University of Houston PTAC Advisor Sutton Recognized by SBA’s Houston District
The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) congratulations Deidra Sutton for being named 2015 Minority Small Business Champion by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Houston District.
Sutton, a Senior Procurement Advisor with the University of Houston Procurement Technical Assistance Center (UH PTAC), has long focused her professional and volunteer efforts on fostering socially and economically disadvantaged, women-owned, and HUBZone eligible small businesses, alerting her Houston community about local, state, and federal government opportunities that have been set-aside for small and minority-owned businesses. She confirms that helping small businesses is her passion.
She has been assisting with the preparation of city, state and SBA program certifications since 1989, when she served as Project Director/Business Consultant to Small Disadvantaged Businesses for Hampton Roads Minority Business Development Center. Her expertise continued to grow through her work with Grijalva & Allen, P.C. (Houston Minority Business Develop Council & Bonding Technical Assistance), supporting minority-owned small businesses with technical business development assistance and working to certify clients for the state of Texas, city of Houston, Houston Minority Business Council, Women Business Enterprise Alliance and the SBA. Her two decades of expertise has allowed her impact to explode during her seven year tenure at the PTAC; it is not uncommon for her to assist 55 new clients a month, many of whom are requesting certification assistance. Her guidance with SBA’s 8(a) and HUBZone applications is sought after by minority-owned small businesses from as far away as Austin, Texas. Because each applicant’s operation is unique, Sutton pays special attention to the individuals she works with, earning their trust and confidence. The certification process is time consuming, often requiring the application to pass back and forth several times, but she never gives up. Thanks to her assistance, the majority of her applicants obtained certification.
Sutton was presented the 2015 Minority Small Business Champion Award at Houston’s Small Business Awards Luncheon, sponsored by SCORE Houston on May 7, 2015.
APTAC Release June 10, 2015. For more information, contact communication@aptac-us.org
For help with Government Contracting: contact your nearest Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). Funded through Cooperative Agreements between the U.S. Department of Defense and state and local governments/institutions, PTACs provide free and low-cost assistance in virtually all areas of government contracting.