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Founder and President of Keystone Resources Julie Irvin taught a crowd of local vendors the tips and tricks to creating a successful proposal for HISD.

Irvin said most businesses are unaware of the great resources available to them via the HISD website or the subscriber emails sent by the HISD Business Assistance department.

“HISD has all of these golden opportunities for small businesses, but they’re not able to meet the goals simply because businesses don’t put in a proposal because they don’t know what to do,” said Irvin.

Using computer screenshots, Irvin outlined to attendees each step of the proposal process. Although Irvin said the paperwork can be tedious, she stressed the importance of following instructions within the packet and ensuring each requirement is met, so all work isn’t in vain.

“It breaks my heart when people spend so much time and they forget to sign the forms,” said Irvin. “That’s how proposals get thrown out.”

One of the most common issues is that individuals don’t start early enough. Irvin says most people don’t take into consideration the time investment it takes to create proposals effectively.

At the close of her presentation, Irvin said she hoped her audience would gain information about what HISD seeks in a vendor and also learn to customize their proposal to fit HISDs requirements and win a bid.

Gretchen Lawler, an employee of G&A Partners, said she and her co-worker attended the workshop to see what it was about and learn more about working with HISD when creating a proposal.

“It’s a lot of work,” Lawler said. “You definitely want to follow the rules, which is probably the number one thing that I learned.”

The free monthly event is held on the first Wednesday of each month. Topics covered vary and are targeted to provide relevant information and assistance to minority- and women-owned companies interested in doing business with the district.

For more information on upcoming workshops and networking opportunities, contact the Business Assistance Supplier Diversity office at 713-556-7273 or businessassistance@houstonisd.org