“I am very thankful for PTAC,” says Nancy Miller. In 2016, she sought to obtain the Veteran’s Administration prosthetic contract that would enable her company, Miller Prosthetics & Orthotics, to provide artificial limbs to veterans served by the Clarksburg, West Virginia VA office. At this time, most of the prosthetic contracts were held by large companies located in urban areas, with rural communities primarily being served by Hanger, a large corporation headquartered in Texas. Miller had an office in Parkersburg that could provide the same service closer to home.

Nancy Miller was introduced to Sharon Hopkins, Director of her local PTAC office, who came out to visit the company’s Belpre office. Hopkins worked with Miller to set up and maintained a bid watch to ensure the company would be aware when the next solicitation for contractors was published. She introduced Miller to key people and encouraged her to attend regional business conferences, such as the Ohio Business Matchmaker in Dayton, the Woman’s Chamber of Commerce Conference in Washington DC, and the National VA Small Business Engagement Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Most importantly, Hopkins helped Miller obtain SBA certifications for the company, understand the bid requirements, and organize proposals to ensure they met VA specifications. Hopkins read through and edited all their submissions, from the initial capabilities statement to the VISN 5 Artificial Limbs Solicitation bid. “She has been an invaluable asset in interpreting the 100+ page solicitations and explaining in many cases what they are asking for,“ says Miller of Hopkins. “Without the help of Sharon, I would have missed many of the details.” Although initially unsuccessful, Miller Prosthetics & Orthotics has won three contracts since 2020, most recently in 2023. As Miller describes it, “The March 2023 Solicitation limited awards to 15 contracts. I again was competing with larger companies in Maryland and Washington DC. After 7 ½ years, I was appropriately set up, larger than we were in 2017 and very prepared to win that contract.”