Press Releases – Optimal Solutions Group

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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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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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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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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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

FAR Part 10 Reform: What Government Buyers and Contractors Need to Know

September 10, 2025

Optimal has released a new white paper analyzing the sweeping reforms underway in federal procurement. Driven by Executive Order 14275, the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) is the first comprehensive rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation since 1984. This paper explores the major changes to FAR Part 10 (Market Research), including: The white paper also highlights key implementation timelines, transition strategies, […]

Leveraging Agentic AI to Support Small Businesses Amid SBA Resource Partner Cuts

September 8, 2025

Optimal has released a new white paper, Resilient Assistance: Using Agentic AI to Empower Small Businesses Amid Resource Partner Cuts. The paper examines how intelligent AI-driven assistants can fill critical gaps in technical assistance as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) faces proposed workforce reductions of approximately 43% and the elimination of funding for key entrepreneurial development programs, including Women’s […]

Archived Press Releases

Optimal Professional Development Series: Dr. Heidi Golding Discusses the Prevalence of PTSD in the Military

March 25, 2010

Dr. Heidi Golding, principal analyst in the National Security Division at the Congressional Budget Office, highlighted her evaluations of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an Optimal Solutions Group’s Professional Development Series Brown Bag Lunch.

Education Streamlined Acquisition Tool (ED-SAT) Awarded

February 19, 2010

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a contractor under its Streamlined Acquisition Tool Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), a research, evaluation and technical assistance contract. ED-SAT provides an expedient way to meet the recurring needs of the U.S. Department of Education by using pre-competed pools of experts. This contracting mechanism presents Optimal […]

UMD Associate Vice President Welcomes Optimal to M Square Research Park

February 17, 2010

As the only public policy research firm in the M Square research park, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC has a unique opportunity to share in UMD’s research mission and vision, according to Brian Darmody, Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development. Mr. Darmody’s opening remarks at Optimal’s annual corporate kickoff meeting in early January conveyed UMD’s enthusiasm at forging a […]

Ruth Sherman Joins Optimal as Associate

January 1, 2010

Ruth Sherman is an Associate in the Health Policy Research Center at Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal). At Optimal, Ms. Sherman provides subject matter expertise and technical assistance for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Program Integrity Manual (PIM) project.

Lane Koenig, Ph.D. Named Senior Associate

January 1, 2010

Dr. Lane Koenig is a Senior Research Associate at Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal). At Optimal, Dr. Koenig provides senior-level oversight to Health Policy Research Center projects and activities. He leads the analysis and testing activities for the Development, Implementation, and Maintenance of Quality Measures for Hospital Outpatient Departments and Ambulatory Surgical Centers project. In addition, he serves as a […]

Optimal Receives Program Support Center IDIQ Task Order Contract from DHHS

February 25, 2009

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has received designation as a contractor for the Program Support Center (PSC) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quality (IDIQ) Task Order contract to provide services to the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies. Services contemplated under this contract are to include policy assessments/analysis, program assessments, evaluation design studies and data collection, performance measurements, technical assistance/expertise, […]

Survey non-response bias, power analysis, and external validity

January 1, 1970

Public policy research is dependent on efficient data collection, which is often thwarted by non-respondents or a low response rate.

Optimal Studies Employment Clusters for Low-Skilled Workers

January 1, 1970

In June 2006, Optimal Solutions Group (Optimal) was awarded a grant from the Ford Foundation to perform analysis leading to the identification of employment clusters for low-skilled workers. The grant requires Optimal researchers to utilize past research in the field to create customized models for a maximum of five metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with the highest need for intervention. The […]

Occupation-specific Collaboration Among Local Stakeholders Key to Energizing Baltimore’s Economic Growth, New Study Finds

January 1, 1970

Even before the current economic crisis hit the United States, the decline of domestic manufacturing, the rise of globalization, and increased competition for good jobs had created unprecedented challenges for low-skill American workers. These challenges have disproportionately affected older industrial metropolitan areas such as Baltimore, where the unemployment spiked to 5.8% in December – its highest rate this decade.1 In […]

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