Government Business Development, Capture, & Proposal Certification

OST’s Bid & Proposal Academy provides training and certification for general and specialized Federal business development and proposal professionals alike. We currently offer 16 public courses and 5 certification tracks that will help you achieve a well-rounded knowledge of your respective business development field, whether you’re new to the government contracting industry or a veteran business developer. You can participate in our government proposal training and business development classes from any location via GoToMeeting, join us in person at our Rockville, MD, office, or contact us to get a quote for onsite training.

Our proposal and business development classes are taught by seasoned industry veterans who interweave their personal experiences into an educational framework developed over decades of government market experience. Each course offers a unique mix of information, practical application exercises, and tools appropriate for the topic. You can typically expect to walk away with PowerPoint slides, notes, completed exercises, new tools you can reuse to simplify your job, and ideas from your instructor and peers that you’ll be looking forward to implementing after the class.

Becoming a Certified Business Development Professional

Just like a college degree, each certification we offer through our Bid & Proposal Academy requires a certain number of core, major, and elective courses.  Every certified professional must go through the full, rigorous program to master all fundamental and advanced aspects of their profession and prepare for the real world of business development.

Earn a Professional Certification Through Our Bid & Proposal Academy

We currently offer these five certification tracks:

• Certified Federal Business Developer (CFBD)
• Certified Capture Manager (CCM)
• Certified Proposal Manager (CPM)
• Certified Proposal Coordinator (CPC)
• Certified Proposal Writer (CPW)

Curriculum

Each course in our program consists of 1 or 2 units.  A day of class equals a single unit ( 7 hours of instruction ).  To become certified, you have to take the following courses and an exam designed for your chosen program:

1. 3 Core Classes (6 Units)
   • Foundations of Proposal Management
   • Foundations of Capture Management
   • Writing Persuasive Government Proposals
2. All major classes for the specific certification type (6 units)
3. At least 2 elective classes (4 units)

The matrix below shows the courses available for each certification track.  Each class and track are color-coded to indicate a core class, a major class, or an elective class.  You can learn more about each class”s curriculum on our Schedule of Public Classes page or download our Course Catalogue.

Business development professionals can take courses or earn credits towards certification in several ways:

• Though our Bid & Proposal Academy public workshops.
• Through onsite corporate training provided by OST Global Solutions’ instructors.
• By showing proof of an Association of Proposal Management Professionals’ (APMP) accreditation. (a Foundations accreditation is worth 1 unit, a Practitioner accreditation counts for 2 units, and Professional accreditation counts for 4 units)
• By applying for credit for any class you’ve taken at OST since 2009; both new and previously taken classes may qualify toward the core, major, or elective credits, depending on the course.
• Help you earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) for APMP Accreditation, Professional Development Units,(PDU) for your PMP certification or credits toward other certifications.
• Save money on our professional development classes when you purchase them together rather than attending each class individually.

Investment for the Business Development Certification

When purchased separately, our 2-day classes cost $1,390 (Early Bird Price: $1,250) and our 1-day classes cost $695 (Early Bird: $625). The more economical way to register for a certification track is to pay for all required courses at once. When you do so, a 25% discount will be automatically applied at checkout when you purchase online. (You can also call us to pay with a credit card over the phone, mail a check, transfer money electronically, or request an invoice.)

If your company isn’t covering the cost for you to get certified and you need to pay for courses one-at-a-time, you can register for each required class by the early bird registration deadlines specified on our course pages to save 10%. If you take all classes required for your chosen certification track within 2 years, we will issue your certificate after you complete the final course.

Why You Should Invest in Certification

Our Certification program will:

• Help your organization succeed through higher win rates and greater efficiency, speed and productivity
• Enable you to develop into a more versatile and knowledgeable professional
• Provide faster career progression
• Provide greater job security/help you become more employable, regardless of the state of the economy
• Offer greater recognition for your expertise and authority in the proposal field
• Enhance your resume
• Earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) for your APMP Accreditation, Professional Development Units (PDU) for your PMP certification, or credits toward other certifications

