Qualification for federal grant funding through the TAA program is a 3-Phase process. As an applicant, SETAAC will work closely with you, providing guidance through each phase for optimum success:
Phase 1: CERTIFICATION
SETAAC assists your firm — at NO COST— with applying for qualification. We review your company history, analyze qualification levels, and prepare and submit a “petition” that is reviewed by the EDA for certification to participate in the TAAF program. The time frame for an EDA decision is typically 30-40 days from the date the petition is submitted.
Phase 2: RECOVERY PLAN
Once certified, a SETAAC project manager will visit your firm to get your ideas and issues out on the table. They will work with you to create a formal Adjustment Plan (AP) — a customized strategy designed to help your business grow and prosper by implementing mission-critical projects. This AP is submitted to EDA for approval and they typically make a decision within 30 days.
Proposed projects included in your AP can include (but are not limited to) marketing, export assistance, manufacturing certification, product development, plant layout, ERP and production software installation, cost systems, the preparation of business plans, and financial restructuring.
Approval of the AP usually takes two to three weeks. Costs for completing Phase 2 are shared between you and SETAAC, with SETAAC paying 75% and your firm paying just 25%.
Phase 3: IMPLEMENTATION
With your Adjustment Plan approved, SETAAC then helps you find and manage resources while helping to fund customized, business-boosting projects. You have five years to spend out your award. Because the program is based on available funding, funds are on a first come-first served basis. Typically, funding is reserved for new clients entering the program and firms that are already certified are able to complete one or two mission-critical projects each year.
• SETAAC pays 75% of awards totaling up to $30,000
• SETAAC pays 50% of awards totaling over $30,000 up to $150,000
Private consultants and contractors perform the adjustment plan work; we have to maintain objectivity throughout the AP analysis, so we do not perform the actual implementation of projects. We have an extensive database of service professionals with proven-effective expertise in all functional areas.
If you don’t have a consultant in mind, we can assist in writing and issuing RFPs to SETAAC-approved, private-sector consultants in order to secure quotes and service options that best fit project needs and budget. If you have a consultant that you would like to work with, please let us know—you have the final consultant selection rights.
Finally, we take care of the writing, contracting and paperwork processing on your behalf, and also monitor project implementation along the way to help ensure the program — and your firm — achieve success!
According to TAAF rules and guidelines, we are required to use our program contracts (in this case, Georgia Tech contracts). Clients should never sign contracts with the consultant as they may contradict with our contracts. Consultant proposals should be submitted to us in order to begin the contracting process. Once contracts are signed, work can begin! We try to encourage monthly progress billing which enables us to certify that the client is satisfied with the results. The consultant sends an invoice addressed to us for 50% of the charges, and the other 50% to the client firm.
Please note that the program does not allow us to pay anything directly to a client, so please adhere to our policies as we cannot reimburse funds to a client that has paid for fees outside of the contract.