportunities created by the Jobs-Stimulus Bill to attend a special workshop he organized in Great Falls next Saturday.

Tester’s workshop will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, at the Great Falls Civic Center.

Representatives from the U.S. General Services Agency (GSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Air Force will be on hand to answer questions and provide information to Montana companies interested in opportunities related to the Jobs-Stimulus Bill.

The Jobs-Stimulus Bill, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,  is investing more than $1 billion in Montana infrastructure projects such as roads, water systems and ports of entry.

Tester organized Saturday’s workshop after learning that some prime contracts for several Jobs-Stimulus Bill projects along Montana’s northern border had been awarded to out-of-state firms that had previously worked with the federal government.  The contracts were awarded to those firms in an effort to speed up the work.

In response, Tester contacted the GSA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and even the White House.  He demanded a “level playing field” for Montanans to be able to compete for future opportunities related to the Jobs-Stimulus Bill.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the economy,” Tester told the GSA’s Administrator-designate during a Senate hearing last week. “If we support the little guys, we’ll have good competition.  The system of government we have will work better.  Capitalism will work better.  And the whole program will work better.”

Tester is urging Montana contractors and companies interested in those opportunities to attend his Small Business Opportunity Workshop Saturday.  Those who participate will hear presentations from each agency.  They will also be able to consult one-on-one with agency representatives.

Saturday’s workshop is free and open to the public.

EVENT: Montana Small Business Opportunity Workshop
DATE/TIME: Saturday, June 13 at 10 a.m.
LOCATION: Great Falls Civic Center (City Commission Chamber), 2 Park Drive South