A Windsor Heights real estate appraisal company was awarded its first-ever government contract last February after reaching out to CIRAS for assistance with the process.
Neilly & Company Real Estate Appraisals received $3,900 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the value of a facility located in Jefferson. Justin Niceswanger, a government contracting specialist with the CIRAS Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), helped owner Mickey Neilly respond to a request for a quote (RFQ) with the proper documentation.
“This can be a challenging process because paperwork needs to be submitted in the proper format,” Niceswanger said. “If you miss one small thing, it can be the reason you’re eliminated from consideration.”
Neilly contacted Niceswanger the day the proposal was due.
“Her paperwork was in good shape. It just needed some rewording here and there,” Niceswanger said. “I do recommend that people reach out sooner than later, however. It can be time consuming to respond to a government solicitation, especially for the first time. Our program has experience assisting businesses in understanding what needs to be included in their offers to the government and in making the layout easier for government evaluators to read.”
State and federal RFQs are more difficult to complete, even for clients who are familiar with bidding on municipal and county contracts. Registering with the government can streamline the process for federal-level RFQs by ensuring all provisions have been met. This, too, is something CIRAS can help clients do.
“I called CIRAS because I heard they could help with the process of getting government contracts,” said owner Mickey Neilly. “I met with Justin several times prior to this award to explore opportunities with government and state agencies. When this opportunity came up, he helped me with the bid process for this award. Justin also assisted with the initial contact with the City of Des Moines Real Estate Division. I successfully passed the process to be added to their approved appraiser list. Because of CIRAS, I will absolutely bid on other opportunities.”
For more information, contact Justin Niceswanger at jnice@iastate.edu or 515-509-9565.