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Events shine spotlight on business opportunities in defense, security
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
The role of small business in defense and homeland security contracting took center stage at two events held in the tri-country area in recent weeks.
The first, the Small Business and Industry Outreach Initiative symposium, afforded both small and large businesses a chance to describe their capacities and needs to an audience of business professionals as well as engineers and administrators from SPAWAR Systems Center, Charleston.
SPAWAR and the Charleston Defense Contractors Association were sponsors of the event, which happened to be the last symposium overseen by Ann Howell, SPAWAR’s deputy of small business services, who retired a few days later.
The second event, a roundtable and mixer held at the Harbour Club in downtown Charleston, was hosted by the American Small Business Coalition.
“I spent 30 years on active duty in the Navy before entering the business world, and I can honestly say I’ve been very impressed by the professional cooperation I’ve seen here in Charleston,” said Craig Solem, program manager at Lockheed Martin in North Charleston.
“An event like this, you have professional organizations, industry, government and academia coming together to try to open the door to business opportunity and, by extension, improving the overall quality of life here,” he said.
“Even though Lockheed Martin might be competing with some of the other businesses in attendance for opportunities, there are also many instances when we can partner on projects,” he said. “Programs like this help you to see where another company’s capabilities might complement your own.”
Like the first Small Business symposium, held early this past summer, the daylong meeting gave small businesses a chance to present their stories to companies they would like to be subcontractors for and to the government officials that write and manage requests for proposals.
Guy Timberlake, CEO of the American Small Business Coalition, came to Charleston for the SPAWAR event and stayed to host a roundtable meeting with local business leaders.
Afterward he said he was impressed with the small business climate in the region.
“What was particularly impressive was how talented and intelligent they are about what they do and what their goals are,” he said.
What’s more, Timberlake believes the region is poised to see a significant growth in the area of homeland security businesses.
“In part, that’s due to SPAWAR’s tremendous importance to the U.S. government, and in part it’s due to things like the federal Small Business Act and federal acquisition guidelines that mandate that a certain percentage of government contracts go to qualified small businesses,” he said.
The quarterly symposium helps smooth the transition to federal contracting because it introduces small businesses to the culture of SPAWAR and visa versa, Timberlake said.
“As a result, it greatly reduces how long a company has to feel like a square peg in a round hole,” he said.
Solem said while it’s too early to gauge how effective the SPAWAR/CDCA effort has been, he does believe small businesses have left the first two symposiums better equipped to write successful contract proposals and significantly reduced attending company officials’ questions about the federal contracting process.
“At the same time, I also think company officials come away from these sessions energized and feeling ready to tackle the next challenge the federal government seeks a solution to,” he said. “Seeing the interaction and networking that goes on, it’s hard not to be passionate about the great professional environment we have in Charleston.”
In addition to his duties at Lockheed Martin, Solem is also serving as the vice chair of next year’s Homeland Security Innovation Conference, an annual event sponsored by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s ThinkTEC program.
The conference is scheduled for Feb. 21-23 and will be held for the first time at SPAWAR’s North Charleston facility.
“Our goal is to have about 300 attendees, including representatives from industry, SPAWAR and other federal agencies, and to showcase solutions, whether it be ‘up-armoring’ Humvees for service in Iraq or providing additional aids to domestic law enforcement,” Solem said.
“While the planning for the conference is still in the preliminary stages, I can tell you its objectives are very much in line with these other events that are occurring in the region. We’re getting people together to talk and listen to each other and to allow them to put a spotlight on products that benefit the warfighter and other potential users.”
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
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