• 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 Celebrates Earth Day

April 22, 2016

Earth Day began as a way to raise awareness for environmental issues such as pollution and deforestation, but now Earth Day is an annual event that celebrates and demonstrates support for environmental protection. 


Optimal to Provide Evaluation Support for NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership Business-to-Business Network Pilots

September 29, 2015

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) was recently awarded a contract by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support the evaluation of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Business-to-Business Network Pilot Project, which consists of ten total sites.


Optimal Observes Medicare’s 50th Anniversary

July 24, 2015

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) observed Medicare’s 50th anniversary in July of 2015. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the insurance program for retired persons into the Social Security Act on July 30, 1965. Since then, Medicare has included benefits for speech, physical, and chiropractic therapy; benefits for younger […]


Nutrition expert visits Optimal to discuss healthy living

April 20, 2015

In an effort to underscore the importance of healthy living and staying active, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) encourages its employees to keep moving and provides opportunities for staff to expand their knowledge outside their subject matter. Earlier this year, Optimal held a WalkFit contest, for which groups of staff members “walked” to San Salvador, El Salvador.


Optimal staffers pitch in for worthy causes

November 13, 2014

2014 was a big year for reaching out to communities near and far for Optimal staffers.


Fair trade: resistance to and collusion with the free market

November 10, 2014

Optimal’s Research Analyst Kelsye Turner will be giving a brown bag presentation on fair trade at noon on November 12, 2014.


Bridging the gap between art and science

October 16, 2014

The office of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences (CPNAS) is hosting an exhibition of a selection of Dr. Ben Shneiderman’s treemap works.


USAID Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project work in 22 countries

October 6, 2014

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) started the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP) in 2011 with the goal of providing assistance to developing countries.


Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is Awarded CMS Learning System Data Management Contract Real-Time Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting

July 29, 2014

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)’s Learning and Diffusion Group (LDG) awarded Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) the Learning System Data Management (LSDM) Project. Under this project, Optimal is developing a system for standardizing and collecting learning event data from each CMMI’s healthcare innovation models to meet Government Performance and Results […]


Year 3 Evaluation Report for the U.S. SBA’s Regional Cluster Initiative

July 22, 2014

This year marks the fourth year of the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Regional Cluster Initiative pilot program.


Evaluation Report for the U.S. SBA’s Regional Cluster Initiative

July 22, 2014

This year marks the fourth year of the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Regional Cluster Initiative pilot program.


Performance review report released of USAID youth-centered project in Armenia

January 31, 2014

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has struggled to regain political, social, and economic stability.


Release of results for final USAID evaluation of PRICE project

January 13, 2014

Poverty has afflicted Bangladesh since its independence in 1971. Since then, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has designed and implemented projects to promote private-enterprise development and employment generation. These previous USAID-funded projects had the same goals of 1) strengthening product, market development, and market linkages; 2) promoting economy-wide and sector-level reforms; and 3) increasing lending to target firms. […]


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.


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