government contracting as a small business growth strategy
TRANSCRIPT
Government Contracting AS A SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGYMAY 12, 2016 | AUSTIN, TX
Agenda (Morning) 9:00 am Welcome & Program Overview
9:15 am Panel 1: Small Businesses Who Figured it Out
10:15 am Networking Break
10:45 am Panel 2: Getting on the Right Bid Lists & Getting Certified
12:00 pm Lunch
Agenda (Afternoon) 1:15 pm Recap of Morning Panels & Preview of Afternoon Panels
1:30 pm Panel 3: Finding the Money to Grow: What Lenders Want You to Know
2:30 pm Networking Break
3:00 pm Panel 4: No Need to Go It Alone
3:45 pm Wrap-up / Preview of Upcoming Sessions / Networking
Panel 1: Small Businesses Who Figured It Out
Patti WinstanleyPresident
Aztec Promotional Family of Companies
2815 Manor Road Austin, TX 78722
Tiffany TremontPresident & CEOSilotech Group
10100 Reunion PlaceSuite 250
San Antonio, TX 78216210.569.0953
Panel 2: Getting on the Right Bid Lists & Getting Certified
Richard San Jose, MSG, (Ret.)TXMAS Program Coordinator
Texas Comptroller’s OfficePO Box 13186
Austin, TX 78711-3186512.463.3421
[email protected]://comptroller.texas.gov
Jerome “JT” GuerreroHUB Program Specialist
Travis CountyP.O. Box 1748
Austin, TX 78767512.854.4852
[email protected]://www.traviscountytx.gov
Sean SmithBusiness Opp. SpecialistSBA San Antonio District
615 E. Houston, Suite 298San Antonio Texas 78205
www.sba.gov/tx/sanantonio
Lynn SanchezHUB Coordinator
Dept. of Info. Resources300 W. 15th St. Suite 1300
Austin, TX 78701512.463.9813
[email protected]://dir.texas.gov
Paula GrabowskiStatewide HUB MarketingTexas Comptroller’s Office
1711 San JacintoAustin, TX 78711
http://comptroller.texas.gov
Panel 3: Finding the Money to Grow: What Lenders Want You to Know
Kara PinnelliSenior Vice President
Broadway Bank911 W. 38th St., Suite 100
Austin, TX 78705512.221.8475 Mobile
broadway.bank/Commercial-Banking
Gary Lindner, USAF (ret.)President & CEO
PeopleFund2921 E. 17th St., Bldg D
Austin, TX 78702512.222.1015
[email protected]://peoplefund.org
Artie BerneAlternative Funding Expert
ArTex Funding17009 Flintrock Road
Austin, TX 78738512.750.5768 Mobile
[email protected] www.ArTexFunding.com
Krystal LoydVP SBA Lending
Plains State Bank8000 IH-10 West, Suite 1525
San Antonio TX 78230512.568.2337 Direct
[email protected]://psbplains.com/
Panel 4: No Need to Go It Alone
Susannah MunroBusiness Dev. Specialist
UTSA PTAC 215 S. San Saba, Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78207210.458.3251
Sean SmithBusiness Opp. SpecialistSBA San Antonio District
615 E. Houston, Suite 298San Antonio, TX 78205
www.sba.gov/tx/sanantonio
Jeremy BarndtBusiness Coach
City of Austin SBP505 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX 78704512.974.7873
[email protected]://bit.ly/AustinSBP
Lisha GarcíaBusiness Advisor
UTSA SBDC501 W. Cesar Chavez
San Antonio, TX 78207210.458.2460
[email protected]://sasbdc.org/
Speaker Bios
Yolanda StreyHUB Coordinator, Texas Facilities Commission
Yolanda Strey is on a mission to help Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) understand and navigate through the procurement processes at the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC). She attended Texas State University and trained as a business counselor with the City of Austin. Her 20 year background includes experience with city, state, federal, and higher education rules in procurement, contract administration, project management, strategic planning, business development, and diversity programs, provides her clients with unique advantages. Under her leadership at Texas State University’s HUB Program, her efforts to increase their HUB participation in FY 14 resulted in $32.3 million spent with HUBs. These numbers caught the attention of the 84th Legislative Session and they commended the University’s HUB Program for their accomplishments.
She is currently the Chair to the Statewide HUB Discussion Workgroup. In addition to her significant professional achievements, Yolanda is quite active in a number of philanthropic and community endeavors. She has served as President of the Lockhart Athletic Booster Club, Board Commissioner for the City of Lockhart, Revolving Loan Program and is currently serving as a Board Commissioner for the City of Lockhart Civil Services Commission. Yolanda lives in Lockhart with her husband and two sons.
Lisha GarcíaBusiness Advisor, UTSA SBDC
Lisha García has served small business owners for over 20 years. She has a BA from the University of Arizona in Latin American Studies and two masters degrees: one from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and an MFA from Vermont College in Writing. Her passion is to help small business owners grow and create/retain jobs. She has served as a certified business advisor for the Arizona SBDC Network where she received many awards including the SBA Minority Advocate of the Year.
