Govcon Giants

Today's guest needs no introduction...

Mr. Steven Koprince of Koprince Law founded the blog SmallGovCon, where he has written more than 1,100 posts on government contracting legal issues. The site is viewed by thousands of readers each month and is one of the official must read websites for learning about new rules, changing policies and court findings in federal procurement.

Steven is the author ofThe Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts(AMACOM Books, 2012) and Steven has also written comprehensive handbooks entitledJoint Ventures,SBA Size and Affiliation Rules, and The 8(a) Program.

Steven has been quoted in several national news outlets, has appeared on numerous radio programs and podcasts, and has spoken to dozens of audiences across the country on government contracting matters.

In today's conversation we discuss:

▪his background and personal journey into the world of government

▪small business tip learned from years of experience

▪top 5 mistakes all businesses make when tackling government contracting.

As a nine-time speaker at the national conference of the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, Steven knows a thing or two about government contracting. We are so happy to finally have him here on our show. Turn off all your devices, grab a notepad and be prepared to take copious notes.

We are taking you back to our very first episode...

Narjis B. Ali is the President and CEO of Sure Secure Solutions, an 8a Woman Owned Information Technology (IT) Security company founded in 2004. The companies core capabilities include Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Content Management and Information Management.

She has received numerous awards dating back to 2012 and most recently the prestigious 2016 US Small Business Administration and NASA Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year award 2016 and 2017.

For show notes visit https://govcongiants.com/podcast/01

Hey GovCon Giants today, we are mixing things up a little bit. Starting this month, we will be featuring an all-new podcast that we call Making A Giant. That's right, Making A Giant. This podcast will showcase persons, businesses who got their very first win, not their 10th contract, not some large multi-million dollar contract, but their very first one.

In today's very first episode of Making A Giant, we feature someone who I know as the Mad Guitarist. Chris Facey joined Govcon EDU, and on our weekly Tuesday calls always has a guitar or series of guitars and his background. He's a freight broker and was helping my company, Evankoff ship out critical PPE during the midst of the global pandemic. Well, one day while Chris was watching a video clip from Wesley, the 16-year-old military contractor, he became inspired to stop just learning and decide to take action. He found a transportation readiness contract on beta.sam, that his team qualified for, and he decided to pursue it. With my help and the sample proposals from inside the courses, he was able to a respond and qualify for the final awardees list. And a few weeks later, he was notified that he at one, a spot on the $21 million IDIQ, transportation readiness contract.

Stay tuned for this upcoming episode between Maria and Chris discussing all of the details that took place in between.

In today's episode. We meet with the man who spent the last four years fighting for the little guy. Robb Wong was sworn in as Associate Administrator Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, GCBD, in March of 2017, where he advocated for small businesses and represents them on behalf of the President of the United States. Historically the Associate Administrator Government Contracting Business Development overseas over $500 billion and total federal spending, helps ensure that small businesses can compete for federal opportunities. Robb strategy was straightforward. #1, make SBA certifications more useful. #2, Increase the supply of contracts reserved for the various small business programs and #3 improved GCBD customer service. Highlights of the team's three-year accomplishments include small business contract opportunities grew a total of 33%, HUBZone program revamped for the first time in 20 years, WOSB formal certification, improving teaming opportunities for all 8a, HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB's, subcontract and goals increase to create more opportunities. Rob's philosophy is cemented. And the belief that Small businesses are the job generators that will help make America great again.

In today's episode, we talk about Rob's accomplishments at the SBA. What changes are needed to ensure small businesses continue to win at receiving government contracts? What he would like to see happen after his retirement to push the needle forward for small firms. He continues to give to small businesses. He regularly meets with and counsel small business farms weekly at a local breakfast spot down the street from his residence. Stay tuned for our next Govcon Giant.

Judy Bradt needs no introduction in the government contracting world. For more than 32 years, she's been helping people in federal contracting as a consultant, speaker and author. She's helped thousands of businesses from solopreneurs to multi-million dollar corporations find their fast track success in the federal arena. Judy says there's no such thing as doing business with the federal government, instead of asking what can I bid, winners focus on the right question, Who's my buyer? That's because winners know you do business with people whose needs, fears and priorities aren't in those databases. Today, we go over her story and journey coming into the govcon world and how she led 5,000+ Canadian firms to win more than $250 million in US government contracts, publish guides on US federal solicitations, market for technology architect engineering services and her latest book. Please welcome our next Giant, Judy Bradt.

