WOW! What a great
experience last week at the 3rd Annual Huntington Small Business Conference. If
you missed that, you missed a lot of learning opportunities and insights into
the work and mission of the Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
Attendees of both large and small firms discovered how
they can support the Corps in completion of its mission.
There were great networking opportunities and we had a
full house of display tables demonstrating the capabilities of the firms on
display. Input from the Small Business
Administration and the Regional Contracting Assistance Center, both of
Charleston, W.Va., offered expert information on the topics of Construction
Finance and Subcontracting Smarts.
The Commander of the Huntington District, Col. Philip
Secrist, and the Deputy District Engineer for Project Management, Joseph
Savage, were on hand to welcome attendees and make themselves available to
answer questions and discuss the unique needs of the district.
A full panel of Corps experts in various disciplines
spoke about their particular roles in meeting mission needs. The Huntington
Contracting Branch participated, as the contracting officers and contract
specialists were present throughout the day, and Ginny Morgan, senior contract
specialist, presented a class on “Acquisition 101.”
The morning panel discussion with Amy Frantz, Chief of
Planning Branch, and Kim Davidson, Senior Geologist of the Dam Safety
Modification Mandatory Center of Expertise, gave details about each of their
offices and how contractors support the needs of these offices.
This was followed up by a Proposal Writing Tips session
taught by the Chief of the Contract Management Section, Shane Hall, and Project
Engineer Scott Pittman.
Capping the day, the Programs and Project Management’s
Assistant Chief, Lisa Morgan, covered some of the Corps basic contractor
requirements and fielded questions regarding the working with the Corps in a
“Business as Usual” discussion.
Attendees were able to earn Professional Development
Hours and the opportunity to learn from each other how they can work together
to fulfill the goals of the Huntington District’s Office of Small Business
Programs.
The presentations are uploaded on this page if you need a
refresher or weren’t able to attend a session that you were interested in. As was heard frequently at the event, “if you
have any questions, call Eileen.”
A special thanks to the Huntington Post of the Society of
American Military Engineers for hosting the event, and to our platinum, gold,
and silver sponsors and displaying firms, without whose support the conference
would not have been possible. I would be
remiss if I did not recognize our esteemed emcee, Mack McCarty, who does a
great job keeping things moving – thanks, Mack!
If you missed it this year, we’ve already started
planning the 4th Annual Huntington Small Business Conference - you won’t want
to miss it!