• 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
Program Monitoring and Evaluation: Tools for Measuring the Performance of Federal Policy Agencies

May 16, 2011

Donald Malcolm Smith, a doctoral candidate in the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, presented his dissertation, “Program Monitoring and Evaluation: Tools for Measuring the Performance of Federal Policy Agencies” at an Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) Brown Bag on Wednesday, May 4.


Optimal Wins Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Small Business Research and Demonstration Award

May 13, 2011

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (www.cms.gov) has awarded 10 Indefinite-Quantity Indefinite-Delivery contracts to 10 small businesses to conduct general research, analysis, demonstration, and survey activities relating to Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) issues related to uninsured populations, and other aspects of CMS program responsibilities.


Study on Extended School Days Presented at AEFP Conference

May 13, 2011

The 36th Annual Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Conference was held in late March.  The conference focuses on encouraging multidisciplinary research on salient education finance and policy issues, broad-based dialogue concerning policy, practice, and research, and bridging the gap between research and application and to broaden the focus of education finance and policy. Attending this conference was Optimal […]


Capability Maturity Model Integration Training Emphasizes Risk Management and Best Practices

May 13, 2011

As Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) incorporates software development into its real-time framework in public policy, it has initiated the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) training necessary to achieve the maturity levels required to provide its clients with solid applications and data-driven solutions.  According to the Software Engineering Institute (SEI, 2008), CMMI helps “integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process […]


SBP Conference Brings Social, Behavioral and Computer Scientists Together for Innovation in Research

May 12, 2011

The University of Maryland, College Park recently hosted its 2nd Annual International Conference on Social, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction.  Speakers from academia, government agencies and various other industries gathered for tutorial workshops, discussions, a cross-fertilization workshop, and poster session.


Real-Time Systems Save Money for CMS and Other Federal Agencies

March 16, 2011

Most recently, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has been saving millions of dollars for the federal government. Most importantly, the data provided to the clients is timely and actionable. Optimal’s real-time project with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has produced close to $500,000 in savings in the last six months.


Quantifying Quality Improvement Cost Savings for Medicare

March 15, 2011

With quality measurement and improvement being key components of the 2010 health reform legislation, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) are working to identify opportunities for improvement in the quality of patient care while protecting the integrity of the Medicare Trust Fund. Through the Measure and Instrument Development and Support (MIDS) contract, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), completed […]


Optimal Obtains Apple Developer License

March 15, 2011

Apple Inc. (Apple) recently approved an application for a developer license to Optimal Solutions Group, LLC, (Optimal) to develop smart phone applications to use in accordance with its real-time projects. The license provides access to the Apple Safari Developer Program, the iOS Developer Program, and the Mac Developer Program. Optimal plans to use the license for immediate development of applications […]


Johns Hopkins University’s Dr. Stefanie DeLuca to present “Why Poor People Move (And Where They Go): Residential Mobility, Selection, and Racial Segregation”

March 14, 2011

Dr. Stefanie DeLuca, Associate Professor of Sociology at the Johns Hopkins University, will present results of a study on housing relocation choices of minority urban poor on Thursday, March 14, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at Optimal Solutions Group’s, LLC (Optimal’s) office in M Square Research Park in College Park, Maryland. Dr. Deluca will discuss the mixed methods approach used in […]


Girl Scouts Robotics Team Wins Rookie Award

February 11, 2011

As a result of their hard work and dedication, seven members of Girl Scout Troop #2701 won the Rookie All Star Award at the First Lego League Qualifier Event on January 29, 2011. The team completed a research project on pre-diabetes and designed a robot that performed four health-related missions.


Marion Pines, Director of the Sar Levitan Center for Social Policy Studies, John Hopkins University will Present “Lessons in Implementation”

February 11, 2011

Marion Pines will speak at the Brown Bag Lecture Series sponsored by University of Maryland Research Park Affiliate, Optimal Solutions Group (Optimal) on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 from 12 to 1 p.m.


UMD’s Public Health Dean Robert Gold Speaks at Annual Meeting

February 10, 2011

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal), hosted University of Maryland (UMD) School of Public Health Dean Robert Gold at its Annual Meeting on Thursday, February 3. The annual meeting focused on establishing goals, generating ideas and providing a framework for Optimal to meet its objectives by providing information, expertise, workshops, and training for its staff.


Panel Discussion on Multidisciplinary Approaches in Crime Prevention Marks First Real-Time Seminar

February 7, 2011

University of Maryland alumnus Dr. Calvin Johnson of the Court Services & Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) led Optimal Solutions Group, LLC’s (Optimal’s) first Real-Time Policy Seminar with his presentation, “Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics in Criminal Justice: Assessing the Risk of Failure While Under Community Supervision,” on Friday, February 4. Dr. Johnson explained how CSOSA uses predictive analytics from a […]


Real-Time Seminar: Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics in Criminal Justice

February 1, 2011

University of Maryland alumnus Dr. Calvin Johnson of the Court Services & Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) will kick off Optimal Solutions Group, LLC’s (Optimal’s) Real-Time Policy Seminar Series with a presentation entitled “Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics in Criminal Justice: Assessing the Risk of Failure While Under Community Supervision.” He will discuss the convergence of business intelligence tools and research […]


Optimal presents at International SME Networking and Clustering (SNC) Project Conference

February 1, 2011

In Turkey, The Ministry of Economy is implementing a project named the SME Networking and Clustering (SNC) Project supported by the EU during the period from February 2011 to November 2013.


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