It's free. Services are no charge since TriTech is funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and various state and local community funds.

Very high! Many of our consultants have their own, profitable consulting practice. Each consultant is screened extensively. Each consultant has to have a qualifying background and active involvement in the business and funding communities and show the skills and abilities to move businesses towards profitability.

After you submit an application to qualify, someone will contact you within two days to let you know if you have been approved. Upon approval, a consultant is assigned and you will deal directly with the consultant regarding scheduling.

TriTech services are in high demand. To meet this demand, we allow 20 hours per client on average. The time is usually used in one or two hour sessions throughout the course of a few months.

TriTech Consultants understand the funding landscape. They come from a variety of backgrounds with various experiences in the business community. Even though your consultant may not come from your industry they do understand how to prepare you for the funding process.

Our consultants will review, critique and advise you on how to improve a business plan draft, however we do not work to develop the plan in detail. The business plan is the business owner's responsibility.

TriTech cannot guarantee your business will be funded by an investor. Less than one in ten start-up companies are funded by Angel investors each year. TriTech will make considerable efforts to help you prepare your business to appeal to investors but more importantly to help your business grow (even if that means doing it without investors).

There are 5 types of equity investors. Friends & Family; Angel; Venture Capitalist; Corporate Venture Capitalist; and Private Equity Funds. You need to know how much capital you need. If you want to keep full ownership equity capital is not for you.

Prepare your business plan and familiarize yourself with the SBA's business loan programs to see which a viable option is. There are several programs including the 7(a) Loan Program, the Certified Development Company or 504 Loan Program, the MicroLoan Program and the Small Business Investment Program. You can find out more about these programs from the SBA. For a great guide on Getting Approved, check out the latest edition of the SBA Rresource Guide Once on the home page, click on your region. (For the California-Santa Ana region link, be sure to check out pages 23 through 31 and the Quick Reference available on page 32.)

The kind of financing most entrepreneurs seek through commercial lenders is debt financing, and most banks provide debt financing for existing and some start-up businesses. Banks vary substantially in their lending practices. While one bank may decline your loan application, another may be willing to take a higher risk or be interested in lending to small businesses. It is advisable to understand a bank's lending guidelines before applying for a loan.

The Small Business Act states that a small business is "one that is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation." The law also states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately and each has specific Size Regulations. You can view these definitions and regulations at SBA.gov

No and the services provided are vastly different. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was established in 1953 as an independent agency of the Federal Government in order to help people get in business, stay in business and grow. The Small Business Development Center Program receives funding from the SBA to assist small business through no-cost business consulting and low-cost training and was started in 1980 under the Carter administration to help and grow the economy one small business at a time.

Contact a local PTAC center. It will save you time and money.

CCR registration is required prior to being awarded a contract with any federal government agency. This registration collects general information about a company and information required to perform Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). This requirement covers all federal agencies. Here is the statement in FAR 4.1102: (a) Prospective contractors shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award of a contract or agreement, except for- (1) Purchases that use a Governmentwide commercial purchase card as both the purchasing and payment mechanism, as opposed to using the purchase card only as a payment method; (2) Classified contracts (see 2.101) when registration in the CCR database, or use of CCR data, could compromise the safeguarding of classified information or national security; (3) Contracts awarded by- (i) Deployed contracting officers in the course of military operations, including, but not limited to, contingency operations as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(a)(13) or humanitarian or peacekeeping operations as defined in 10 U.S.C. 2302(7); or (ii) Contracting officers in the conduct of emergency operations, such as responses to natural or environmental disasters or national or civil emergencies, e.g., Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121); (4) Contracts to support unusual or compelling needs (see 6.302-2); (5) Awards made to foreign vendors for work performed outside the United States, if it is impractical to obtain CCR registration; and (6) Micro-purchases that do not use the electronic funds transfer (EFT) method for payment and are not required to be reported (see Subpart 4.6).

1. Besides the local PTAC Office assistance with government contracts can be obtained from:
   1. Contracting officers ("COs" or KOs), who are involved in establishing agency requirements and will determine the proper source for the supply or service.
   2. Contracting Agents/Specialists should be contacted concerning questions relating to a specific procurement opportunities.
   3. Small Business Liaison Officers (SBLO) are the representatives of prime contractors. They should be contacted concerning potential subcontracting opportunities and potential teaming or partnering opportunities.
   4. Small Business Specialists should be contacted concerning general questions relating to contracting with the government. These specialists work for the agency and should be a good in-side resource for that buying office. They are sometimes identified or referred to as small and disadvantage business utilization specialists (SADBUS) or the office of small business development and utilization (OSDBU). Here are two locations that list most of the offices for the federal government. One is for DoD and the other one is for the Civilian side: Civilian - http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/links/other_federal.htm and DoD - http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/links/other_federal.htm

The SBA's 8(a) BD Program, named for a section of the Small Business Act, is a business development program created to help small disadvantaged businesses compete in the American economy and access the federal procurement market.

