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Demystifying the Process of Doing Business with the Military
Maryland’s 12 military installations throughout the State help to strategically position all of our private sector industries for increased growth and profit margins. While many innovations and advancements take place ‘on base’ in areas outside of our local jurisdictions, every community can identify opportunities to acquire these advancements and turn them into commercial applications for our companies. The 2017 MEDA Fall Conference is designed to address the many ways economic developers can position the companies in their region to take full advantage of these economic drivers and the variety of network opportunities available to all businesses throughout the State of Maryland.
Event Sponsor: St. Mary’s Department of Economic Development
Fall Conference agenda is now available. Click here to view the agenda.
The MEDA Summer Conference meeting minutes are now available. Click here to review.
When
Mon, Oct 23, 2017 @ 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
Where
Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
22156 Three Notch Rd
Lexington Park , MD 20653
Book a Special Rate at the Hampton Inn by Hilton
* $89 plus tax
Book a Special Rate at the Towneplace Suites by Marriott
* $119 plus tax
Conference Speakers
The MEDA 2017 Fall Conference Speakers
Ms. Buzzeo serves as the Managing Director for the Center for GIS at Towson University where she oversees data development and web application projects, strives to set standards for excellence in service and deliverables, and develops and maintains infrastructure to support business processes. Previously, Ms. Buzzeo served as a Project Manager, managing a variety of geospatial projects for internal and external partners of the University. TU recently completed the first phase of a multi-year initiative with the Maryland Department of Commerce, which included assessing the impact of the state’s defense industry by mapping and assessing the impact of the state’s defense industry. Ms. Buzzeo managed the development and deployment of an interactive supply chain mapping tool for the defense supply chain in Maryland, the Maryland Defense Network (MDN). The MDN is an interactive online tool that maps defense spending in the state, created with input from regional focus groups, including economic development professionals, industry partners, and defense contractors, and is accessible through a secure website.
Ms. Buzzeo is also heavily invested in teaching and sharing the power of GIS with others – she is currently the lead trainer for the State of Maryland for geospatial software with the Department of Information Technology, where she has trained over 700 state and local government employees on the power of GIS and locational technology to support government research and projects.
Ms. Buzzeo has a BA and MS degree in Geography and Environmental Planning and brings over 15 years of project management and GIS-related experience.
Dr. Daitch has been serving as CEO and Founder of Akonni Biosystems since 2003. Dr. Daitch has 25 years experience encompassing a broad range of disciplines including chemistry, biology, biosensors and chemical/biological defense. He directs multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers focused on the development of next-generation diagnostic devices and biosensors. He has 8 years of R&D experience gained from positions with NIH, the USDA, and Sandia National Labs; 20 years of commercial senior management experience (P&L responsibility) gained from positions at PSR, Veridian, HandyLab, CUBRC, and Akonni Biosystems corporations. He has 5 U.S. patents, 17 peer reviewed publications and served as principle investigator on over $12 million in government grants and contracts.
Richard (Rick) Decker has enjoyed a diverse career in Industry (manufacturing plastics or designing space crew equipment) and Academia (University of Maryland – Director of Biomedical Engineering for Montebello Center, Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Service) and Federal Service (Chemical and Biological personal and collective protective equipment).
Rick’s last position in Federal Service was as Technical Director, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, an element of the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. In this capacity, he directs the execution of research and development for the Department of Defense’s non-medical chemical and biological defense programs. Rick oversees approximately 1,800 personnel located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; Pine Bluff Arsenal, AR; and Rock Island Arsenal, IL, who conduct research, engineering and field operations in support of the joint services and civilian government agencies and a $400 Million annual budget.
