• 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
Optimal Approved to Join GSA’s Program Evaluation Services Subgroup

November 6, 2023

Optimal is proud to announce its approval to join the General Services Administration’s (GSA) exclusive program evaluation subgroup. This achievement shows Optimal’s expertise in evaluating complex multisite programs, government demonstrations, pilots, and initiatives. GSA’s Program Evaluation Subgroup allows Federal agencies to give solicitations to contractors with expertise in program evaluation. It provides contractors access to large Federal investments in program […]


Optimal’s CEO, Mark Turner, Joins the National Data Science Alliance Education and Workforce Committee to Advance Data Science at HBCUs

November 1, 2023

Optimal’s President and CEO, Dr. Mark Turner, has joined the National Data Science Alliance (NDSA) Education and Workforce Committee. The committee aims to advance the field of data science across Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It is recognized for its commitment to fostering equitable opportunities in the data science arena. The NDSA is a national consortium of individuals and […]




Archived Press Releases
Optimal Runner-up in Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge

January 30, 2018

The State of Ohio moved forward with an $8 million dollar technology challenge to help in addressing our nation’s opioid abuse epidemic. Ohio currently spends $1 billion annually in this battle. To help advance innovation in this area, the State launched a three-phase challenge to find solutions in “opioid abuse prevention, treatment and overdose avoidance and response.”


Optimal Solutions Group Supports SBA’s Office of Performance Management and Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) in Program Evaluation Efforts

September 27, 2017

Optimal is pleased to announce that it has received a contract from the Small Business Administration’s Office of Performance Management and Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) to support their program evaluation efforts.


Optimal Solutions Group Appraised at CMMI Level 3 – Services

September 20, 2017

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC today announced that it has been appraised at level 3 for Services (SVC) 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. An appraisal at maturity level 3 […]


CMS Approves Optimal’s Authority to Operate

August 17, 2017

Optimal is pleased to announce that it has received its second Authority to Operate (ATO) from the Acting CIO and Director of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) at CMS for the Learning System Data Management (LSDM) Data Management, Analysis and Reporting System (DMARS) system.


2017 NCES DC Stats Conference: Using Tableau for Displaying Percentile and Regional Data Maps from NAEP Assessments

August 2, 2017

Dr. Brian Cramer and Rahul Rathi, along with Ebony Walton of NCES, presented on using Tableau for displaying percentile and regional data maps from NAEP assessments at the 2017 NCES DC-Stats in Washington, DC on August 2.


UMD’s human-computer interaction lab launched 34th annual symposium

May 25, 2017

The Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) hosted its 34th Annual Symposium on May 25, 2017, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The HCIL symposium was founded in 1983 with a mission to transform the experience people have with new technologies. Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) has been a long-term sponsor for this gathering of innovative thinkers.


International Education Progress Reporting Website Launched

March 9, 2017

Optimal is pleased to announce the launch of the public version of USAID 2011-2015 Education Strategy Progress Report website. The website serves as a public access point for data and documentation used by the USAID Office of Education to measure progress towards the targets of the 2011-2015 USAID Education Strategy. The public version of the website details results and accomplishments […]


Land Tenure and Green Growth

March 7, 2017

Green growth is the process of fostering economic growth and development while still maintaining our natural resources. Green growth entails investment and innovation, by way of technology, giving rise to new economic opportunities. The environment must be sustained in the process of green growth. Rodney Schmidt, Ph.D. discussed the history and concept of green growth while examining green growth policy […]


Optimal publishes Child and Adult Care Food Program Assessment of Sponsor Tiering Determination for 2015

February 21, 2017

Optimal Solutions recently released the Annual Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Sponsor Tiering Determination Assessment as part of its contract through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that was awarded in 2015.


The Benefits of Nutrition Investments for Older Adult Health

February 16, 2017

Research suggest that more than half of community-dwelling older adults in America are at risk of malnutrition as a result of poor health outcomes. Erika Rogan, a PhD candidate in Health Policy and Management at Yale University, spoke with Optimal staffers to provide a deeper look into the relationship between nutrition investments and health outcomes.


USAID Approves Optimal’s Authority to Operate

January 20, 2017

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) is pleased to announce that it has received an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the Chief Information Officer at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Secondary Analysis for Results Tracking Education (SART-Ed) system.


Optimal Supports APPAM as a Silver Sponsor

November 1, 2016

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) will hold its annual Fall Research Conference in Washington, D.C., on November 3–5, 2016.


Tackling Technical Debt: Carolyn Seaman, Ph.D.

July 19, 2016

Optimal’s Analytics team recently attended an in-house lecture given by Dr. Carolyn Seaman, who inspired the staff to think more deeply about the software they currently use to prevent accumulating “technical debt.”


Optimal partners with National Women’s Business Council to launch new site

June 30, 2016

Women business owners now have access to a web-based database that offers a wealth of information on everything they need to start and grow a business. Aptly named Grow Her Business, the site and database was recently launched by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) with assistance from Optimal Solutions, a public policy and research firm.


Optimal to Speak at 15th Annual DOE SB Event

May 18, 2016

The Forum will house over 600 attendees that will represent all levels of federal, state, local government agencies, the small business community, and large;and prime contractors.


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