ResolvIQ: Building Teams, Building Success

When Mitch Rubinstein, founder of ResolvIQ, set his sights on the Navy’s Seaport Next Generation (Seaport NxG) contract vehicle, he knew the competition would be fierce. With an estimated $5 billion in annual task order awards, Seaport NxG is one of the Navy’s most competitive platforms, used by NAVSEA and other federal agencies to procure advanced engineering, cybersecurity, logistics, and professional services. The stakes were high, with top-tier primes and accomplished small businesses vying for awards.

That’s when Mitch turned to the Maryland APEX Accelerator, where he was matched with procurement counselor Richard Paden. “Richard has been super helpful as a mentor to be able to tap into his wealth of experience,” Mitch shared. “He’s given a ton of advice.”

From the very beginning, Mitch and Richard worked proactively, well before the RFP dropped to position ResolvIQ as a strong contender. Their strategic counseling sessions focused on four key areas:

Market Intelligence & Competitive Assessment

Richard guided Mitch through an in-depth review of previous Seaport NxG winners, analyzing the service offerings and performance of both large primes and small businesses. This competitive intelligence helped identify gaps and opportunities for ResolvIQ to differentiate itself.

Technology and Warfare Alignment

They explored emerging defense technologies and evolving naval warfare needs, ensuring ResolvIQ could align its solutions with mission-critical priorities. This future-focused approach gave Mitch confidence that his proposals would resonate with Navy evaluators.

Team Building with Strategic Partnerships

Recognizing that no one company can “eat the buffet alone,” Richard emphasized building a strong proposal team. Together, they identified high-performing partners, including Engineered Design Services and Numa Management Associates, both fellow APEX clients, to bolster credibility. This network expanded ResolvIQ’s capabilities and strengthened its bid.

Geographic Expansion Strategy

To broaden ResolvIQ’s reach, Richard advised developing a teaming approach that allowed participation in four of the seven Seaport NxG regions, opening the door to task orders nationwide and overseas.

The results of this collaboration speak volumes. Today, ResolvIQ fields a team of highly skilled professionals in technology, construction engineering, and project management, with impressive past performance and a strong grasp of naval systems and science. Thanks to the structured guidance from Richard and the hands-on mentorship of Maryland APEX, ResolvIQ is now well-positioned to compete for millions in Seaport NxG task orders.

And this win isn’t just about one contract vehicle. Mitch also leveraged the strategies he built with Richard to partner on the GSA Supply Chain Risk Illumination Professional Services (SCRIPTS) BPA, a massive $900M+ contract supporting supply chain security.

For Mitch, the journey has reinforced the power of collaboration.“In government contracting, the more friends you have, the more solicitations you’ll be able to go after,” he said. “It’s basically an all-you-can-eat buffet, and no one small business is going to be able to eat the whole buffet. We should all try to eat this buffet together and help each other out.”

Through preparation, partnerships, and persistence, ResolvIQ is proving what’s possible when a veteran-owned small business taps into the right strategy and the right support.

Listen to Mitch's story on our podcast