Since retirement in Apr 2010, Rick works with three 501(c)(3) non-profits focused on Maryland State Parks, Forests and Recreation advocacy. He works to preserve, restore, renovate an historical village and support a variety of living history educational programs. Currently, Rick serves as President, Friends of Jerusalem Mill, Inc.; current board member and past President, Friends of Maryland Forest and Parks, Inc., and, Secretary, Percy Lee Dairy Farm Foundation, Inc. In Sep 2013, Rick was selected as the Senior Adult Volunteer of the Year at the Governor’s Service Awards
In March 2014, Rick was asked to help establish a consortium of private businesses, educational institutions, governmental agencies, and representatives of U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) that will cooperate to establish an Additive Manufacturing hub. Authorized by direct legislative act of the Maryland General Assembly in May 2014, Regional Additive Manufacturing Private-Public-Partnership in Maryland (RAMP-MD), 501(c)(3), provides streamlined access through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s (ECBC) expertise and capabilities in the areas of Additive Manufacturing. In Jul 2014, Rick was appointed Executive Director by the board of directors and has successfully coordinated over a dozen private-public partnerships.
Bonnie Green is the Executive Director of the Patuxent Partnership, an organization that works with government, industry and academia on initiatives related to science and technology, to include educational programs and workforce development in support of the Navy and broader DoD community.
Prior to joining the Patuxent Partnership, she worked as a Senior Advisor for Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore and traveled extensively in support of their programs.
Ms. Green served as the Deputy Maritime Administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation from 1999-2001 after a career in international trade and transportation.
A native of Annapolis, Maryland, Ms. Green received her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and in 1981, The George Washington University conferred the degree of master of business administration on her. She is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Maryland.
Ms. Green served on the St. Mary’s College Board of Trustees from 1993-2006, and currently serves as vice president, St. Mary’s College of Maryland Foundation. She serves on the boards of Leadership Maryland and the Historic St. Mary’s City Foundation. She served on the board of Historic Sotterley, Inc. Ms. Green is a member of CSM’s Non-Profit Institute Advisory Council and the CSM Campus Advisory Council for its St. Mary’s campus. She is active in St. Mary’s Episcopal Parish, St. Mary’s City, Maryland.
Other professional memberships include the National Defense Transportation Association and the Navy League of the United States.
Brigadier General Mike Hayes USMC (Ret.), a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, completed 33 years of commissioned service in the Marine Corps in April 1999. Since August 1999, he has been serving as the first Managing Director of the Office of Military and Federal Affairs for the State of Maryland. He is responsible for helping ensure federal facility vitality and improving access by Maryland businesses for technology commercialization and partnering. He and his staff work with community, academic and elected officials in the development of regional growth programs as well as in the transition of closed federal facilities Maryland’s military installations now account for 144,000 direct jobs, over 400,000 total jobs and an annual impact of over $57B per year on the State’s economy.
During his Marine Corps career, BGen Hayes, an artillery officer, commanded three organizations during two tours in Vietnam. He also commanded Marine units in Quantico, Virginia; Parris Island, South Carolina; Okinawa, Japan; Camp Pendleton, California; and Panama. He is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, served as the Chief of Staff of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, and as director of both the Marine Corps Force Structure Development and Roles and Missions offices. As a General Officer he commanded Marine Corps facilities in Okinawa and served as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Facilities & Services, Headquarters Marine Corps.
BGen Hayes’ military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars with Combat “V”, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, four Presidential Unit Citations, two Navy Unit Commendations and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
In July 2007 BGen Hayes was named one of two national Public Officials of the Year by the Association of Defense Communities (ADC). In July 2011 he became a member of the Board of Directors of the ADC.
BGen Hayes has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate of both the Naval and National War Colleges. He is married to the former Barbara Paterson of Milwaukee. They have two children and three grandchildren.
Tim Heely has 42 years of professional experience with government and industry during his careers as a US Naval Aviator and in business.
His positions in the U.S. Navy included Program Executive Officer for Naval Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO(U&W)) where he was responsible for the development, test, acquisition and support of all Navy and Marine Corps unmanned air vehicles and air strike weapons; Chief Engineer for the Naval Air Systems Command, Program Manager for Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems, Personnel Manager at the Navy Bureau of Personnel, and Commanding Officer of VFA-192 flying combat missions in the Gulf War.
