On March 29, 2001 Brooks Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas, will host a regional Focused Outreach Event for women-owned businesses, in honor of National Women's History Month. The base officers' club will provide the gathering place for women-owned firms as well as representatives from Department of Defense prime contractors Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon. The theme of the event is "Celebrating Women of Courage and Vision in the Government Market Place." In the words of Janelle Larrison, Director of Small Business for Brooks Air Force Base, this event will honor "women who have the strength and determination to succeed in the government market place."
The Focused Outreach Event at Brooks is one of many taking place across the country this year, in the continental U.S., as well as in Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. Since 1998, the Air Force has hosted over 20 such events for over 1000 women entrepreneurs who want to learn how to get started in Air Force contracting. These one-day seminars introduce women business owners to the government procurement process. Participants learn about how to qualify for government contracts, obtain federal training, locate procurement forecasts, and find federal information resources. They have opportunities to talk to Small Business Specialists and Small Business Administration representatives, network with other women business owners, and meet with prime contractors. Follow-up surveys show that attendees have won $50 million in Air Force contracts as a result of these events.
The Air Force Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization sponsors Focused Outreach Events as part of its ongoing initiative to award $1 billion in contracts to women-owned businesses. Director, Anthony J. DeLuca, a respected proponent of small businesses will be a featured speaker at the Brooks event. He will share the platform with Ms. Raydean Acevedo, President of Resource Management Concepts, Incorporated, an award-winning information technology firm in Golden, Colorado. Ms Acevedo has built her success in government contracting.
Brooks Air Force Base is the home of the 311th Human Systems Wing of the Air Force Materiel Command, as well as the Air Force Outreach Program Office, whose mission is to strengthen economic equality through Air Force contracting with small businesses.
Small businesses give diversity and vitality to the American economy. Women are making history as the fastest-growing group of small business-owners in the nation. More women than ever are managing businesses and contracting with the Federal Government. The Air Force is doing its part to contribute to their success, and to honor their entrepreneurial spirit. For more information about the Air Force Small Business Program, and to see a schedule of future Focused Outreach Events, visit the Air Force Small Business Online web site at www.selltoairforce.org.