Govcon Giants

Today we are going to take it back, in this episode, we are going to re-introduce an amazing podcast guest that we had back in September we featured in Episode 69 Carol Craig from Craig Technologies.

If you guys don't remember, this was a force that you had to know. Listening to this episode was an amazing experience, Carol Craig is the founder and CEO of Craig Technologies and Craig Technologies Aerospace Solutions, which is headquartered in Merritt Island, Florida.

Just a few things about Carol, back in 1999 she started her business just by herself and she grew it to over 450 associates with revenues increasing over 40 million dollars. Also, Carol was the first woman that was eligible to fly and come back in the US Navy, she is also the first female aviator to join her P3C Orion Squadron.

She's also won numerous awards, broke many records, starting back in the day when she was a trackstar, but her biggest accomplishment has been with her son. Seeing her son being diagnosed with a genetic disorder she has accomplished so much with him and for him.

So here we are again, it is a perfect timing to re-introduce our guest Carol Craig. Listen up and hear Eric and Carol discuss everything from earth to space.

Prior to doing the podcast, I met Travis at dinner in Las Olas through a mutual friend Patrick Cohen. Travis recently arrived here in S. Florida and had plans for connecting good people in business together. He wanted a community in S. Florida that would connect finance, developers and entrepreneurs in the same room. A few months later I attended the event sponsored by his company and since that time we've exchanged numerous texts, calls and emails back and forth discussing various business deals, partnerships and team members.

But strangely enough it would be another few months before I could get him on the podcast. At the time his company Saalex was in the middle of an acquisition and he didn't want to say anything that would jeopardize the deal.

On April 4, 2022 the news hit that his company Saalex acquired Rhode Island based Netsimco in a $30 million transaction and so now we would be able to sit down and have a conversation.

As per the article The company's acquisition of Netsimco will allow it to reach annual recurring revenue of $100 million. For context, Saalex CFO Randy Wheeler said the company generated about $5 million in revenue in 2010, and has shown "consistent growth" to reach the $100 million mark.

Saalex Corporation is an Engineering and Information Technology Services firm with core capabilities in the areas of Test Range Operations and Management, Information Technology, Test and Evaluation, Logistics and Engineering Services, founded in 1999 by CEO Travis Mack.

More recently Managed security service provider (MSSP) Valeo Networks of which Mr. Mack is the CEO acquired Next IT, a Michigan-based managed service provider (MSP). The deal marks the sixth and largest acquisition for Valeo Networks and is part of the company's overall growth strategy. The company previously acquired On Time Tech, a California-based MSP, in November 2021.

Mr. Mack provides executive leadership and direction for Saalex Corporation the parent company for Saalex Solutions and Valeo Networks. He provides oversight and guidance for each division's strategic growth and tactical operational initiatives. His experience includes multi-year service in the U.S. Navy and Senior Technology management positions with Homestore.com, and Modis IT Consulting. Mr. Mack holds a B.S. in Business Management and an Honorary Doctorates Degree in Business from Webber International University.

Valeo Networks is a full-service, award-winning Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) that serves State, County, Municipal markets; small-to-medium businesses (SMBs); and non-profit organizations. Valeo Networks provides solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, compliance, cloud, network infrastructure, and managed IT services headquartered in Rockledge, FL,

I promise you will enjoy this podcast as we get into the nuts and bolts of how this veteran built not one but two successful businesses.

How he launched a $50M Real Estate fund?

How was he able to finance acquisitions of this magnitude?

This interview was captured live in Mr. Mack offices downtown Ft Lauderdale, FL a few blocks from Las Olas, you can feel the energy.

Welcome our next Giant, Mr. Travis Mack.

"Any company who is interested in participating in the infrastructure and jobs act must have Bonding."

In today's episode we discuss what it takes to get bonding? Is credit necessary? What about capital? How much capital is needed? What is the difference between an SBA surety versus a non SBA surety

Did you know that you can get a bond from an SBA surety with less cash in the bank than you can with a traditional surety? Most people don't know that.

I did not know that prior to this lesson with Mr. Gibbs.

In today's lesson Mr. Gibbs walks us through an example of how to increase your Bonding. If you are a contractor and you're having problems with bonding or maybe you think you need to increase your bond, the problem may not be you, it just might be the surety. You could potentially double or quadruple your bond just by switching agents.

Tune in today's lesson with our next Giant, Mr. Peter Gibbs.