He has industry experience in leading a profit and loss organization as President of SPARTA, a 1200 person $420M company providing technical services and solutions to US National Intelligence agencies and to the Missile Defense Agency, as well as composite manufacturing. He then led the Washington DC office of a British owned defense company (Executive Vice President, Cobham North America) where he also provided corporate strategy in unmanned systems (air and ground).
Heely is CEO of Vanilla Aircraft, llc, a small business building and operating Ultra-long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicles headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, and Chairman of Sentinel Robotic Services, a small Veteran Owned business providing high end services to the civil, defense and intelligence markets with specific emphasis on unmanned applications.
His received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in American Political Affairs and a Master of Science Degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Aeronautical Engineering (Avionics).
He is currently Executive Vice President of the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance, a Trustee for St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and a board member of Platform Aerospace.
Tom Jarboe is a first term member of the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County and represents District One (Ridge, Piney Point and St. George’s Island). A lifetime St. Mary’s County resident, Jarboe earned a BA in Behavioral Science and a MS in International Commerce from the University of Maryland. He is a graduate of Leadership Maryland and a founding member of Leadership Southern Maryland.
Tom is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. Upon leaving the service he worked for Sierra Management Technologies as a Flight Operations Coordinator for the V-22 Integrated Test Team before going to Eagan McAllister Associates as a Deputy Program Manager. He then left to start his own Defense Contracting company, Technology Security Associates, Inc. where he led as Chief Operating Officer until September of 2014. Tom currently serves as President of Kieyos, LLC, an international trade company. With its corporate headquarters located in Lexington Park, Maryland, with offices in Baltimore, MD, Rochester, NY and Huntsville, AL, Kieyos is well-known in the international trade industry for its expertise in International Traffic in Arms (U.S. State Department) and Export Administration and Regulations (Commerce Department) licensing, Customs brokering, freight forwarding and international business trade development. He is a certified professional in ITAR export compliance (ECoP-ITAR).
An active leader in the community, Tom has served as President of the Board of Directors for Leadership Southern Maryland, Chairman of the Board of the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce, co-chair of the St. Mary’s County Local Emergency Planning Commission and counselor for the Wounded Warrior Initiative at Fort Meade. He has served as a board member of the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance and co-chair of the SMNA BRAC Committee. He also was a member of the BRAC Business Initiative in Howard County, Baltimore Council for Foreign Affairs, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, the Patuxent Partnership, the World Trade Center Institute and the Washington International Trade Association.
In 2013, Jarboe was named the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year. He currently lives in St. Mary’s City with his wife, Shannon and three sons Nick, Christian and Luke.
Ronald W. Kaese, M.B.A., M.S., M.E.
Director, Federal Programs
Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO)
Mr. Kaese came to TEDCO from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where he retired after 32 years of government service. He has worked primarily in an R&D environment within the U.S. Army and NASA. While assigned to the NASA Goddard Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) he served as the Acting Chief of TCO. Mr. Kaese’s work experience also includes serving in the U.S. Air Force and working in the COMSAT Labs, U.S. Army Materiel Command and U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR), and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Investment Finance Group. Mr. Kaese has been working in Technology Transfer and Economic Development since 1998.
Mr. Kaese holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Technology Management from the University of Maryland University College, a Masters of Engineering in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Mr. Kaese has presented locally, regionally, nationally, and to foreign delegations both as a speaker and panel member on the topic of technology based economic development. Presentation forums include: The National Academies, National and Mid-Atlantic Region Federal Lab Consortium, The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, Connecticut’s National SBIR Conference, and Create West Virginia. Foreign delegation presentations include: Japan, China, Brazil, Iraq, and the UK. He also serves on several economic development related boards/committees.
He has a “Million Dollar” family, one boy and one girl, a wife of over 30 years, and three grandsons. The family retreat is the cabin in Romney West Virginia. His hobbies have included SCUBA diving, spelunking, weight lifting, world travel, sky diving, and currently ballroom dancing.
