OCR Text |
Show Review - Wednesday. October 8, 1986 - Page 12 Outreach program offers services to younger citizens in need of help i J ! Elna Burgener, the Community Action Outreach representative in the Pleasant Grove-Lindo- n Area, will now be helping those younger than Senior Citizen age as well. Elna has worked with the senior citizens in the Outreach program for the past 13 years. She has just begun working with the younger ones, too. She said that no matter what type of problems there may be, whether it is with transportation, H.E.A.T., career training, abuse problems or any other situations, she can be of assistance. She would like to let those needing help know which services are available to them and make sure they get the best there is to offer. Elna stated she would like to get it set up like they do for the senior citizens where they are all listed and she can contact them to let them know what is available for them. She would also like to provide a shoulder for them to lean on when necessary. There are helps provided for career guidance which offers training and how to present them-selves when they look for em-ployment, dealing with incest and other forms of abuse, health programs, budgeting, etc. Elna said she has a dream to be able to provide cooking classes to help those on low income so that they can get along better. She would like to have the services available right here locally since there is a tran-sportation problem for many people. She would like to have a baby sitting trading service provided. Anyone who needs help of any kind, which is handled by the Outreach program, should call Elna. She is at home after 5 p.m. at 785-376- 9 or from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Pleasant Grove Senior Citizen Center, 785-281- weekdays. Elna BurgeneP ' r v a UVIDA to become procurement center The Utah Valley Industrial Development Association has opened its doors as a Regional Procurement Office, under the direction of the Utah State Division of Business and Economic Development. Kent Evans, Mayor of American Fork and chairman of the UVIDA task force that pioneered the idea of a procurement center, said the office will service the three- -' county area of Wasatch, Summit and Utah Valley in helping small businesses sell their products to the Department of Defense and other government agencies. Evans said Paul H. Stout, a Utah native and graduate of BYU, has been named director of the regional procurement program, ad-ministered from the UVIDA offices. Stout said the opportunities for local companies to expand their business through government contracts is tremendous. " "You .could say the biggest customer in the world is ready to walk through your front door, and all small businesses have to do is take ad-vantage of it." The U.S. Government purchases nearly $200 billion in goods and services annually, amounting to expenditures of more than five percent of the country's gross national product, he said. "Yet, despite the huge potential for sales in this new marketplace, small b usinesses shy away from dealing with Uncle Sam." "Fears about red tape and government interference, lack of knowledge about government purchsing patterns, and other negative images can scare managers away." Stout said the regional procurement office will help the small businessman learn that his fears are largely unfounded. "For example, the government has a quick-payme- regulation market," said Stout. A Steering Committee has been formed to coordinate and to act as an advisory councilk to the regional procurement office. Represented on the steering committee are executies from Eyring Research Institute, Teleflex Corporation, Alpine Industries, Kitco, General Image Engineering and Little Giant Industries. These companies collectively contract for hundreds of millions in federaal contract work annually and are among the most active in contractors in Utah. These com-panies employ nearly 1,500 worker and fitfully demonstrate the vir-tually untapped potential in the federal marketplace. When Governor Bangeter put together a team of economic development professionals in 1984 to study the potential of procurement in Utah, he found that one of our greatest potential resources in this state was almost totally ignored. Richard Bradford, chairman of the committee and executive director of the Utah Valley In-dustrial Development Association, reported tht $2.2 billion were spent by Hill Air Force Base each year in purchases of equipment and ser-vices. Only four percent of those contracts were being awarded to Utah firms. The national average for military installations was 17 percent going to local contractors. As a result of the studies, the legislature appropriated funds to set up a bidders assistance center, now called the Utah Federal Procurement Assistance Office, directed by John Bryan. Bryan is the former director of base pur-chases at Hill Air Force Base, and is on "loan" to the State of Utah to set up procurement operations. The State has nine satellite agencies in the