A Cedar Falls mapping and imagery company has used valuable support from CIRAS to garner more than $11 million in government contracts over the past five years.
Aerial Services Inc. is a veteran-owned small business that provides companies and governments with a wide range of services, including aerial LiDAR, digital orthoimagery, and comprehensive mapping solutions.
Ryan Kibsgaard, Aerial Services Inc.’s marketing manager, said the CIRAS Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) has provided his company with valuable technical assistance—such as helping keep its federal procurement accounts complete and up to date—that helped Aerial Services compete for and win multiple federal contracts.
Kibsgaard credits CIRAS government contracting specialist Julie Fagle with helping the veteran-owned company clarify its status as a small business after a regional energy utility procurement website threatened to block Aerial Services from a vendor website portal. Fagle also helped the company interpret bidding information and understand which sectors of the government economy might be most in need of its services.
“She’s been a reliable source of helpful insights into the industry,” he said. “She’s been a great partner to bounce questions off of when we have them. If she doesn’t have the answers, she tracks them down.”
In this case, Fagle was able to work with the energy company’s third-party provider and get it the information it needed to keep Aerial Services on a list of vendors with which the company is able to do business.
“We assessed the situation, and we identified what needed to be done,” she said.
For more information, contact Julie Fagle at jafagle@iastate.edu or 319-310-8612.