• microplan

    A microloan program designed to assist women, low income, veteran, and minority entrepreneurs, and other small businesses will be evaluated for its impact in growth outcomes

    The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Microloan Program makes direct loans to qualified nonprofit, quasi-governmental and tribal mediators that, in turn, lend working capital for job creation, equipment, and material purchases. This program is essential for small businesses who do not qualify for traditional business loans and who have historically been underrepresented in the business community across a number of industries. […]

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  • SBA Logo

    Optimal evaluated four Small Business Administration programs using logic models to determine outcomes

    A logic model provides a visual likeness of the key program pathways linking program components to short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes. The purpose of a logic model is to define a program’s theory of change by showing how the program’s underlying assumptions, strategies, resources, activities, and contextual factors are expected to lead to the desired outcomes. Optimal prepared logic models […]

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  • Optimal develops AI-tool to assist government agencies identify qualified under-represented firms

    Government agencies often use incomplete and non-systematic approaches to identify qualified contractors and capable, socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses for government requests. While information about firms is available, it is stored across disparate systems that are not linked together. In order for staff to more efficiently identify small disadvantaged businesses, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), developed a series of […]

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  • Optimal assessed the impact of small business development program

    The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program grants participants access to set-aside or sole source contracts, a business opportunity specialist, the right to enter a mentor-protégé program, and other benefits. The goal of the Evaluation of 8(a) Certified Firms is to better understand the market for goods and services demanded by federal agencies and those supplied by 8(a) businesses. The […]

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  • Optimal assessed the impact of SBA’s Emerging Leaders Training and Mentoring Initiative

    This study helped SBA in improving the program enactment of Emerging Leaders (e200) Training and Mentoring Initiative by identifying strategies to improve program participation and stakeholder engagement. It also identified the factors affecting the business revenue and business survival rates of the businesses poised for growth in historically challenged communities. Optimal assisted in developing the overall evaluation frameworks for SBA’s […]

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  • SBA Logo

    Optimal assessed the performance of the SBA small business regional clusters

    The SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) Initiative, launched in September 2010, promotes and supports U.S. regional clusters—geographically concentrated groups of connected businesses, suppliers, service providers, and similar institutions in an industry or field. Clusters act as a networking hub to convene resources for small businesses. This then helps small businesses in navigating funding, procurement, and supply-chain opportunities in their specific […]

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  • round table

    Optimal analyzed small business program designed to provide business development assistance

    Established in 2016, the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) extends the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) approved mentor-protégé relationships to every small business. The program’s goal is to develop strong protégé firms through mentor-provided business development assistance. Optimal assessed why firms leave the ASMPP either during the application process before they are approved for the program or during the program participation […]

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  • 29439 DEV Color

    Optimal Solutions Group Appraised at CMMI Level 3 – Development

    Optimal Solutions Group, LLC today announced that it has been appraised at level 3 for Development (DEV) of the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)®. The appraisal was performed by Abridge Technology. CMMI is a capability improvement framework that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.

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  • Using Mobile Applications in Opioid Treatment: Opportunities and Challenges

    Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) awarded Optimal a contract to assess the implementation and effectiveness of mobile application technology to provide recovery support services to patients undergoing treatment for opioid dependence in an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP).

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Recent Press Releases


Archived Press Releases
Optimal participates in the USAID Global Education Summit

September 9, 2013

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held its bi-annual Education Summit from August 6 – 8 in Washington, DC.


Key Methodologies in the Analysis of Labor Discrimination

September 9, 2013

Dr. Barbara Morgan, currently a senior lecturer and undergraduate advisor in the Department of Economics at Johns Hopkins University, will be giving a presentation on the key methodologies economists, sociologists and lawyers use to demonstrate whether or not discrimination exists in the labor market.