Tim has served as the General Manager of the Fort Meade Alliance for the past 7 years. The Fort Meade Alliance is a regional community and economic development organization focused on ensuring that Fort Meade remains vital in the eyes of the Federal Government, the Department of Defense, the State of Maryland and the entire region. The organization focuses on issues related to the workforce, the military and their families, traffic issues and understanding the business opportunities surrounding the Army’s 3rd largest installation based on population size. Tim is a Principal in the O’Ferrall Group which serves trade association in Maryland.
Since 2001, Mary Lee Kolich has served as a Business & Procurement Specialist, for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Maryland Procurement Technical Assistance Center (MD PTAC). Ms. Kolich is a seasoned professional with 30 years experience and a solid understanding of diverse business management applications. She has demonstrated knowledge and experience in contract negotiations with federal agencies and prime contractors.
Ms. Kolich served as Division Director for two 8a federal contracting businesses that successfully graduated from the SBA program. In that capacity she managed, planned, sold, prepared and delivered complex projects on time and within budget. She has professional sales and procurement experience with commercial entities as well as with county and federal government agencies such as: Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy, Anteon Corporation, OSHA, Bureau of Land Management, Food and Drug Administration, House of Representatives, ICC, District of Columbia Agencies etc.
Ms. Kolich owned her own business for five years as a value-added reseller and Partner with Hewlett Packard, Acer, IBM, 3COM and Cisco averaging $1.3M in revenue per year. She provided hardware and logistics support to systems integrators requiring information products in support of government projects.
Based upon her past business experience, Ms. Kolich designed and presented a series of workshops on the following subject matter: How to Sell to the Federal Government; The ABC’s of Procurement; and How to Write a Winning Proposal. Recently, Ms. Kolich received the Small Business Service Award from the Calvert County Minority Business Alliance.
In April 2015, Ms. Leslie Taylor was appointed as Executive Director for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) tasked with the responsibility for ensuring that business and financial objectives are met and that the overall mission is executed in a safe and efficient manner. In her role as Deputy Assistant Commander for Test and Evaluation (T&E) for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Ms. Taylor is responsible for the appropriate implementation of policy and guidance of T&E matters emanating from the NAVAIR offices of Commander, Vice Commander, and Deputy Commander in addition to the successful execution of T&E throughout NAVAIR.
In June 2014, Ms. Taylor was appointed as Executive Director, Integration and Interoperability (I&I) / Integrated Warfighting Capability Enterprise Team Lead (IWC ET) at NAVAIR. She led all NAVAIR I&I/IWC ET initiatives and functions, ensuring that integration and interoperability practices and policies were responsive to all naval equities.
In April 2008, Ms. Taylor was selected to the Senior Executive Service to serve as the Director for Flight Test Engineering within NAVAIR’s Integrated Systems Evaluation, Experimentation and Test Department. She served as the Chief Flight Test Engineer for naval aviation leading more than 900 flight test engineers across 5 geographic sites in the performance of integrated systems test, evaluation, and experimentation to deliver critical war fighting capabilities to our sailors and marines.
In May 2001, Ms. Taylor was selected as NAVAIR’s Director for Warfare Analysis and Integration, where she was responsible for over 200 multi-disciplinary analysts and engineers located at Patuxent River, Md. and China Lake, Calif. She provided the vision and strategic leadership for the people, processes, tools, and facilities necessary to consistently achieve rigorous, quality, fact-based analysis of naval aviation systems. Items under study are of critical, strategic importance to naval aviation and include the future force mix of tactical air platforms and maritime patrol platforms, key investment strategies for nearly all naval aviation assets, and analytical efforts for operational readiness, network-centric warfare, command and control initiatives, and the global war on terror.
In June 1998, Ms. Taylor became the Weapons Integration Integrated Program Team (IPT) Lead for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program where she led a diversified team consisting of roughly 100 military and civilian personnel from across the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, UK Royal Navy, UK Royal Air Force, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin industry counterparts. She developed a Lethality Roadmap capturing the JSF Engineering and Manufacturing Development block approach to integrate over 100 required weapons for the multi-agency, multi-nation program. She maintained insight into each of the competitor’s designs and led the IPT throughout the Conceptual Design Phase and into Source Selection. She was recognized with the Department of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
In July 1990, Ms. Taylor was assigned as a competency manager within the T&E Department as both the Air-Launched Ballistics Branch Head for five years and the Close Air Support Branch Head for three years. In 1994, Ms. Taylor received the Excellence in Federal Career Bronze Award for Supervisors.
