text: After 20 years in business, Klimer Platforms Ltd. discovered the beauty of government and corporate contracting. “If you’re smart, that’s the way you’ll choose to go,” says Kristie Valentine, assistant general manager of the Canton-based company.
  Finding out about the opportunities was the easy part. Completing all the paperwork, insuring all support documents were in place, meeting deadlines and providing superior customer service was the tough part.
  “Kristie & Klimer is a great client to work with,” says Rich Delisio, OU PTAC specialist based in Akron. “Assisting their efforts is a great example of how our OU PTAC team works. During the counseling process, I was able to access the legal and resource advice available from our director Sharon Hopkins, along with all my other OU colleagues and SBA partners for the benefit of this company.”
  “Anytime I was panicking, I called Rich,” Kristie said of Akron PTAC specialist Rich Delisio. “If I hadn’t had his help, I never could have done it.”
  The company’s first foray into the procurement arena was to custom-manufacture a mast climber, commonly known as hydraulic and electric scaffolding, for northeast Ohio Babcock & Wilcox. The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) is a leading, international provider of energy products and services as well as a premier advanced technology and mission critical defense contractor. “That’s where we have expertise,” Kristie says, “custom solutions.”
  With that success under their belt, Klimer tackled a more lucrative project at a NASA facility in Alabama. Problems with paperwork nearly derailed Klimer’s involvement with the project. Again, Rich was able to help. “Thanks to Rich, we were able to get the right small business designation and then everything moved forward,” Kristie says. “We’ve already submitted the first invoice.”
  “Our customers tell us they are very impressed,” Kristie says. “They’ll be coming back.”
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  © Copyright 2021 Appalachian Ohio Procurement Technical Assistance Center at Ohio University's Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Service.
  This procurement technical assistance center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency.