Customer Testimonial - SBA 8(a) and SDB Certification Experts

GIVING HER THE BUSINESS:
Falls Church Women-Owned firm shows working with the Federal Government leads to success

Horizon Consulting Credits EZCertify with Simplifying SBA Certification

Update:
I just wanted to provide you with an update: We are now 8(a) certified after again using the EZCertify software. The process was as simple as the SDB process, and after a few follow-up requests from SBA, we received our certification just as fast.

Thanks again EZCertify for such a terrific product!!

Wanda Alexander runs a fast-growing small business. Ms. Alexander acquired the majority interest in Horizon Consulting, a Falls Church, Va., quality assurance and real estate asset management company specializing in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Direct Endorsement (HUD DE) Program, for $20,000 in September 1995 and became it's Principal, President and CEO. It has since grown from a two-person operation to over 100 employees, 4 locations and was ranked #312 on Inc. Magazine's 2002 list of the fastest growing private companies in American with 714% growth over 5 years, from 1997 to 2002. Horizon has also recently been nominated for an "Ethics in Business" Award, of which they are most pleased.

Horizon is one of the nation's largest minority-owned HUD quality assurance contractors and performs some of the agency's most important work.

So, when it was time for Horizon to obtain certification from the US Small Business Administration (SBA), Ms. Alexander found herself in a bind: certification is vital to Horizon, but extremely time-consuming, frustrating and expensive. How could she balance Horizon's expanding workload with the minutia of filling out the SBA's forms?

According to Ms. Alexander, the answer was "EZ."

"The application process is tedious," Ms. Alexander said. "Collecting the forms, understanding what each form is for, gathering all the information on accounting, taxes, personnel, ownership, etc. are all extremely time-consuming."

Instead, Ms. Alexander used EZCertify and finished Horizon's application in several hours.

"It would've taken months without EZCertify," she said.

In order to qualify for procurement benefits that allow access to billions of dollars in business with the federal government, small businesses must be certified by the SBA. Further, millions more are set aside for small businesses owned by women and minorities who are certified 8(a), another SBA procurement assistance program.

EZCertify.com President Richard J. Otero, Sr., says that many minority and women-owned small business owners are missing the boat.

"The government buys just about everything from almost everybody," Mr. Otero said. "Every agency of our government, in every part of our country, buys services and products from small business owners. In 1999, for example, the federal government bought $55 billion in products and services from small businesses like Horizon Consulting.

"But a tremendous amount of money available to minority and women-owned business - billions of dollars - gets awarded to a handful of large companies each year. Why? Because too few people understand that doing business with the government doesn't have to be a headache."

Otero says that, frequently, business owners who do pursue certification are discouraged by the application process.

"Seventy percent of small business owners who apply for SBA certification do not succeed their first time, sometimes after weeks or months of filling out government forms," he said. "That's why I came up with EZCertify. Business owners can finish their SBA applications in a matter of hours, rather than months - and get it right the first time."

Wanda Alexander agreed.

"Using EZCertify is like having a certification expert asking you all the pertinent questions and taking you step-by-step through the application process," she said. "It's more like being interviewed than filling out a form."

Ms. Alexander said the speedy process directly affected Horizon's bottom line. They needed certification especially fast, since a contract deadline was looming.

"It took less than two weeks from start to certification," she said. "It was easy for the SBA to evaluate and accept our application because our submission was so thorough - thanks to EZCertify."

Today, Horizon is healthy and growing. They've posted double-digit growth for five consecutive years and, last year, exceeded their projected revenues of $3.5 million. Top-level talent and a strong management team makes Horizon's future bright.

Mr. Otero makes a strong claim: if you're a qualified minority business owner, EZCertify guarantees you can be certified.

If it looks like Mr. Otero runs EZCertify like a small business, that's because it is. He offers help and advice to EZCertify customers whenever they need it.

"I've been a small business advocate for a long time and I know what I'm talking about," he said. "We'll help you through the process if you need it, over the phone, online - any way you like." A successful businessman himself, with years of experience, there's nothing Mr. Otero enjoys more than seeing minority and women small business owners succeed.

"It's so wonderful to hear stories like Wanda Alexander's," he said. "Entrepreneurs and small business are the backbone of our economy and - more important than that - they're the American way."

To learn more about Horizon Consulting, visit www.horizon-inc.com.

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