Prior to serving as a competency manager, Ms. Taylor served as the team lead for Joint Advanced Strike Technology Stores Certification Process, team lead for Weapon Employment Planning Data and Fleet Support of Air Launched Ordnance, and as the Navy’s lead safe-escape analyst, serving as naval aviation’s representative to the Joint Munitions Effectiveness Manual Fragmentation Working Group. During her time in T&E Engineering, she obtained a selected passenger card allowing her to fly in tactical jet aircraft.
Ms. Taylor received her bachelors of science degree in civil engineering from the West Virginia Institute of Technology in 1984. She earned her master’s degree in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1993. She graduated from the Senior Executive Management
Development Program in October 1998 and is currently an instructor for Johns Hopkins University in
the systems engineering curriculum.
Ms. Taylor has over 30 years of total civilian service.
Helga Weschke is a professional economic developer for over 30 years. She is the Director of Federal Business Relations with the Office of Military and Federal Affairs for the Maryland Department of Commerce. Her role is to support federal agencies in Maryland by advocating for, partnering with, and leveraging their presence to benefit Maryland’s economy and business community.
Helga’s extensive economic and business development experience has been both at the state and local level. She led business development and retention, foreign direct investment and workforce teams. She is an innovator of programs such as Contract Connections and Team Maryland connecting small businesses to contracting opportunities through partnerships with federal agencies and prime contractors. She has also created programs to assist at risk businesses and displaced workers. In her current role, she created and manages a one-stop Business to Government website and resources that introduces small businesses to government contracting and facilitates firms that want to diversify their market.
She is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and holds a Masters of International Business Studies from University of South Carolina and a Bachelors of Business Administration from Virginia Tech.
Customer Advocate for Science and Technology
Lead, Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA)
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Coordinator
Christopher Wilhelm currently serves as the Customer Advocate for Science and Technology (S&T) at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD). Dr. Wilhelm currently manages an S&T portfolio of ~$50M, consisting of 150+ individual projects, that cover Basic Research (6.1), Advanced Research (6.2), Advanced Technology Development (6.3), and Demonstration and Validation (6.4). Dr. Wilhelm is responsible for the management of, and strategic planning for, NSWC IHEODTD in the S&T product area. He is also responsible for providing technical and management advice; leading the development of; and maintaining cost, schedule, and performance metrics; as well as acting as the primary interface between the customer(s) and the appropriate Principle Investigators and branch management. Dr. Wilhelm also serves as a mentor to multiple warfare center employees.
As the Lead for the Office of Research and Technology Applications, Dr. Wilhelm manages all Cooperative Research And Development Agreements (CRADAs), Partnership Intermediary Agreements (PIAs), and Educational Partnership Agreements (EPAs). He serves as the Chair of the Invention Evaluation Board (IEB), the liaison to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Technology Transfer Office, as well as working with universities and private industry partners for Naval Technology Transfer. As the SBIR Coordinator at NSWC IHEODTD, Dr. Wilhelm is tasked with overseeing current SBIR projects, as well as working with Technical Points Of Contact (TPOCs) and small businesses to grow the current portfolio of SBIRs.
Dr. Wilhelm’s other assignments have included Team Lead for the Explosive Detection Equipment Program and Counter Improvised Explosive Device Program in NSWC IHEODTD’s D Department. He also served in the command’s first Subject Matter Expert detail to Theater Explosives Exploitation (TEX) at Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Paladin from September 2011 to February 2012, stationed at Bagram Airfield Afghanistan. Prior to his employment at NSWC IHEODTD Dr. Wilhelm served as an active duty Combat Engineer in the United States Marine Corps from June 1994 to June 1998, earning personal awards up to and including the Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Dr. Wilhelm received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Manhattan College in May 2002 and his Doctorate in Chemistry from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook in May 2009.