Registration in the CCR can be accomplished by three different methods; online at Central Contractor Registration (CCR) , by fax or by mail. The recommended method is online. This method is quick and user friendly. Registering online can be accomplished at the following web site http://www.ccr.gov.

Contacting the local SBA district office serving your area is the first step. An SBA representative will answer general questions over the telephone. Some district offices may also have 8(a) orientation workshops to provide additional information regarding the eligibility requirements and to review various SBA forms.

The applicant firm:
1. must be a small business
2. must be unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who are of good
3. character and citizens of the United States, and
4. must demonstrate potential for success.

You do not need to pay anyone to prepare your 8(a) application. SBA designed the application forms so the applicant can complete the application. However, a consultant can assist in completing the application. Please be advised that no one can guarantee that an application for 8(a) program participation will be approved. The application process is intended to assure that each applicant receives a fair review. Any irregularities in the application review process should be immediately referred to the SBA Office of Inspector General.

SBA defines a small business concern as one that is independently owned and operated, is organized for profit, and is not dominant in its field. Depending on the industry, size standard eligibility is based on the average number of employees for the preceding twelve months or on sales volume averaged over a three-year period. Examples of SBA general size standards include the following:
1. Manufacturing: Maximum number of employees may range from 500 to 1500, depending on the type of product manufactured
2. Wholesaling: Maximum number of employees may range from 100 to 500 depending on the particular product being provided
3. Services: Annual receipts may not exceed $2.5 to $21.5 million, depending on the particular service being provided
4. Retailing: Annual receipts may not exceed $5.0 to $21.0 million, depending on the particular product being provided
5. General and Heavy Construction: General construction annual receipts may not exceed $13.5 to $17 million, depending on the type of construction
6. Special Trade Construction: Annual receipts may not exceed $7 million
7. Agriculture: Annual receipts may not exceed $0.5 to $9.0 million, depending on the agricultural product.

The CACT is the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies. We are funded by the state of California with a two-fold mission. First, we are charged with helping improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized manufacturers in the Riverside and San Bernardino area. Second, we are tasked with improving the ability of colleges within our region to offer hands-on technical training.

The CACT, in conjunction with RCCD's Customized Solutions Department, offers a wide range of technical training in areas such as Lean Manufacturing, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Six Sigma, Electro-Mechanical Systems, and Automated Systems Troubleshooting.

The RCCD Customized Solutions Department generally handles the "soft-skills" training such as Supervisory Excellence, Team Building and Microsoft Office training.

The CACT frequently works with designers and inventors to develop prototypes, engineering drawings and to troubleshoot potential designs for manufacturability and workability.

Customized training is employee training that is customized to the exact needs of the business. It is performance-based, defined by the goals set by the business organization in coordination with Customized Solutions. For example, if a customer service course is needed for call center employees, the company may identify a reduction of customer complaints by 20% as an outcome of the training. Customized Solutions will create course content that will focus on phone techniques that emphasize handling difficult customers and reducing service delivery time. The key focus of customized training is improved employee performance.

1. Consultation and Needs Analysis: Contact Customized Solutions for a consultation and needs analysis to determine training needs, expected training outcomes and program costs.Current workplace productivity requirements and actual performance are assessed, performance gaps are identified and performance goals and measures of goal achievement are set.



2. Training Delivered: Once the performance goals are identified as a training need in the workplace, training can be provided at your company site or our campus locations. Training is available at any shift or in a time frame that fits your business schedule.



3. Evaluation of Training: Effectiveness of the training is reviewed, based on pre and post tests, student evaluations and productivity performance indicators identified in the needs analysis.

With customer approval and consultation, Customized Solutions will conduct interviews with management, supervisors, and employees. Pre-training skills tests may be administered and key performance indicators may be reviewed if appropriate.

Training can be conducted at the company site, if appropriate training facilities are available such as a training or conference room with audio visual equipment. Customized Solutions will provide training equipment, including our laptop computer lab, if equipment is not readily available on site. Classrooms are available on-campus at various sites throughout the Riverside Community College District as well, if there is no convenient training site at the company.

• Technical Training



• Quality Systems



• Safety, Health and Compliance Training



• Management Training



• Basic Skills Training



• Business Development Courses



• Entrepreneurial Training Courses

We will customize/build a curriculum to meet that need with the assistance of our Subject Matter Experts, the Director of Customized Solutions and Company Leadership.

Customized Solutions offers Harassment Prevention training for supervisors/managers that is AB1825 compliant. Also offered are Quality Assurance training and OSHA Safety certification courses as well as other technical courses required for different industry certifications.

Customized Solutions will follow up with your business after training is completed to review course outcomes. Participant surveys, class assessments and post training employee performance levels may be reviewed.

Contact Robert Grajeda at 951-571-6457 or Susan Crowley at 951-571-6456
Email: Robert.Grajeda@rcc.edu

Training costs will vary depending on the class size, the number of training hours and the availability of grant funding. As part of the California Community Colleges, Customized Solutions charges reasonable rates and creates flexible programs that permit organizations to meet their training needs on time and within budget. Grant funds to provide training at a very low cost to the customer may be available.