The RTP for HUBs program has trained more than 200 business owners. It receives support from Travis County, the City of Austin and Capital Metro.
Published March 10, 2025
Since its launch in 2021, the Readiness Training Program for Historically Underutilized Businesses (RTP for HUBs) has trained more than 200 small business owners in the art and science of landing government contracts. The program operates with little fanfare: no flashy marketing, no public graduation, no fancy course materials. But for participants, this quiet program has been transformative — helping business owners understand how to find contract jobs, sharpen their messaging, get smarter about financing, and feel more confident about competing for government contracts.
Expanding Access and Competition
Each year, state and local governments pay millions of dollars to companies that keep our public agencies and communities running. These companies provide a myriad of goods and services like tech consulting, construction of facilities and roadways, catering, office cleaning, and products for public safety and health services. (The State of Texas awarded $35 billion in contracts in 2024.)
It’s easy to understand how the public contracting process might reward the same, established firms over and over. To combat this natural bias, and increase opportunity for smaller, less established companies including those owned by women and minorities, the State of Texas established the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program in 1991.
Jorge Anchondo, an RTP for HUBs program consultant, explained: “The Statewide HUB Program was created to promote “full and equal” procurement opportunities for small and minority- and women-owned businesses. This is not a ‘set-aside program’, where government reserves a portion of a contract for a specific group of businesses. It’s simply a goal-setting program.”
The Statewide HUB Program and those for local governments also are designed to produce tangible financial benefits for taxpayers. Creating a larger pool of qualified bidders and more bids for each contract has proven to lower contracting costs, increase the efficiency of public purchasing, and improve government productivity. The RTP at its core is designed to increase competition by creating more small businesses who can provide a product or service.
Meeting A Need
It’s one thing for state and local governments to set goals; it’s another to have enough qualified applicants — strong businesses, with strong applications that can compete successfully in a competitive bid process. And that’s where the RTP for HUBs program comes in — providing technical assistance to strengthen small businesses.
Landing a government contract can be a pivotal moment in the trajectory of a small company. “The most expensive thing a small business does is exist another month — paying salaries, benefits, and other fixed expenses,” said Gregory Pogue, IC² Deputy Director and the brains behind previous training programs at the Institute. “The faster companies develop revenue pipelines, the more focused they can be on their craft and becoming impactful to the local economy. The RTP for the HUBs program gives owners the tools, know-how, and network to build their pipeline.”
How The Program Works
The RTP is divided into two “funnels”: Funnel One, aimed at newer, smaller companies; Funnel Two, aimed at more established small businesses with over $500K in annual revenue. Through a handful of online learning sessions, invited experts teach participants how to find bid opportunities, how to assemble a proposal, how to use local resources like SCORE and Small Business Development Centers, how to develop their “elevator pitch”, how to prepare a capability statement. Program staff keep the curriculum current by adding classes like “AI Tools for Small Businesses.”
Networking with other participants is an added benefit. Rachel Gray, owner of local civil engineering firm Miller Gray, and an RTP for HUBs graduate, explained, “I met with a few members of my cohort over coffee … This enhanced the lessons we learned as we could discuss the curriculum together, but, more importantly, it established working relationships with my peers to continue the discussion in the realm of teaming and winning work.”
In collaboration with the Travis County Purchasing Office and HUB Program, the RTP also offers construction contractors workshops on how to meet bond requirements and expand bonding capacity. These workshops are especially timely since the Austin region is experiencing substantial public construction bid opportunities.
Who Participates?
Jorge Anchondo and James Jarrett enjoy helping participants from a variety of industries build new skills and build their capacity.
To be eligible, applicants must have a product or service that is regularly purchased by government agencies in the Austin region. (That means most small consumer businesses such as food trucks, insurance firms, and yoga studios are ineligible.)
“We always have construction companies, tech consulting businesses, small engineering firms, architects, said James Jarrett, the program co-principal investigator/program director. “And we frequently have lawn and garden services, electricians, trucking companies, facility maintenance businesses, marketing and public relations-oriented small businesses.”
In assembling each cohort, program staff look for companies in industries that are in demand by local government purchasing offices. They also prioritize companies that demonstrate a track record in providing their product or service, have a strong website, and are interested in obtaining new skills and information about public contracting.
Jarrett described a typical participant: “Let’s say a business has had a lot of clients in the private sector. That small business may want to diversify but doesn’t know how to seek government contracts. Maybe they don’t understand the bidding process, are overwhelmed by the proposal requirements or simply don’t understand which databases they need to get on. That is a good company for us — as are small businesses just starting out who want to concentrate on the public sector market.”
Program Impact
The RTP for HUBs currently receives primary funding from the Travis County Commissioners Court — Commissioner Jeff Travilion is a strong advocate for the program (and often presents opening session remarks.) Capital Metro and the City of Austin provide supplemental funding, and the UT-Austin HUB Program and other state and local government agencies are frequent presenters. The fact that these agencies continue to renew their funding and involvement is a testament to the program’s success and continuing need for qualified bidders.
Graduates praise the program for its comprehensive, confidence-building approach. “These sessions opened up a whole new world for me,” said one graduate. Another said, “I learned I can rise as a HUB and actually get in the government contracting game. I learned how to read and write RFP’s and scopes of work. This class really gave me confidence.”
Among the program’s greatest benefits is the introduction to other small business resources: “I learned that help is available to us. I called SCORE immediately and received a mentor in 48 hours.” Another benefit: helping business owners refine their value proposition.
“As a digital marketing agency, we tend to be generalists, so when asked what we do, we have a ‘we do it all’ mentality. But this program made me rethink our company positioning. Instead of being a ‘we do it all’ marketing agency, we will focus on highlighting our specialty, influencer marketing.” -RTP for HUBs graduate
Building on the IC² Legacy
John Sibley Butler, director of the Institute from 2002 to 2013 and RTP principal investigator/program director, thinks the RTP continues in the IC² Institute tradition: “Scholarship and training are central to the mission of the Institute. We cut our teeth on high tech, and now we have the opportunity to do something for all kinds of enterprises.”
Butler, Anchondo and Jarrett believe in their mission of opportunity creation, the importance of removing barriers to business entry, and the benefits of increased competition in public contracting. Butler summed it up: “The more businesses the better, and the better the businesses, the better. That’s really the underpinning of our program.”
Learn More
Visit the RTP for HUBs website.
For more information or to make an application contact James Jarrett.