Lisha is a strong generalist on a myriad of small business challenges. She serves small business owners with the creation of fundable business plans, marketing strategies, management issues, human resources, government certifications, procurement as well as technology companies. In addition, Lisha is passionate about assisting women business owners in non-traditional occupations and entrepreneurial education. She is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and trains in both. She has worked in many communities with a strong background in community and economic development.
Patti WinstanleyPresident, Aztec Promotional Group
Patti served as 2015 Vice Chair for Small Business for the Greater Austin Chamber and is Co-Chair of the AISD Reagan Early College High School Community Advisory Committee. She is on the Board of Directors for the Women's Business Council Southwest, and won Regional Advocate of the Year in 2010, the Women Working Together and the Lilly Knox Investing in Growth Award in 2011 and 2015. Patti also represents WBCS as an Advocate on the WBENC Forum where she is the Vice Chair for the Government Committee, and served as Chair of the 2015 WBENC National Conference Host Committee. She is a member WBEC-West, where she was nominated for WBE Advocate of the Year in 2012, and serves as Forum Chair for Tucson. Patti also serves on the Board for the Go for the Greens Women's Business Conference , where she won the 2015 Mary Schnack award for her advocacy on behalf of other women owned businesses. She was named as an Enterprising Woman for 2013 by Enterprising Woman Magazine, and as a member of the Women Presidents' Organization – she served on the steering committee for the 2013 annual conference. Patti has spoken on the benefits of WOSB certification and the realities of doing business with the federal government for WIPP, American Express Open and the SBA.
Patti has a BA from The University of Mississippi, is a graduate of the Tuck-WBENC Executive Program and attended the Initiative for a Competitive City Harvard Executive Program from 2009-2013.
Tiffany TremontPresident & CEO, Silotech Group
Tiffany Tremont is the President and CEO of Silotech Group, Inc. (Silotech) which she founded in 2000. Mrs. Tremont’s experience in the IT industry spans over two decades of Infrastructure Management and Systems and Security Administration experience in both the federal and commercial sectors which began when she joined the National Security Agency (NSA) then entered the United States Air Force at the age of 17.
Mrs. Tremont’s federal experience encompasses serving the military and subsequent employment with various federal agencies. During her Air Force service, her deployment duties included Operation Desert Focus after the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers when she earned the Air Force Commendation medal. After leaving the Air Force, she entered the Peace Corps Foreign Service.
Mrs. Tremont’s commercial experience includes working on special projects for the Motorola Iridium Satellite Phone, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the National Weather Service (NWS) and Aeronautical Radio Incorporated (ARINC), as well as a consultant for various other government contractors. She founded the South Texas Oracle Applications Users Group (STOAUG), which is one of the largest Oracle User groups in Texas.
Jerome “JT” GuerreroHUB Program Specialist, Travis County
Jerome Guerrero is a HUB Program Specialist with the Travis County Purchasing Office HUB Program. Hired in February 2005, Mr. Guerrero added his diverse experience from the public and private sector to assist the outreach of the county’s HUB Program. Mr. Guerrero has over 11 years of local business experience and over 18 years of state and county government experience.
A native Austinite and University of Texas graduate, Mr. Guerrero started his business experience with his family business, L.O. Guerrero Produce, Co., Inc. After the family business closed in 1990, he worked for the Texas General Land Office as a print buyer. This is where he was introduced to the emerging Historically Underutilized Business program. After a change of commissioners, Mr. Guerrero started his own business in the visual arts area. After freelancing for 6 years, he returned to the public sector with the HUB Program at Travis County.
One of his goals today is to bridge the private and public sector worlds. He brings you his knowledge, skills, and experience from “both sides of the fence.” Today, he will instruct you on how to approach opportunities within the county and other government areas.
Richard San JoseTXMAS Program Coordinator, Texas Comptroller’s Office
Richard San Jose has been working with the TXMAS Program since 2005. He is CTCM and CTPM-certified and has a Bachelor of Science in Management from Park University.
Prior to his position involving TXMAS, he retired after 24 years in the Army, serving in Armor and in the Infantry. He completed his Army career, serving as the Battalion Sergeant Major of the Army ROTC at Texas State University.
Lynn SanchezHUB Coordinator, Department of Information Resources
Lynn Sanchez is a HUB Coordinator for the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) since August 2013. She has been working in the HUB Program and with HUB Vendors for over 20 years. Lynn has worked in the Statewide HUB Program as a Certification Analyst as well as the Statewide HUB Marketing Coordinator. She has worked for Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas System, The Texas Department of Agriculture, The Texas Building and Procurement Commission, and The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
She has a long standing commitment to help educate HUB vendors on the process of doing business with The State of Texas.
Paula J. GrabowskiStatewide HUB Marketing Coordinator, Texas Comptroller’s Office
The Statewide HUB Program includes a certification and compliance program and outreach program for minority and woman-owned businesses. The program is also tasked with disseminating information regarding the State of Texas Mentor Protégé Program and the HUB Subcontracting Plan as well as pursuing agreements with local governments and non-profits to increase the number of certified HUBs. In addition, the HUB Program provides training and support for the State’s HUB Coordinators.
