Karish Industries

Challenges

As Karish Industries grew over the years, they had government contracting in mind. With their SAM registration renewal around the corner, Bruce connected with Norcal APEX Accelerator for help. However, the SAM renewal process would prove to be a significant hurdle to face. During this time, SAM had recently been updated and had a period in which the system had many issues with submissions – both renewals and new registrations were heavily impacted. While they worked with their APEX counselor on getting their federal registration in order, they had to continue to work towards their contracting goals in the State and local markets as well.

Actions

During their first meeting, Karish Industries and Norcal APEX Accelerator immediately went to work on the SAM renewal. The company already had a SAM account, however the employee who had been the authorized representative was no longer with the company. Within 1 month of connecting with Norcal APEX Accelerator, Bruce was able to get a notarized letter to SAM to get access to the account and began the renewal process. But once they were in the account and had submitted the renewal information, they realized that the banking information was outdated and due to it being submitted, they were unable to change it. After numerous meetings and calls to the SAM help desk, it was decided that it would be best to start a registration from scratch. So Karish Industries began working on the new registration with Norcal APEX Accelerator by their side.

While working on the SAM registration, they also pushed forward with state and local contracting. Bruce often attended Norcal APEX Accelerator training webinars and procurement fairs to learn about and network with the government agencies he wanted to sell to. With their location, they are quite close to a couple federal laboratories like the Lawrence Livermore lab and Sandia lab, where he was able to connect with his counselor in person during the public events they hosted. Thanks to efforts from their counselor, Karish Industries was able to get connected directly with the lab and be included on the list of attending firms for the event.

Results

With Norcal APEX Accelerator’s support, and Karish Industries’ perseverance, they were able to not only complete their new SAM registration, but they continued to submit bids to state and local agencies, winning various contracts with local city and county agencies. They also began selling to Caltrans, the Coast Guard, and various military agencies. In addition to that, and thanks to the now complete SAM registration, they were able to connect with Lawrence Livermore Laboratories to become a preferred vendor for their upcoming projects. With Norcal APEX Accelerator in their corner, Karish Industries continues to win contracts in the local, state, and federal market, knowing that they have the support they need to continue their success in government contracting.