Three Options for Investing in the Business Development Certification

Signing up for one of our certification tracks instead of taking one-off courses will also save you money. By registering for the full certification package at once, you’ll save 25% on the total price for all courses, which normally would cost $1,390 for each 2-day class or $10,320 (early bird registration) to $11,120 (normal registration) for all required courses. If you take advantage of our certification package deal, you’ll have 2 years to complete all classes required for your chosen certification. Register for a Certification Track & Save 25%

To make certification more accessible to all business development professionals, we also offer these savings alternatives:

• 3-Month Payment Option for Bid & Proposal Academy Certification (3 payments of $3,074 each; extra 10% fee applies)
• 6-Month Payment Option for Bid & Proposal Academy Certification (6 payments of $1,606 each; extra 15% fee applies)
• 10% Team Discount (available to companies buying certification tracks for 3+ people at once; automatically applies at checkout)

How You Can Earn Units Towards Your Chosen Certification

Proposal professionals can take courses or earn credits towards certification in the following ways:

• Through OST’s Bid & Proposal Academy public workshops
• Through OST training at your company
• By applying for credit by showing proof of Association of Proposal Management Professionals’ (APMP) accreditation (a Foundations accreditation is worth 1 unit, a Practitioner accreditation counts for 2 units, and Professional accreditation counts for 4 units)
• By applying for credit after taking any OST course offered since 2009; both new and previously-taken classes can qualify toward the core, major, or elective credits, depending on the course

All of our public courses are taught at our Bid & Proposal Academy headquarters in Rockville, MD, and available via live webcast. We are also able to present courses at other locations, including your offices. To learn more, visit our Onsite Corporate Classes page.

The Industry’s Finest Teach the Art of Winning Government Contracts

Not all training is the same. Our courses are taught by engaging, seasoned industry professionals and distinguished by the five characteristics below, which differentiate them from all other business development classes in the market.

1. Continuously-Updated Content: Our courses are based on the latest best practices and trends; we don’t teach stale proposal principles from the last few decades. We build on what has worked for years, but continuously adjust the practices to changing procurement realities and the competitive landscape.
2. Education That Extends Beyond Process: Students of our Bid & Proposal Academy receive the most sophisticated and detailed tools, shortcuts, exact how-to instructions, and secrets of how to win more contracts. We have them perform practical application exercises in class to drive home the principles our instructors present and illustrate through their shared experiences and lessons learned.
3. Content-Rich Materials: We provide our students with learning materials embedded with multimedia, graphics-rich PowerPoint slides, hands-on exercises, reusable tools, and discussions using the most effective adult learning techniques to aid in better understanding and retention.
4. Valuable Insights from Practicing, Pedigreed Business Development, Capture, and Proposal Professionals: Our instructors are equipped to answer the tough questions instead of just delivering teaching materials because they’ve worked in the industry for decades and built successful companies through government contracting. They tailor materials to each business’s specific challenges and share their experiences, which are based on the most current realities of the Federal market.
5. Systematic Learning Opportunities: Each of our Bid & Proposal Academy courses builds on others to provide a systematic and comprehensive understanding of capture management, proposal development, and business development professions.

More on Training at the Bid & Proposal Academy

Our interactive, 1- or 2-day classroom seminars and workshops are conducted at our training facility in Rockville, MD, and made available to students everywhere through webcasts. They are led by highly-experienced and knowledgeable instructors who are considered industry leaders and provide in-depth, hands-on training on all aspects of the Government acquisition process. Each class we offer comes with copies of the PowerPoint slides presented, detailed instructions, checklists, templates, and exercises to reinforce the principles taught.

All class times listed in the Schedule of Public Courses below are in Eastern Standard Time (US). Our classes provide 3 CEUs towards APMP accreditation or 3 PDUs towards PMP accreditation. You will be awarded a Certificate of Completion upon finishing the classroom training. You can take any class remotely as well since we have webcasting capability. Please send us an email at service@ostglobalsolutions.com if you’d like to attend a class via live webcast (date and time will be the same as the classroom training).

Onsite Corporate Government Proposal Training

If you don’t find a class that suits your schedule, consider us for onsite corporate training at your company or for a webinar for your dispersed workforce, if you have multiple locations. Call us at 301-384-3350 to discuss your proposal training and business development training needs, or email us with details about the course(s) in which you’re interested, how many employees will be participating and when you’d like to hold the class(es) to get an estimate.

Business Development Certification FAQs