Halfaker & Associates
News
July 2009
Halfaker and Associates Participates in the 5th Annual National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo
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The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, speaks at the 5th Annual National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo |
Halfaker and Associates participated in the 5th Annual National Veteran Small Business Conference from July 20th-23rd in Las Vegas, Nevada to help build business opportunities for our Nation’s Veterans. The conference provided an excellent educational forum on Federal Government contracting opportunities for the over 3,200 attendees. Additionally, conference attendees had the unique and valuable opportunity to network with numerous federal agencies and large businesses participating in the conference. Many of the participating federal officials and business representatives sought to identify potential Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) to fulfill future requirements.
Highlighting the event was the participation of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Retired U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki. He eloquently praised the importance of small businesses and reaffirmed the Department of Veterans Affairs’ commitment to help veterans start or expand their companies. Shinseki noted that several government agencies have exceeded government-wide goals for supporting SDVOSBs and plan to increase support for veterans. Shinseki believes that defenders of the Nation have earned the right to participate in all taxpayer-funded contracts and encourages veterans to partner with state and local governments to increase business opportunities.
Halfaker and Associates, CEO, Dawn Halfaker, moderated a conference panel discussion on “Strategies that Work: Successful Government Contracting.” The following highly successful veteran business owners participated in the panel: Ms. Constance Blair, President and CEO, The Venture Companies; Mr. James Emery, Chief Financial Officer and CEO, J.M. Waller and Associates; Mr. Michael Melo, President, ITA International LLC; and Dr. Raymond Jardine, Jr., President and CEO, Native Hawaiian Veterans, LLC. The panel shared their vital lessons learned during the start-up years as an SDVOSB and encouraged dynamic discussions on the successes and setbacks encountered in developing and implementing business strategy, marketing, organic growth, “getting your foot in the door,” and profitability. The panel discussion provided veteran small business owners an opportunity to gain invaluable insight on how to survive and prosper beyond the extremely challenging start-up years and offered the participants the opportunity to ask questions to prominent veteran business owners skilled in winning federal contracts.
Halfaker and Associates was proud to be a part of the successful 5th Annual National Veterans Small Business Conference and hopes to support future conferences. The conference has and will continue to focus on empowering SDVOSB owners through fostering lasting business relationships and providing resources and information to assist in developing their own unique strategies to become successful small business owners.
For more information on the conference please visit www.nationalveteransconference.com.
