Our live trainings, offer dynamic and interactive learning experiences designed to equip you with practical skills and actionable knowledge in real time. These sessions provide the opportunity to engage directly with APEX staff and industry experts, ask questions, and participate in discussions that deepen your understanding of government contracting topics. We hold most of our trainings online to offer maximum convenience, allowing participants to easily access valuable content without the need for travel.
Your local APEX Accelerator and the National APEX Accelerator Alliance (NAPEX) are excited to host the upcoming DCAA webinar - Planting Seeds for Success Under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.
Each year, the federal government awards over 5,000 contracts totaling well over $3.2 billion for SBIR/STTR programs. Join DCAA to learn more about these programs and how your company may benefit from these types of contract awards. During the presentation, we will define DCAA's role, outline DCAA audits applicable to these programs, communicate ways small businesses can prepare for audits, and discuss resources avaialble for small businesses.
Key takeaways for this webinar include:
- Gaining an understanding of how these programs are designed to stimulate high-tech innovation
- Meet federal R&D needs
- Foster entrepreneurship
- Encourage small businesses to engage in research with commercialization potential - bridging the gap between basic science and market-ready products.
DCAA Speaker: Amanda Reed
Achieving certification is only the beginning. This webinar will explore what ongoing compliance means after a CMMC assessment, including monitoring, evidence maintenance, change management, and preparation for future reassessments. Attendees will learn why sustainability matters and how to avoid falling out of compliance over time.
Offered in partnership with The Core Solution.
Your local APEX Accelerator and the National APEX Accelerator Alliance (NAPEX) are excited to host the upcoming DCAA webinar - Mentor-Protege Program from a DCAA Perspective.
This presentation from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) explains its perspective on the Mentor-Protege Program (MPP) - shifting the focus from business development to financial compliance.
This webinar outlines DCAA's role in protecting the government's interests and guides proteges through crucial phases - from setting up a compliant account system to managing assistance and planning for contracts. The presentation uses audit scenarios to highlight critical financial mistakes to prepare small businesses for federal contracting. Key takeaways from this webinar include:
- Gaining an understanding of the financial and administrative responsibilities of federal government contracts.
- Understanding DCAA's role.
- Learning the importance of maintaining an accounting system compliant with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
Potential proteges will learn how to recognize and avoid charging back to the government services or assets funded by a mentor ("double dipping"), and understand the importance of segregating and tracking developmental assistance costs from general project or overhead expenses.
Speaker: Amanda Reed, DCAA
With multiple compliance paths available, selecting the right CMMC strategy is a business decision as much as a technical one. This capstone session will help contractors evaluate different approaches based on company size, contract requirements, available resources, and risk tolerance. Participants will leave better equipped to choose a compliance path that fits their organization long-term.
Offered in partnership with The Core Solution.
This introductory training session provides businesses with a foundational understanding of the government contracting landscape across all levels — local, state, and federal. Participants will explore how government agencies procure goods and services, how to identify contracting opportunities, and what it takes to position your business for success in the public marketplace.
Topics covered include an introduction to the procurement process at each level of government, key registrations, and certifications, how to find and respond to solicitations, and an overview of the resources available through the APEX Accelerator to help you compete and win government contracts.
Whether you are new to government contracting or looking to expand into new markets, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools to take your first — or next — step with confidence.
Who Should Attend: Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and procurement-ready companies interested in breaking into, or growing within, the government marketplace.
Networking from 8:30 to 9:00 AM EDT
WHAT THIS WORKSHOP DELIVERS
Most small business owners are running their operations without a written strategic direction, not because they lack ambition, but because they have never had a structured opportunity to step back and think clearly about priorities.
This workshop gives them that opportunity. In 60 minutes, each participant works through an honest situational scan, identifies their single highest-leverage priority for the next 90 days, and begins building a one-page strategic plan they can actually use. They leave with a committed next action, a named date, and a peer accountability partner from the room.
The session is interactive throughout, and anonymous live polling via Mentimeter surfaces the room's collective thinking on screen; a group scenario exercise warms up the diagnostic muscle before anyone has to look at their own situation, and questions are welcome at every transition rather than saved for a dead zone at the end.
Speaker: Trent Richardson, Founder & Principal, Hard Knox Life Advisory
Offered by: TSBDC and Stephen W. Williams, Director of Workforce & Economic Development, Roane State Community College