Spencer's has also been a contract cloth producer on and off over the years
for other well-known brands as well as for converters who supplied products
to the government. The company manufactured underwear for the military during
World War II and even during the Korean War, but had not been a primary contractor
since then. After much thought and consideration. Spencer's decided to try becoming
a prime contractor again.
We contacted Senator Richard Burr's office who referred us to the US Small
Business Administration where we received information on contacting a Procurement
Counselor with the Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC).
My assistant, Debbie Jones, contacted the Procurement Counselor where they
had a lengthy discussion about the company background as well as current operations,
including the fact that Spencer's had on several occasions been a sub-contractor
on government jobs and was interested in becoming a prime contractor.
We met with our counselor on Feb 28th. We provided a brief history about
Spencer's and discussed the type of contracts that were the best fit for us.
Our counselor told us where to look for contracts, how to register on Fedbizopps,
Procurement Gateway, Assist, CCR, ORCA, etc. We were also given a list of
the Small Business representatives for the government offices that would have
requirements for our services. We were informed about the HUBZones and Service
Disabled Veteran-owned businesses and discussed whether Spencer's fell into
any of these categories. To be quite honest. we had so much information when
we left that it was a bit overwhelming. But, we came back to the office and
got to work!
A solicitation was posted on May 13th in which we were very interested, so
we began the process of preparing our bid. Debbie called and e-mailed our
procurement counselor numerous times with questions, such as how to obtain
the specifications for the fabric compliance and how to find out if we were
located in a labor surplus area. On June 15th, we participated in an online
reverse auction. On July 8th, Spencer's was awarded the $16 million contract.
Debbie called our counselor to share the good news. Our counselor was delighted
for us but immediately started telling us to make sure that we perform to
the best of our ability.
We had questions about the protest period and our procurement counselor explained
how this process works and e-mailed some information to us. No matter what
questions we asked, our counselor was able to answer and would not give up
until our issues were resolved. We found the assistance invaluable and we
will continue to use the Procurement Technical Assistance Center's resources
in the future, as we bid on other contracts.
Honey Rowe, my daughter and our executive vice president, recently commented
that if it weren't for the Procurement Technical Assistance Center, we would
still be "struggling" with the process and wondering how to get
started."
Spencer's
Inc., located in Mt. Airy, has been providing families around the world with
affordable quality infant and children's wear and has been in business since
1889, when the company was started in Pennsylvania by James Henry Crossingham,
the present owner's grandfather. Owner Jim Crossingham will tell you that "it
is the team concept and strong work ethic" of his 200+ employees that has
helped this textile manufacturer survive during these economically challenging
times.