MINE HILL, NJ ---What’s in a name?  Just ask Aimee Oliva, the owner of M2 Enterprises LLC., and she’ll tell you firsthand.

When she started her business out of her home in 2002, the emphasis was totally on electrical contracting and thus the name of the company at the time was M2 Electric LLC.

By 2004, M2 Electric LLC became a U.S. Small Business Administration Certified 8(a) company. The program gives small business owners access to contracts from the federal government.  To qualify for the program, a small business must be owned and controlled by a socially and economically disadvantaged individual belonging to a minority group.  As a Hispanic-American, Oliva qualified to participate in SBA’s 8(a) Contracting Program.

According to SBA New Jersey District Director Alfred Titone, participants of the program are eligible to be considered for sole-source contracts up to $4 million for services and $5.5 million for manufacturing.  Contracts higher than those amounts must be bid on competitively amongst 8(a) firms.

Along the way, Oliva realized in order to stay competitive in the marketplace she needed to add general contracting and office renovations to the list of services her company provided.  As the company began to grow, Oliva moved the office out of her home and into a small space in Landing in 2005.  She eventually became a dealer for several office furniture lines and last October she opened a showroom, warehouse and office in Mine Hill. While she was successful in getting projects based on recommendations and competitive quotes, she had no luck in marketing her new services to the federal government.

All that changed  in October of 2010 when Oliva met with her SBA Business Development Specialist Rosa Rodriguez.  She asked Rodriguez how she could market her new products and services.  It was obvious to Rodriguez that the old company name M2 Electric was probably confusing buyers at federal agencies, thinking the company only specialized in providing electrical contracting services.

So Rodriguez suggested that Oliva change the company name to M2 Enterprises LLC.  Within a week she had the name change.  Her marketing team then went to work on changing the company logo and developing a new website.  By February of 2011, she came a across a request for a quote from www.FedBizOpps.gov, a database that advertises federal business opportunities, solicitations, synopses and award notices.  Rodriguez then went to work for Oliva and sent out a search letter to the contract specialist at Picatinny Arsenal.  Shortly after, Oliva secured a contract worth $226,380 to purchase office furniture and provide the installation.  Then in July of 2011 M2 Enterprises received another contract worth $250,000 to do an office renovation project at Picatinny Arsenal.

Today, the firm has 10 employees with a promise to hire more.  The company’s annual sales are now in excess of $1 million.  “The assistance and guidance that Rosa Rodriguez provided me has been instrumental to M2 Enterprises new growth,” said Oliva.  “The advice to put all our services under one name never occurred to me.  I am grateful not only for the advice, but for the extra effort Rosa and the SBA put forth in helping us secure those two contracts in 2011."We want to build on what we achieve in 2011 through the 8(a) program. Without a doubt it has been out best year in the program since the company became certified in 2004."
 
“Sometimes a small business owner, like Aimee Oliva, needs just a little guidance and advice on how to move their company forward,” said Titone.  “Even a simple suggestion like changing your company name can mean the difference of being awarded a government contract or watching opportunities pass you by.”

For Aime Oliva and M2 Enterprises LLC, the company name change opened doors to new opportunities that weren’t available earlier. “It’s what I’d like to call a game changer,” said Titone. “Sometimes that’s all it takes.”