Paula K. Watts is the CEO and Founder of Government Procurment Innovators (GPI). GPI provides business coaching to start-ups and existing small businesses who are navigating the federal acquisition process. Ms. Watts leverages her experiences as a small business owner and a previous 8(a) government contractor to lead GPI's staff members in coaching and training small businesses. Ms. Watts’ expertise has successfully guided several 8(a) firms in obtaining multi-million dollars contracts. As an expert on the procurement and management of government contracts, Ms. Watts has conducted more than 800 seminars and workshops on small business start-up processes, business expansions, and developing winning strategies when marketing to the federal government.
Government Procurement Innovators (GPI) offers management and technical assistance services to individuals and businesses interested in pursuing and obtaining government contracts. GPI trains and assists with required certifications, thereby helping businesses bid, compete, and win subcontracts and contracts from the federal, state, and local governments, as well as large prime contractors. GPI provides entrepreneurs, emerging and established businesses, and 8(a) firms with the sequential process of learning the government language and rules. We teach businesses how to leverage SBA’s certifications and the Mentor Protégé program. Our primary goals include:
- Bridging the gap and connecting the dots for small businesses between SBA and federal agencies;
- Ensuring small businesses understand the infrastructure required to support contract awards, which includes having a proper accounting system and human capital resources already in place;
- Creating teaming arrangements within the GPI community;
- Minimizing the learning curve for minority-owned businesses entering the 8(a) program;
- Creating strategic marketing plans for existing 8(a) firms to increase contract awards won before graduation; and
- Employing exiting strategies for 8(a) firms graduating from the program.
Paula K. Watts is the CEO and Founder of Government Procurment Innovators (GPI). GPI provides business coaching to start-ups and existing small businesses who are navigating the federal acquisition process. Ms. Watts leverages her experiences as a small business owner and a previous 8(a) government contractor to lead GPI's staff members in coaching and training small businesses. Ms. Watts’ expertise has successfully guided several 8(a) firms in obtaining multi-million dollars contracts. As an expert on the procurement and management of government contracts, Ms. Watts has conducted more than 800 seminars and workshops on small business start-up processes, business expansions, and developing winning strategies when marketing to the federal government.
As a former Business Opportunity Specialist (BOS) with the Small Business Administration (SBA), Ms. Watts’ primary duties included providing hands-on support to an average of 40 firms participating in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program. She was responsible for ensuring annually each firm’s compliancy with the regulations of the 8(a) Business Development Program. Ms. Watts was also responsible for processing all mentor/protégé and joint venture agreements and ensuring eligibility requirements were met before agreements were submitted to SBA’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Ms. Watts worked closely with firms in linking 8(a) sole source contracting opportunities.
Ms. Watts is the former President and CEO of Innovative Technology Group, Inc. in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has more than 25 years of experience in program planning, budget development and management, project management, contract administration,and technical and proposal writing, Ms. Watts has managed consulting contracts in excess of $15 million.