As a special guest, Mr. Brian Henry, President of Henry General Contractors, who was a former truck driver turned multi-million dollar general contractor. His journey began as a dump truck operator when a good friend approached him about doing more. The business owner was a former employer of his cousin and asked Brian, who's going to be the next MBE and the area. Realizing that his time spent sitting in the dump truck waiting on loads could be more effectively used in managing projects and teams. Brian set out to get his construction supervisor's license. Eventually, he worked his way up until the 8a program and four years later had surpassed the $10 million annual revenue mark.

In today's story, we share Brian's lessons learned from his father, the trial and errors of running a business, viable lessons from building a multimillion-dollar business, speaking with multi-billion dollar executives, how he views a general contractor as a traffic director, and much, much more. This is an eye-opening episode to listen to for those of you who may want to pivot markets for those who believe they are stuck in one particular area. And for those persons looking for direction. Brian was first introduced to me by one of our Govcon EDU students. I remember meeting him in Florida at a National Parks event where he attended and we discussed his ambitions. He's a regular guy who decided that he wanted more out of life. I think that we could all relate to that.

The time that we've ever hosted a guest for a back-to-back episode. But when we finished the interview, I had only gone through about half of my questions and we still had a lot of stones to turn over. For those of you who caught my interview with Kizzy Dominguez last week, today will be more of her wisdom, insights and knowledge. If you're not familiar with Kizzy, She always knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur from an early age, eventually landing herself to founding K Parks Consulting, INC, KPC. KPC Provides staffing professional and in IT training curriculum development for the government. What I like most about Kizzy is that she comes from a down to earth perspective on government contracting.

In today's episode, we discuss, what do you need to do to win versus making a profit in govcon the other side of staffing businesses, the good and bad of bidding. Her experience in bidding on an RFP for 40 secretaries, the three camps, when it comes to 8a, making errors as a small business can be unforgiving and stereotype bias of being socio-economic set aside. I have her take on things, which is the reason why we are featuring her in back-to-back episodes, but don't think that just because she's down to earth, that she's not a successful entrepreneur, her company continues to be a consistent winner on the INC 500 list for 2017, 2019, and 2020, ranking 185, clocking a whopping 69%, three year growth. Stay tuned for this heartfelt episode with Kizzy Domingez.

Telltale signs of entrepreneurship often begins when we are children and today's guest Kizzy Parks Dominguez KParks Consulting Inc.

As a kid, she cleaned golf balls located in an alley behind her friend's house and resell them through a fence to golfers. She used the money to buy FUNYUNS® and Nutty Bars. Kizzy always knew she would become an entrepreneur and earn an advanced degree in psychology. Her entrepreneurial spirit meshed well with her inquisitive nature as an adopted child who always wanted to, and then met, her birth family. Driven to be the successful business owner she always knew she would be. Kizzy went on to earn a Ph.D. and establish KPC over a decade ago.

KPC is an award-winning woman and minority-owned small business. At KPC, we make difference makers through their instructor and web-based training, curriculum development, executive coaching, and analytics.

Today's podcast guest is Frank Spencer III, President of Aztec Contractors Inc. When he first started in construction, his father offered to sell him a dormant construction business for just a $1,000. He essentially just purchased the rights to the name, but the story does not end there. His father also charged him rent to use the space where he set up his first office. Even knowing that Frank had very little funds to work with. To hear the rest of the story tune in all the way to the end on the show. But all I can say is that today Aztec contractors is now a prominent construction company in El Paso, Texas, who is working on several high-profile school projects.

In today's episode we discuss family kids and what he values the most. How long it took him to win a contract after becoming 8a certified, the how, who and how it was given it to him.

Even after interviewing more than a dozen construction companies, it seems like their stories never get old. Each one is like a movie in which a protagonist overcomes the unfathomable to become the hero of their own story.

Today's guests, Cesar Nader, CEO of X Corp solutions of Virginia is leading the charge and helping the small firm grow to the mid-tier level, harnessing the power of federal contracts. Mr. Cesar Nader is a highly sought out speaker and thought leader in the government contracting space. You may have heard him speak at the National 8a Conference, HUBZone, Veterans in Business or Amex Open events.

In 2011, mr. Nader retired from the Marines. And shortly thereafter started teaching military veterans how to transition at X Corp. He began his career as the director of business strategy. And over the next four years worked his way up to the president and CEO.

In today's episode, we discuss a wide range of topics, including how to break into an agency, how to land over 182 awards, why he made it his purpose to go after prime contracts relevant to capacity, how to handle matchmaking events, the importance of spending RFIs and the marvel name that they call X Corp employees. X Corp solutions is a leader in the federal marketplace tackling the areas of intelligence, security and cyber, professional management integration facility, property management, training, and educational development.