Huntsville, AL — More than 200 representatives of large and small businesses attended the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center for the October 2022 Huntsville Small Business Industry Day. 20 at the Davidson Space Discovery Center at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
The event provided an overview of doing business with the Huntsville Center and covered key regulatory changes and upcoming acquisitions, followed by the opportunity for attendees to interact directly with program managers and contract officers on the Center’s 40+ programs.
In addition to small businesses, large corporations also participated in the event, looking for potential subcontractors, protégés or partners.
Colonel. Huntsville Center Commander Sebastien Joly welcomed attendees with opening remarks.
“We’ve got a lot of great speakers for you and plenty of opportunities for all the Corps of Engineers to meet our stakeholder requests,” Jolly said.
In the overview section of the event, Albert “Chip” Marin III, Program and Operations Manager at the Huntsville Center, addressed attendees, explaining the important role the private sector plays in the success of the Center’s mission.
“Without you (private business), the Huntsville Center has done zero work, not done,” he said.
“HNC’s (Huntsville Center) partnership with industry is very important to us. It is our collective partnership with each other that has made us successful, and it is this collective partnership that has helped us address some of the nation’s toughest challenges.”
Over the past decade, the Huntsville Center has awarded more than $6 billion in contracts to small businesses. The Huntsville Center awarded more than $825 million in contracts to small businesses.
Rebecca Goodsell, director of the Huntsville Center’s Office of Small Business Programs, said the center allocated more than $800 million to small businesses last fiscal year.
“We had an extraordinary year in fiscal 2022 with more than $117 million in incentives for small businesses focused on their achievements in FY21,” Goodsell said.