Today's guest was awarded as Oklahoma's Small Business of the Year by the SBA, he is Adam Oglesbee, the President and CEO of Warfeather, LLC. As the leader of a nation-wide construction services firm, Adam Oglesbee has built a reputation on the safety, quality, and schedule adherence their client projects rely on around the country. Adam utilizes consistent tools, systems, and standards to safely deliver superior results even in the most challenging environments.

Under Adam's leadership, Warfeather has built a comprehensive portfolio of projects from concept-to-completion that showcase Warfeather's wide range of capabilities. It is their organization's commitment to actively listen to the customer's needs and problems that positions the organization to successfully develop forward-thinking solutions for their clients year after year.

In this episode, you're gonna hear Adam share his journey in the federal area, and also what it took to become the SBA 2022 award winner, how he compares the 8a program to Eminem lyrics, how to make your government contracting business relevant, his belief about the real reasons why PTAC exist and how you should be concerned, and how he setup his company to be awarded 8a contracts on day one.

Tune in to this episode and welcome our next Giant, Adam Oglesbee.

In this episode we discussed really valuable tips for your business like Mapquest: where you are now versus where you want to go, getting your business valuation up to $10M, knowing math or know money, WIT - wildly important things (profitable), changing the people you hang out with, 5 degrees of separation and more.

Mr. Teter III is a Certified Executive Coach & Facilitator, Certified Business Value Builder (CVB), Certified TechVenture Facilitator, Director of Training at SBDC at University of Maryland.

Which university was the first to implement what is now known as a SBDC? Coming up at the very end is a history lesson you don't want to miss and the answer to that question.

If you're ready for part 2 with Internationally Certified Executive Coach / Director of Training for SBDC at University Of Maryland, welcome our next Giant, Russell Teter III.

He has been with the SBDC for 14 years as of this July. He was promoted to Director of the Northern Maryland Small Business Development Center Network in 2003. Russell has personally aided over 13,000 entrepreneurs in improving their economic situation; his assistance has led to the acquisition of tens of millions in equity/debt financing as well as the creation and retention of thousands of jobs.

Three of the last seven "Maryland Small Business Person of the Year" were his clients. In 2008, he received the U.S. Small Business Administration "Innovator & Excellence" Award for Maryland. In 2006 he was officially recognized by Maryland's Governor and Lieutenant Governor for "[creating] legacy wealth for the minority community by encouraging minority entrepreneurs to be stronger leaders and advocates within their community."

He is also the 2010 Maryland Minority Business Advocate of the Year. Articles Russell has written for small business owners include The 8 Attitudes to Be a Successful Entrepreneur, Lessons on Entrepreneurism from Martin Luther King, Jr., and Do you own your business or does your business own you?

Mr. Teter has an M.B.A. in Technology Management and is certified by the Kauffmann Foundation (the world's largest foundation for entrepreneurship) as a TechVenture instructor, certified NxLevel trainer and trained Franklin Covey facilitator. He has been adjunct faculty at Harford Community College and Baltimore Christian College.

Tune in to our next giant, Mr. Russell C. Teter III.

Jackson Dalton and I met at the VIB Conference in San Diego California last year. During that time he was being celebrated as the VIB Advocate for winning the John K. Lopez Award!

Jackson Dalton, a Marine Veteran and owner of Black Box Safety, was providing PPE to government agencies before the Pandemic. As fate would have it when Covid19 struck, his company was in line for the huge tailwind of opportunity coming his way.

But that is not how he started. Jackson a former 3M Corporate Safety Engineer tells the tale of how he first got started with no past performance, no experience and a big dream. Sounds like most of us out here taking a chance on our business and ourselves.

In today's episode Jackson and I discuss how entrepreneurs can position themselves to be in line for the next wave of opportunity in the government contracting arena.

Founded in 2017 Black Box Safety is authorized by manufacturers to distribute safety equipment such as eye, face, and head protection; hearing protection; respiratory protection, hand protection, foot protection, and high-visibility garments such as vests and jackets.

Stay tuned for this candid chat with our next Giant, Jackson Dalton.