various regions of the state to help small business on a local level. And though only in operation for a few months, the state has already been instrumental in assisting several firms to obtain contracts for government pur-chases, resulting in millions of dollars in work and several new jobs. Stout said one of the first programs the State has im-plemented is a computer link-u- p with Washington to instantly receive information on federal contracts through all of the government agencies. These con-tract opportunities are matched with utah firms who are capable of bidding on the projects. Local firms, through this computer link, are able to obtain the leads several days before their counterparts in other states who only have the Commerce Business Daily as a resource. "We have already surveyed nearly 200 firms in Wasatch, Utah and Summit counties to establish their manufacturing capabilities and to determine their interest in doing work for the government -- and the response has been over-whelming." The office is being equipped with a variety of resources and tools to help the small business owner compete for the contracts once the procurement match has been m ade. A microfiche readerprinter, computer, software, federal regulations and specifications and a variety of other government publications are available to the public as needed. Seminars and workshops are also planned to educate interested in-dividuals on procurement procedures. The first seminar is scheduled for October 31, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Excelsior Hotel in Provo. The seminar is opfen to all interested businesses. Please. RSVP, 374-990- guaranteeing payment within 30 days, in most cases. The effective turn around time, however, is more like 10-2- 0 days, according to most local firms. "There is also such a diversity o f purchases within the federal system that a wide variety of business can get involved. Our government doesn't just by guns and tanks. The list sof items purchased by various agencies consists of 78 different categories, including toiletries, furniture, cleaning supplies, engineering and construction services, medical supplies, publications and clothing. The list goes on and on." "We have a team of individuals in the State and in this three-count- y region that are experienced in contracting and willing to help area businesses get their share of the Home fire drill planned Thursday ; The Pleasant Grove Firemen's Auxiliary is urging all families to participate in the Home Fire Drill scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m. on KUTV Channel 2. Instruction on how to get out of your home in case of a fire will be given along with other valuable information which could save lives. The program is also sponsored by McDonalds. Thousands of people die in fires in U. S. homes every year. And while fire drills in schools are a familiar event, conducting drills in the home, where more than 80 percent of all fires occur, is often forgotten. Families should make a drawing il of their home and learn the ways of escape in case of fire This program will be one oh s highlights of Fire Prevent which is being held this week The Pleasant Grove Fire D, S and Auxiliary have been goin.j! ti the schools with fire prevr programs this week. i USU to offer landscape maintenance seminar Would you like to do a better job of taking care of the landscape you are responsible for? If so, be sure to attend the Landscape Maintenance Seminar sponsored by Utah State University Extension Service on Thursday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m. The seminar is being hosted by Orem City Parks Department and will be held in the multi-purpos- e room (Room 106) at the Orem City Offices. The topic to be discussed this month will be Winterizing the Landscape. This begins another monthly series of seminars spon-sored by USU Extension Service. The seminars are open to the public. Those individuals involved in landscape maintenance cost. encouraged to atend. There k 1 Plans are also underway or all-da- y workshop to be held r January for the landscape nut tenance industry. For more formation, contact the Extent Service at News About YOU! 756-766- 9 j . ' ' , ' . t . . , . , , ,. ' " ' f ; - - ; r Vw, f : j : S V V " - - i t" I i : . - ' - . , r ; t i- - I i ; - ; , , , v v ,v. f - : i . ! ; f i t v f ' I I J I I , : '. . . . ' . ''' ' . , i h- - i ' l ? . ' ..' i V. j 1 ' " ' : ' '". 'j , A ' " I - V"1-"-- - w ' I i ; , . . ;. Yon Do The Shopping, Well Do The Rest If you want the best auto loan in Utah County, call now. We are making 0.9 loans with up to QQ rcaoc&hs to pay. Call Ramon, Dave, Kevin or Carl at 756-768- 1 and find out about the best auto loans anywhere. You do the shopping and we'll do the rest. s InnTvan ! MR Bank of Americaii Fork $ t.,kw rae. A 1 memberFDIC Isn't there a great day coming? Maybe you should layaway now for Christmas. Use your good credit. Serving our customers lor 36 years 11 W. Main, American Fork 13 VOTE EXPERIENCE - I ' rj I GREENWOOD V 11 J |