WASHINGTON - The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a new free online training course to help strengthen access to federal contracting opportunities for small businesses.

The training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,” is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced by President Obama and being led by the SBA and the Department of Commerce.

“Government contracts can play a key role in helping small businesses turn the corner in terms of expansion and job creation,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. “But make no mistake, the benefits the government receives are equally as impressive - working with small businesses allows the federal government to work with some of the most innovative companies in America, often with direct contact with the CEO.

“The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting,” Mills continued.

As part of the outreach to small businesses, the new online course provides information about the federal marketplace, contract rules, and most importantly, how to sell to the government and where to find contract and Recovery Act opportunities.

The course is available at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining. The course is indexed by subject matter to allow ease of use, and it includes multiple direct links to additional contracting resources.

It is one of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA, and is available 24/7.

For more information, visit www.sba.gov.

Publication date: 09/21/2009