Likia Hawkins is President and CEO of Steel Point Solutions, LLC, an Information Technology and Business Solutions provider that specializes in delivering digital transformation, cybersecurity, and professional services. Ms. Hawkins possesses a wealth of business ownership, technology, analytics, policy, an economic insight central to positioning the company as a boutique business disrupter in the public sector space. She represents an award-winning small business that is recognized in the public sector for its customer satisfaction and delivery excellence. Ms. Hawkins has over 25 years of experience managing and delivering enterprise information technology and business services and solutions for DoD and IC clients.

Additionally, Ms. Hawkins is highly experienced with the IC Information Technology Environment And with Digital TransformationTechnologies. She is adept at managing multiple projects while working with various stakeholders to accomplish mission objectives and maintain financial health across contracts with values upwards of $50M. Moreover, she leverages her awareness of automation technology, industry standards, and key partnerships to streamline processes and solve complex customer challenges.

Ms. Hawkins utilizes her experience as a government civilian, federal contractor,and entrepreneur to influence Steel Points Business strategies with a keen focus on operational efficiency, economic stewardship, relationship management, strategic teaming, and delivery excellence. Her leadership hasled other firms to receive several awards and recognitions from clients; sales totaling $37M; several industry certifications; and performance/customer satisfaction ratings of excellence where her firm was the prime contractor.

Some key takeaways from today's episode to listen out for: talent acquisition ecosystem, strategic teaming, cross-domain solutions. Ms. Hawkins shared some tricks to evaluate cybersecurity companies, her three tenets to business building and how she set up her firm to success before starting her business.

Tune in to our next giant, Ms. Likia Hawkins.

So you're probably imagining what Eric is doing at an NFT conference? If you haven't already heard, I announced the mint (that is bought in Web3 world) of my new project OSDBU. With the intent of expanding our govcon community into the meta verse and bringing the blockchain developers into the govcon world. I figured why not converge the two ecosystems.

Over the last few days I've met a lot of computer engineers, solidity and rust programmers, blockchain developers and entrepreneurs. My message is the same: why not bring your talents to the government sector to help serve the mission at hand?

With that said I've decided to bring back an episode that we did with Pierce, the CTO of Govcon giants to discuss non RFP contract opportunities for IT companies.

Pierce Robinson is also the Director of Innovation for the Start Center, former US Army Intelligence Analyst and leading the charge on a new venture Safe Source Energy.

I hope you enjoy this upcoming episode between Pierce Robinson and myself.

Today I want to introduce you to a company that I admire greatly, End to End Computing.

The company amongst a host of other things specializes in Application Development (DevSecOps), Cybersecurity (continuous defense detection and responses, Cloud & IT (engineering, integration & modernization) as well as Emerging Tech.

Leading the company at the C suite are two amazing founders, Esteve mede and Carlton Harris.

Esteve is a former Federal Chief Information Security Officer with over 17 years of experience delivering results to both the private and public sector. Esteve is a dynamic Information Technology executive with a broad technology, cyber security, operations, and business background in diverse types of organizations.

Carlton has over 12 years of experience in the information security and cybersecurity field supporting a vast number of government agencies including the US Navy, National Security Agency, US Army Intelligence command, and Department of State. Carlton's technology proficiencies are in SOC implementation, Incident Response, and Cloud Security architecture and design.

There are two reasons why I am excited for you to hear this podcast:

1. EEC has developed a centralized Security Operation Center (SOC) platform call Singularity to continuously monitor and improve the security of an organization while preventing, detecting, analyzing and responding to cybersecurity incidents.
2. EEC has created a team within their organization that brings blockchain solutions to the government space. With the launch of my new NFT on the ERC-20 I have now familiarized myself with all things blockchain. I am also seeing the potential it has to solve most of the needs that federal agencies incur.

For small businesses who may also have technical founders, listen to the portion of the interview where we discuss their change in strategy to start winning opportunities.

For IT companies wanting to model EEC success we share initial struggles, how to show the government or client they need what you are selling, also the partnership opportunities in working with EEC.

If you are serving a government client or federal agency throughout the interview We discuss how their solution is solving government client problems right now.

Lastly we meet the founders here about their backgrounds and take a few questions from the audience. This was a live interview that we did last year at the American Cyber League Grand Opening @ Quantico Cyber Hub.

Oh and by the way, they are 8a, SDVOSB, primes on Stars III, Navy Seaport, GSA Schedule 70 amongst other alphabets in the government soup mix.

Warning: It does get really technical in the middle but stick with us throughout (non technical) we do get to the good stuff after the technical piece.

Let's welcome our next Giant, End to End Computing.