OCE-Translations gets EPA contract

OCE Translations is an international provider of language services. The company was founded in 1997 in Belgium, and today has four offices worldwide and freelance translators in over 100 countries. Services include translation and copywriting, live interpretation, subtitling, voice-overs and multilingual website design. The company provides services to all types of industries including banking, medical, chemical, legal, and engineering, and its customers include Volvo Trucks, Pfizer, and Nestle, just to mention a few.

Martin Heimann is the Project Manager for the Greensboro office which opened in 2002. His main tasks have been to position the company in the U.S. market, acquire new clients and increase sales. In his efforts to do so, Martin came across the NC Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). "I sat in on a 'Doing Business with the Government' seminar during a Government Trade Fair in 2002 which started me thinking about the government marketplace as a potential customer. The procurement counselor who gave the seminar was willing to send me follow up information about the process and said that I could schedule a one-on-one counseling session to discuss how to specifically market my services to government. At that time however, I decided to focus my activities on the private sector, mainly because I felt that the client acquisition process was less formal and promised faster results. However, I kept government contracting in mind as something that would be of interest once our company was more established in the U.S."

The procurement counselor contacted the firm about a year later, when Martin was in the process of responding to a RFP for Washington State. "Naturally I had questions and the counselor was very helpful in discussing format, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), pricing issues, evaluation criteria and past performance capabilities." The counselor also gave Martin a directory with the websites for all 50 state purchasing offices.

The following year Martin attended a 'Finding Government Contracts on the Internet' seminar. "It was also very useful as it answered some of the marketing questions I had in regards to government customers. The procurement counselor took time to discuss a bid I was working on for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and once again, made very useful recommendations." The counselor also gave Martin information about a statewide government procurement conference called Marketplace: Procurement Opportunities for Small Businesses and urged him to consider attending. "I had not planned on attending Marketplace, but changed my mind and was glad I did. The networking opportunities enabled me to meet with representatives from federal, state and local government agencies, all in one place." Martin also let the procurement counselor know that his firm had won the EPA contract. "I admitted that we were having some difficulty with our contract and the counselor provided me with advice that helped us respond to the situation correctly."

Martin recently contacted the procurement counselor to discuss PROBID (an electronic bid matching service) and to obtain assistance with the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule solicitation paperwork. "We also discussed marketing strategies and ways I might increase sales with local and state agencies." The counselor also gave Martin information about another statewide Government Procurement Conference, Opportunities 2006: Making Dollars and Sense Selling to Government Agencies that will be held in March. "Naturally someone from OCE-Translations Network will be there and our firm will continue to use the NC PTAC services as we pursue government contracts." Additional information about OCE Translations can be obtained at www.oce-translations.com.

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