Category: Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Evaluation of 8(a) Certified Firms

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Publications
Man and woman talking to each other

Optimal conducted a rigorous quasi-experimental evaluation using sensitive administrative data from multiple systems (System for Award Management [SAM] and the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation [FPDS-NG]) to assess the short- and long-term impacts of the 8(a)-certification program. Researchers also conducted interviews with stakeholders (agency executives, industry/business organizations). Optimal also facilitated an after-action review with agency executives and program managers.

Read the final report.

Economic Impact Study – Small Business and Type of Set-Aside Procurement Programs

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Publications
economic impact check surrounded by money

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) contracted with Optimal Solutions Group, LLC, to conduct an economic impact study. The study focused on the economic effects of the $145.8 billion obligated through the Small Business Set-Aside, HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business, and the 8(a) Business Development programs during Fiscal Year 2021. The Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), an economic forecast modeling tool, was used to calculate and report the effects on employment, output (sales), value-added (gross domestic product), and personal income for total small business obligations and each set-aside program. Using a conservative economic forecast, the incremental economic effects of the FY 2021 contract dollars obligated through these small business procurement programs on the national economy are: a total of 1,333,679 jobs created or retained, output of $310.7 billion, value-added (gross domestic product) of $184.9 billion, and personal income of $97.7 billion.

Read the FY 2021 Economic Impact Study – Small Business and Type of Set-Aside Procurement Programs Report.

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The National-Level Economic Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Publications
economic impact check surrounded by money

The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), contracted with the Optimal Solutions Group, LLC and Robey Analytics, LLC (Optimal Team) to conduct an analysis of the overall effect of MEP projects on the U.S. economy (50 states). MEP centers provide assistance to primarily small and medium-size manufacturing businesses to help them improve their productivity and competitiveness. The MEP centers provide services such as assistance with product development, tools and resources for business expansion, and business continuity planning, which contribute to cost savings, new investments, and improved products and processes. These improvements increase the pro­fitability and competitiveness of the client ­firms, which in turn improves the economy by creating jobs, increasing earnings, and expanding the tax base. The estimates are based on an independent survey of manufacturing clients sponsored every year by the NIST MEP and conducted by a third party. The survey asks MEP Center clients to provide their estimates of the effect of MEP services and activities on their businesses with respect to jobs, sales, investments, and cost savings.

MEP generates a substantial economic and financial return of nearly 13.5:1 for the $150 million invested by the federal government in the program in FY 2021. The study also finds that total employment in the U.S. was nearly 190,024 higher because of MEP Center projects. In addition, and similar to the previous studies, this analysis examined additional areas of economic impact not previously reported by the MEP Program: (1) personal income is $14.15 billion higher, and (2) GDP is $26.49 billion larger, translating into an increase of $2.03 billion in personal income tax revenue to the federal government than without the MEP Program.

Read the report.

Maryland Industrial Partnerships brief

Case Studies, Entrepreneurship & Innovation
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Using artificial intelligence to reduce monitoring and knowledge diffusion costs for Medicare Advantage Plans: A Feasibility Study

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), was awarded a grant through the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program to develop a health care research and delivery virtual collaborative system to provide researchers, practitioners, and professionals with a platform to share information, best practices, research, publications, and studies. The MIPS program is a branch of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), which is run through the University of Maryland. The program aims to “accelerate the commercialization of technology in Maryland by jointly funding collaborative R&D projects between companies and University System of Maryland faculty.”

To complete this task, Optimal developed a system titled Quality Improvement, Innovation, and Dissemination (QI2D). The QI2D is a third-generation (3G) healthcare research and delivery collaborative system that provides a unique platform to provide access and information in one centralized place. It is used to facilitate multidimensional communications and evaluate exchanges on the QI2D using a diffusion of innovation model informing how, why, and at what rate practices or quality improvement innovations spread through practitioner, research, and policymaker populations. The program was executed in two phases: Phase I sought to customize the open-source HUBzero collaboration platform to create the QI2D and recruit key stakeholders and participants for a pilot study. This study was designed to stimulate and monitor real-world usage and guided enhancements and/or marketing approaches for Phase II. The second phase incorporated augmentations to Optimal’s previous collaborative system and included a second pilot study, web-based surveys, and focus groups at the annual Improvement Science Summit to analyze challenges and areas of improvement.

Small Business Administration brief

Case Studies, Entrepreneurship & Innovation
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Highlights of Evaluation Methods

• Key program outcomes, including small business revenue, employment, and payroll growth for each cluster, are benchmarked against similar businesses in the same industry and region.

• Provides a synthetic control group to account for economy-wide, regional, and industry-specific trends and shocks.

• Relies on Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dunn & Bradstreet, and U.S. Census data.

Multimodal Surveys

• Surveys are developed for both Web and interactive PDF smartform deployment.

• Controls data collection costs (majority of data collected via the Web), yet also enables clusters to collect data from participants during regularly occurring interactions (e.g., phone, at events).

• Enhances response rate by accommodating participant preferences and circumventing inaccurate e-mail addresses.

Network Analysis

• Clusters’ structure is mapped using network analysis, based on strength of relationships and frequency of interactions.

• Allows for a visual representation of the complex “shape” and composition of clusters, complementing statistical analysis and qualitative data.

• Enables the tracking of each cluster’s evolving “shape” and composition over the duration of the initiatives to infer sustainability.

About the Small Business Administration Cluster Contracts

 

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), has been contracted by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to monitor and evaluate the Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative, which launched in 2010. Optimal has developed survey instruments designed to collect information from the SBA-funded clusters, their small businesses, and large organizations. The surveys are administered via the web and are complemented with interactive PDF surveys towards the end of the data collection period. The surveys collects information on reasons for participation in clusters, satisfaction with cluster services, revenue, employment, progress towards commercialization, and other key outcomes of the program. Optimal also interacts and coordinates with various cluster stakeholders and works systematically to gain an understanding of the assets, features, and barriers of each cluster’s industry of focus. You can find a recent report here: https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/aboutsbaarticle/Evaluation_of_the_SBA_Regional_Cluster_Initiative_Year_3_Report_2014_11.pdf.

In 2014, SBA contracted with Optimal to expand its data collection and analysis efforts to six of the agency’s programs and initiatives, including the Women’s Business Center, SCORE and Small Business Development Center programs, and the Emerging Leaders, ScaleUp, and Regional Innovation Cluster initiatives.

International Conference on Public Policy- Singapore 2017

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Events

The 3rd annual International Conference on Public Policy is around the corner, and this year Optimal will be a presenter at the three-day conference (June 28th-30th) in Singapore. The conference will include panels, networking, and workshops that feature talks on policy design, the political process of policy making, policy instruments and more.

Among the presenters will be Optimal’s CEO, Mark Turner and Senior Research Associate, Jennifer Auer. Drs. Turner and Auer will be presenting two papers at the conference; “The role of government at each stage of business growth” and “The role of Urban Policy in coordinating Entrepreneur Ecosystems”. These papers apply two theoretical lenses to inform the appropriate role of government in entrepreneur policy: business life cycle stages from management theory and market failures from classical economics.

This year the conference will take place at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and is expecting over 1,500 participants. The scholars presenting at this year’s conference are coming from 80 countries to share their research papers.

To find out more about the 2017 ICPP conference, please visit http://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/conference/icpp-3-singapore-2017/7