Optimal Awarded Evaluation of the Summer Food Service Program Participant Characteristics

August 30, 2013

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in their efforts to reach out to small businesses, awarded Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) a contract to study and prepare a report which documents the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) providers and participant characteristics. The SFSP was designed to ensure that children who benefit from the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and […]


Release of results of cost-benefit analysis for USAID/Ethiopia interventions

August 5, 2013

The LEAP team conducted cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of four agriculture-related projects in Ethiopia to assess the beneficiary, social, and financial outcomes of the following interventions: Agribusiness and Market Development (AMD), the Livestock Growth Project (LGP), Pastoralists Resiliency Improvement and Market Expansion Project (PRIME), and Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development Project (GRAD).


Network Analysis in Cluster Development

July 31, 2013

Scott Dempwolf, currently an Assistant Research Professor in the University of Maryland, Economic Development University Center will be presenting his dissertation on regional innovation clusters on Wednesday, July 31st  at 12 noon at Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal’s) office in M Square Research Park, Maryland. 


Innovative and sustainable methods to conduct a population-based survey

July 3, 2013

In an effort to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger through its Feed the Future (FtF) global initiative, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) works with host governments, development partners, and other stakeholders to address the root causes of global hunger. The initiative seeks to: 1) facilitate efficient market systems to meet the growing demand for food; 2) increase […]


The Evaluation of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Regional Cluster Initiative — Year Two Report

June 27, 2013

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) was contracted to work with  the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on its Regional Cluster Initiative in October of 2010. The SBA’s Cluster Initiative provides funding to the organizing entities of ten clusters in order to increase opportunities for small business participation within the clusters, promote innovation in the industries on which the ten clusters […]


University of Maryland College of Information Studies (iSchool) Carol Boston to present “Motivation and technology for citizen science projects”

April 9, 2013

Carol Boston- Faculty Research Assistant at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (iSchool), will discuss work in progress on iSchool research related to volunteer motivation to participate in citizen science projects,  and the technology (including mobile apps and multi-user, touch-input-based tabletops)  to support and encourage their participation on April 17, 2013 at 12 noon at Optimal Solutions Group, […]


Optimal Hosts Open House for New Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center

January 14, 2013

This past September, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) opened its new innovation and entrepreneurship center (IEC) as a part of its ongoing commitment and focus in these areas. The center, which is operational, is located adjacent to Optimal’s current headquarters in the University of Maryland’s (UMD) M Square Research Park. Research park tenants, University of Maryland officials, clients and partners […]


Optimal staffers pull together for Baltimore Homeless and Sandy Relief

December 1, 2012

The 2012 holiday charity collection focused on the survivors of Hurricane Sandy, which caused devastating damage to parts of New York and New Jersey in late October 2012. Over $600 was donated to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief with staff contributions matched by the company. In addition, staff also collected supplies for Health Care for the […]


CMS to Monitor and Identify Best Practices in Medicare Advantage and Part D Quality Improvement Initiatives

November 15, 2012

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (“Optimal”) for the Medicare Advantage and Part D Quality Oversight, Monitoring, and Best Practices task order.


UMD Social Sciences Business Plan Competition Students Visit Optimal

October 24, 2012

Students from the University of Maryland (UMD) will be visiting Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) on October 25 as part of the “Be the Solution” Business Plan Competition.  The students are participating in a program launched in September which ultimately prepares them for competing for team prizes of up to $2,500 for the best start-up concept.  The competition is sponsored […]


Optimal Awarded Evaluation of Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration

October 15, 2012

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) and its partner, American Institutes for Research (AIR), have been selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to design and implement a program evaluation of the Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration, which aims to increase the supply of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) in the U.S. […]


USAID to Assess International Education Strategy Goals with Optimal’s Support

October 3, 2012

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) the Secondary Analysis and Results Tracking (SART) five-year contract to assist USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and the Environment’s Office of Education (E3/ED).


Monthly Household Income Fluctuations, Material Deprivation and Health Outcomes in the U.S.

June 27, 2012

Dr. Neil Bania has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oregon.  His research is focused on food insufficiency and other social policy topic areas including welfare, housing assistance, and transportation as well as state and local taxation policies.  He joined the University of Oregon’s Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management in 2004 as an Associate Professor.  Prior […]


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