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Applied Wireless Local Area Network has landed contracts such as designing and installing the free wireless Internet service in the Crystal City, Va., business district. And Jonathan Walker Sr., CEO of the Rockville Innovation Center incubator company, wants more.
Walker is among the 38 executives in a new training program that aims to help him and other military veterans who own businesses win more government contracts. The program started Thursday in Bethesda.
The veterans, who must already have some government contracting experience to qualify for the training, will learn more tips from seasoned executives in the 18-hour certification program organized by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation and the chamber's Government Contracting Network.
The program's lineup of knowledgeable speakers really sparked Walker's interest, as did the opportunity to learn more about the contracting process and aspects such as teaming. A Leadership Montgomery graduate, he was a Marine from 1983 to 1987, reaching the rank of sergeant.
"A veteran-owned company must still be competitive because there is no such thing as handouts for a small veteran-owned business," said Walker, who earned a master's in biomechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from Howard University in Washington, D.C. He founded Applied Wireless, an information technology business that focuses on developing and maintaining medium to large scale wireless local area networks, in 2001.
Randy J. Slager, CEO and founder of Catapult Technology of Bethesda, a veteran-owned information technology contractor, spoke Thursday on "What It Takes to be a Successful Company in the Federal Market." Catapult won the Government Contracting Firm of the Year award from the Tech Council of Maryland this year and has been regularly listed among the nation's 5,000 fastest-growing private companies by Inc. magazine.
Revenues at 630-employee Catapult increased from $33.4 million in 2005 to $107 million last year, according to the magazine. Catapult qualifies as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, meaning it is owned by a vet who suffered a disability in the line of duty. Certain set-aside and sole source contracts are available for such companies, according to the Pentagon's Office of Small Business Programs.
The Montgomery program is an initiative of the chamber's GovConNet Council, and officials don't know of a similar program offered elsewhere, said Linda Ekizian, vice president of member services and events for the chamber. GovConNet launched a little more than a year ago.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce has a Business Development Council that organizes educational and networking events for small businesses of all types, but nothing specifically for veteran-owned businesses, said William Burns, a spokesman for that chamber.
The Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce has a specific Government Contracting Council that aids businesses in government contracting. Chamber CEO H. Walter Townshend III could not be reached to see if that organization has a specific program for vets.
In the Montgomery chamber program, sponsors such as Aronson & Co. and Pepper Hamilton pick up the costs, so there is no fee for participants, Ekizian said.
The program is expected to offer an "incomparable experience for veteran-owned businesses that are looking to position themselves for greater success in the fast-growing marketplace of government contracting," Georgette "Gigi" Godwin, president and CEO of the chamber, said in a statement.
To be eligible for the program, a veteran-owned company must meet certain requirements, including being in business for at least two years, maintaining at least three full-time employees, having experience working on government contracts as a prime contractor or subcontractor, and having recorded less than $25 million in revenue last year. Enrollment is not limited to Montgomery County businesses.
Key areas of training in the program will include business structures, team arrangements, human resources, risk management, insurance, internal controls, marketing and certifications.
GovConNet also coordinates meetings between prime contractors and potential partners or subcontractors, as well as opportunities for contractors to receive detailed information about an agency.
This report originally appeared in The Business Gazette.
-Number of veteran-owned small businesses, 2002: 110,952
-Revenues, 2002: $3.1 billion
*New data due in 2011
Source: U.S. Census Bureau