Medical supply company finds growth with Florida PTAC at USF

SurgiShop of Hillsborough County

Nicholas Derian, chief operating officer at SurgiShop in Tampa, is looking forward to what the future holds for the company. Started in 2018, SurgiShop is a third party endomechanical disposable surgical distribution company.

“We understand that a lot of businesses have a difficult time sourcing additional inventory and that is always a challenging time when it comes to the bottom line,” Derian said. “We want to come in and provide additional savings value.”

While business is good, the executives are always looking for more opportunities to increase sales. That search is what led Derian to work with the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance (PTAC) at University of South Florida, and procurement specialist, Karen Krymski.

“We had heard through many different sources that they were just an amazing amount of resources for small businesses that were interested in getting into different avenues of business through the government or through different agencies,” he said.

When the company began working with Krymski, Derian admits that SurgiShop executives had a basic understanding of some of the requirements and prerequisites for government contracting, but was struggling with breaking into the industry.

“I think one of the biggest helps that Karen has had is she’s really taking much more of a partnership approach with us,” he said. Krymski taught Derian how to identify federal customers, informed him of how they buy and build relationships and taught him how to find the appropriate point person in each agency and how to approach them. In addition, she discussed how to develop a Capabilities Statement and provided guidance on updating the website to make it more government-friendly.

Since they began working together, SurgiShop has locked in one of its first Veterans Administration clients, and hopes to continue building momentum. “Moving forward with PTAC at USF and Karen, I hope to really accomplish working with additional sectors of the government,” Derian said. “The next adventure is the DLA.” As a result of the company’s growth, they’ve added two employees as well.

Regardless of future growth, he plans on keeping the Florida PTAC at USF and Krymski at his side as the company works to garner additional contracts and continue learning about the industry.

“If you don’t know where to go or if you have had relatively unsuccessful trials and tribulations, reach out to a PTAC consultant because it was so smooth, so simple, and so easy,” he said. “They provide you with the foundation and really assist and help you through the process.”