Ask an Expert: Want stimulus funds? Try teaming up

— -- Q: We are a small general contractor. Can you direct me to a site to find out what certifications and applications we need, and how do we get on the bid list for the redevelopment of foreclosed homes or any other stimulus project? Thanks — Kim

A: Nothing I have written about in the past year has generated more follow-up questions than the column I wrote a few months ago on the new stimulus law and what it offers small business.

I have received scores of questions like the one above.

But the answer to these sorts of questions has not been so easy to give. Stimulus contracts are still in the early stages and are being doled out on a variety of governmental levels and of course in different locales across the country. So especially for businesses that have little experience with the seemingly byzantine government contracting process, finding and successfully bidding on those contracts has been a challenge.

That is why I was so happy to hear about, and give the keynote at, a great new venture designed to increase access to these, and other, government contracts. Sponsored by that great friend to small business American Express OPEN, in conjunction Business Matchmaking— the country's leading small business procurement program — the initiative is called Teaming USA.

The idea is this: With the economy still so sluggish and consumer spending down, it makes sense to go where the dollars are: Either with major corporations looking to contract with small business or with government agencies, where spending is up. But trying to get one of these contracts on your own can be a challenge. Some are too big for some small businesses, others may require skills or products you don't have, and so on. So what do you do?