August 5th, 2020
CARSON CITY, Nev. – For the past three years, the Lito Corporation (Litocorp) has been working with the Nevada Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) to learn how to pursue and compete for federal contracts. Through this engagement, following the guidance of Southern Nevada’s PTAC, Litocorp has been awarded two separate Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contracts from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Research Laboratory/AFWERX in the past six months. Under each respective contract, Litocorp will be providing deliverable product innovations for the USAF.
“I would like to congratulate Lito Villanueva, a prior-Air Force service-disabled veteran, who created this company specializing in defense technology engineering and consulting,” said Michael Brown, Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) executive director. “These two SBIR Phase I contracts have also resulted in the creation of two new jobs within his company. Since entering the Nevada PTAC, Procurement Outreach Program in 2017, Lito has been fully engaged in the program’s outreach activities. He has employed the full spectrum of Nevada PTAC services, especially counseling on a myriad of topics related to government contracting.”
The Nevada PTAC office, a division of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, was able to assist Villanueva with obtaining his Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, navigating the U.S. Federal Government’s System for Award Management (SAM) website, improving his understanding of the U.S. Federal Government’s Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
“For a start-up company like mine, the PTAC has been very valuable in navigating the federal contracting process,” Lito said. “Getting help with the nuances of the RFP (request for proposal) process has been incredibly valuable. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but getting help with the small tactics, knowing what works and what does not work when pursuing a Department of Defense contract, is very important. We can continue our focus on our ‘Why’ for our company: suicide prevention technology creation.”
The Nevada PTAC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with DoD’s Defense Logistics Agency.
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About the Governor’s Office of Economic Development
Created during the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development is the result of a collaborative effort between the Nevada Legislature and the Governor’s Office to restructure economic development in the state. GOED’s role is to promote a robust, diversified and prosperous economy in Nevada, to stimulate business expansion and retention, encourage entrepreneurial enterprise, attract new businesses and facilitate community development. More information on the Governor’s Office of Economic Development can be viewed at diversifynevada.com