National Veterans Small Business Engagement Conference 2015

Three members of the MSK team had the honor of attending the National Veterans Small Business Engagement Conference (NVSBE) this past month in Pittsburgh, PA. NVSBE gives Veteran Owned Small businesses the opportunity to connect with other small businesses, Procurement Decision Makers, Federal agencies, and other large firms. This event is crucial for small businesses to network and create awareness about their services. Learning sessions, training opportunities, and breakout sessions are all parts of this conference that make it so beneficial.

Our team had a great experience at this year’s conference. It was our second year in a row attending, and we have found that it is an extremely helpful tool to form relationships with subcontractors, Procurement Decision Makers, and Federal agents. There were many takeaways from the event. All of the forecasting information gleaned from the networking opportunity sessions and seminars will be incorporated into our upcoming 2016-17 comprehensive marketing plan. We also received great feedback on our capabilities statement and our current and future marketing strategies. In terms of contractor and contracting officer relationships, we learned that facilitating teamwork as opposed to an “us versus them” mentality is crucial in facility development. That being said, we commend all of the contracting officers we met for having such an open door policy. This policy shows that they truly do want to work as a team with us. MSK looks forward to next year’s conference as well as other networking and learning opportunities.

In addition to the conference, we attended a kickoff party hosted by the National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA) where the Vetrepreneur of the Year award was given out, as well as several other awards. We heard very inspiring speeches from Gordon Logan (Vetrepreneur of the Year), Kaney O’Neill (Woman Vetrepreneur of the Year), Maria Contreras-Sweet (U.S. Small Business Administrator), Rocky Bleier (NaVoba national spokesman) and many others. The National Veteran-Owned Business Association community is an extremely supportive and passionate community to be a part of, as they are constantly working to create opportunities for veteran owned businesses. Our plans to grow coincide with their mission to ensure that all veterans have access to the opportunities they deserve. We are excited to be a part of this community and hope to stay connected with NaVOBA moving forward.

Overall, the conference was a success and we cannot wait to put what we learned into action!