SBA launches contracting course

The Small Business Administration has added an online tutorial on winning federal contracts to its educational offerings for small businesses.

The offering, "Business Opportunities: A Guide to Winning Federal Contracts," is free and self-paced. It is available through the SBA Web site.

According to SBA officials, the 30-minute tutorial is applicable to all small businesses, but is especially geared toward woman-owned firms and companies in markets that have historically had difficulty getting into the federal market.

It covers contracting rules and ideas for finding suitable contracting opportunities, according to SBA. Small business advocates say that companies often don't know how best to market themselves or what kinds of opportunities are worth taking the risk of competing for.

Business owners will learn how to register in the Central Contractor Registration database and find more than 40 links to contracting resources.