Los Angeles County is the largest and most layered public procurement market in California. GERC helps businesses and nonprofits here register, certify, position and bid — and we do the work rather than just advising on it.
Guidance is not the same as implementation
A great deal of free advice exists for businesses that want to sell to government. Workshops, guides, counselling sessions, webinars. What is scarce is somebody who will actually complete the registration, prepare the certification application, write the capability statement and submit the proposal.
That is what GERC does. We are a hands-on implementation firm, not a general business consultancy. You can get told what to do in a lot of places; we do it with you.
Why Los Angeles is more complicated than other markets
Most regions have one local certification system to think about. Los Angeles has several, operating simultaneously, and they are separate from each other and from the state’s programme.
- Los Angeles County runs its own vendor registration, and its Office of Small Business operates county-level small business certifications.
- The City of Los Angeles is separate again. Its Bureau of Contract Administration administers city certifications including Small Business Enterprise, Minority and Women Business Enterprise, Emerging Business Enterprise and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise.
- Los Angeles World Airports operates its own Local Business Enterprise and Local Small Business Enterprise programme for airport contracting.
- The Port of Los Angeles runs its own contracting process, as does the Port of Long Beach.
- Transit, schools and utilities — the regional transit authority, the school district and the water and power utility are each major buyers with their own registration requirements.
Being certified by the State of California does not automatically certify you with any of these. That surprises almost everyone, and it is the single most common reason a business is eligible on paper but invisible in practice.
What this means for you
The right answer is rarely to register everywhere. It is to identify which two or three of these buyers actually purchase what you sell, and to complete those registrations and certifications properly. We work that out first, then do it.
Services most used in this market
- Government contracting support — working out which agencies are worth pursuing
- SAM.gov registration for federal work and federal grant eligibility
- California SB, Micro, SB-PW and DVBE certification, which several local programmes recognise or run alongside
- Capability statements — essential in a market this size, where buyers screen quickly
- Proposal and RFP writing
- Grant writing for the county’s large nonprofit and community sector
The sequence we take clients through
- Register — SAM.gov for federal work, Cal eProcure for California, plus the local agency portals that matter in your market
- Certify — California SB, Micro, SB-PW and DVBE, federal socio-economic programmes, and the local certifications that carry preference where you bid
- Position — a capability statement a contracting officer can act on, and codes chosen for the work you want
- Pursue — proposals and RFP responses, and grant applications where funding rather than contracting is the route
- Maintain — renewals and ongoing compliance, because eligibility lapses quietly
How we work with you
Most of what we do is delivered remotely, by phone and video, because registrations, applications and proposals are built from documents rather than site visits. Where an in-person meeting genuinely helps — a kickoff, a proposal review, a board presentation — we travel from our San Bernardino office.
Common questions
Do I need city and county certification, or just one?
It depends on who buys what you sell. They are genuinely separate systems with separate applications. We establish which apply to you before any paperwork starts, because completing the wrong one is a real cost.
Are you local to Los Angeles?
Our office is in San Bernardino, roughly an hour away, and we work with Los Angeles County clients regularly. Most of the work is remote; we travel when a meeting genuinely helps.
Is the market too competitive for a small firm?
It is competitive, and it also has more small business and local preference programmes than anywhere else in the region — which exist precisely because agencies are required to award work to smaller firms. Certification is what puts you in that pool.
Schedule a Consultation
- Call (909) 454-7076 — the fastest route. Monday to Friday.
- Book a consultation — pick a time that suits you.
- Email us about Los Angeles County — opens a message already titled, so it reaches the right person.
If you only want to know whether you need this at all, ask. There is no charge for that conversation.
GERC is a woman-led advisory firm led by Dr. Shirley Ayangbah, a PhD legal economist with more than 14 years of experience. Registered in SAM.gov under CAGE code 11SD2, certified as a California Small Business (Micro) and for Public Works. NAICS 541611, 541618 and 541690.