B.I.D. Academy · CED Tarrant County · Waitlist
Next cohort: dates to be announced
The Business In Development (B.I.D.) Academy is a free nine-week program from PVAMU Extension that gets your business ready to win real contracts.
You don't have to know the exact dates to get in line. Add your name and we'll email you the moment the next cohort opens — before the public announcement.
What the B.I.D. Academy is
The Business In Development (B.I.D.) Academy is a free, nine-week program from PVAMU Extension in Tarrant County for people building a business in North Texas. Wherever you are, from an idea to an operation already taking orders, the Academy meets you there.
Tarrant County, the City of Fort Worth, the City of Arlington, area school districts, colleges, and dozens of other public and private institutions buy goods and services every day. Landscaping, catering, IT, consulting, construction, printing, training, design. Most of that work businesses here already do well. What stops owners is everything that comes before the bid: the registrations, the codes, the insurance thresholds, the pricing formats, and learning to read a solicitation without missing the requirement buried on page eleven. That is what the Academy walks you through, session by session, using a real solicitation from a real North Texas buyer.
You leave with the Vendor Readiness File
The working portfolio a buyer or partner asks for:
- A capability statement
- Your business codes and SAM.gov registration
- A completed CMBL registration
- An insurance and compliance checklist
- A cost model and defensible pricing sheet
- A ninety-day cash flow plan
- A Master Services Agreement
- A full proposal draft
You also earn a Certificate of Completion from Prairie View A&M University Extension and free registration for Grow With Google.
Here is the part that holds even if you never submit a bid. A business that knows its numbers, has its paperwork in order, and can deliver on a promise is a stronger business on Monday morning whether or not a contract shows up. Contracting is the goal. Building something that lasts is the point.
Part of something statewide
The B.I.D. Academy is local, but it is not standing alone. PVAMU Extension places Community and Economic Development agents across Texas, and CED Tarrant County is one of them. Statewide, entrepreneurs who have worked with PVAMU Extension's community and economic development programming have won more than $9.2 million in contracts. When you join the Academy in Tarrant County, you are plugging into that statewide network — the agents, the training, and the track record — delivered locally and for free.
Why join
- It is free, and there is no signup wall to get help.
- You leave with a finished Vendor Readiness File, not notes. Real documents a buyer, bank, or prime can act on the next day.
- You learn from working professionals: attorneys, accountants, bankers, marketers, procurement specialists, and business owners from across North Texas.
- You earn a Certificate of Completion from Prairie View A&M University Extension and free Grow With Google registration.
- You can build solo, or team up as one prime with two or three subcontractors, to bid work you could not win alone.
- The cohort does not end at graduation. You finish with founders who know your business and an open door back to your CED agent.
How joining works
- 1Add your name to the waitlist — that's this page, and it takes a minute.
- 2We email you when dates are set, before the public announcement.
- 3You complete registration and the photo release, then get your cohort hub link.
- 4You show up. Nine weeks, one deliverable at a time, free of charge.
Good to know
- The waitlist is a place in line, not a seat. Cohort seats are limited. We contact people in order, and enrollment is only complete after you register and sign the photo release.
- Dates may shift. Any timeframe shown is our best projection, not a commitment.
- Your information stays with staff. We use it to contact you about the Academy. It is not published, sold, or shared with vendors.
- You can leave any time. Use the personal link we email you, or ask us to remove you.
Still have a question?
Add it to the “A question for us” box on the sign-up form and we'll answer by email — or reach Chelsé Lilly, M.S., EA-PV-CED directly.
Not joining the cohort — here to help?
This page is only for people who want to go through the Academy. Partners, speakers, facilitators, sponsors, donors, and volunteers sign up somewhere else so nothing gets mixed up.
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Download the QR code or a ready-to-print flyer, or open the big-screen version for a table or projector.
https://cedtarrantcountyextension.com/bid/waitlist