Paula has been employed with the State of Texas since 2013 working in divisions including Statewide Contracting & Tax Enforcement. She brings over 7 years of experience working in state and local government focusing on small business, public relations, education & marketing. She presented & trained for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Association for Rural & Small Libraries & the Northeast Texas Library Association. She presented at the American Library Association national conference in 2010 and was published for literacy curriculum tools in the Texas State Library and Archives Commission 2011 Programming Manual.
Paula resides in Austin, Texas but enjoys ranch life in East Texas as well.
Sean SmithBusiness Opportunity Specialist, San Antonio SBA District
Sean P. Smith has been with the San Antonio District office of the U.S. Small Business Administration since December 2010 as a Business Opportunities Specialist working with firms participating in the SBA 8A Business Development Program.
Currently Sean works with approximately 35 8A Certified Businesses. He also assisted with marketing the HUBZone and the WOSB programs. Before coming to the SBA, Sean worked for the Del Mar College Procurement Technical Assistance Center in Corpus Christi where he was Program Manager. Prior to his 10 years with the PTAC, Sean worked for a family owned small business and was the manager for 17 years.
Gary LindnerPresident & CEO, PeopleFund
Gary Lindner has achieved exceptional results in military, corporate, and non-profit senior leadership roles. Under his direction since 2010, PeopleFund began systematic improvements and evolved into a statewide business lending organization with great positive social and economic impact.
Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at ACCION Texas for six years where he quadrupled the outstanding loan portfolio to over $30 million. Gary also headed a major division of a private company and set profitability records. A retired Air Force Colonel and Command Pilot, he has extensive air combat, staff and CEO experience, Gary Lindner graduated from the Air Force Academy and earned a master’s degree from Auburn University. He has served on numerous local, regional and national non-profit boards.
Kara PinnelliSenior Vice President, Commercial Banking, Broadway Bank
Kara joined Broadway Bank in April 2013, specifically to serve the Commercial Banking needs of clients in the Austin and surrounding areas. Kara has over 30 years of banking experience in the greater Austin market and works closely with commercial businesses to meet all of their depository and credit needs. Kara holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Finance & Real Estate from the University of Texas at Austin.
She currently serves on the boards of the YMCA of Greater Williamson County, the Hutto Family YMCA and is active in Hutto Independent School District.
Artie BerneAlternative Funding Expert, ArTex Funding
Artie Berne started ArTex Funding in 2002 after leaving his position as Worldwide VP of sales for Avrio Communications. Avrio was a Fiber Optic Semiconductor laser transceiver/receiver company that manufactured board mounted components.
Artie has a BS in Industrial Engineering Technology from Arizona State University. He grew up in Central New Jersey and has lived up and down the east coast, Arizona and California before finally settling down in central Texas with his wife of 29.
Artie enjoys helping mid to large companies acquire funding when they have cash flow problems.
Krystal LoydVP SBA Lending, Plains State Bank
Krystal Loyd advocates for the SBA 7(A), 504 and USDA loan programs and has been a panelist, speaker and trainer for small business events to promote the flow of information on SBA loan programs. Krystal participates with SBDC advisors in training their clients to more easily facilitate the loan process. She is Vice President of SBA Lending with Plains State Bank (an SBA Preferred Lending Partner) for clients and borrowers within the great State of Texas. Previously Krystal was an SBA consultant with 5th Gear Consulting for 6 years working as a Lender Service Provider (LSP), CDC Representative and Borrower Packager for SBA deals.
Krystal received the “2014 SBA Financial Service Champion of the Year Award“ from the U.S. Small Business Administration. She currently serves as secretary of the Programs Committee for the Central Texas Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (CTAGGL). Krystal is Chair of the Risk Management Association (RMA) Young Professionals Board, and is on the Membership Committee for the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) organization.
Susannah (Sue) MunroBusiness Opportunity Specialist, UTSA PTAC
Susannah Munro comes to the Procurement Technical Assistance Center with over 20 years of experience working for the federal government, government contractors and for the San Antonio Independent School District. She provides assistance to business owners wanting to expand their business into federal, state, and local contracts with government agencies and military installations.
Sue has experience in logistics management including Logistics and Supply Chain/Item Management, Business Management, Cost/Project Analyst Management and Information Technology (IT) support. She has her Federal Contractor Certification (FCC) and is a Veterans Affairs (VA) Certified Counselor. Ms. Munro has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) with majors in accounting and marketing from Our Lady of the Lake University.
Jeremy BarndtBusiness Coach, City of Austin Small Business Program
Jeremy Barndt is the Business Coach for the City of Austin’s Small Business Program. His professional background includes being a business instructor at Austin Community College, program management with City of Chicago business improvement districts, and independent small business consulting.
His primary objective is to provide business planning assistance to entrepreneurs in order to promote small business startups, expansions, and job creation in Austin.
