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JUNE 14: MEMBERS ONLY: Katherine Kudrewicz, Director Procurement, USPTO

Join us for an intimate session with

Kate Kudrewicz

Director

Office of Procurement

United States Patent & Trade Office (USPTO)

Ms. Kudrewicz joins us to have an open exchange about opportunities at USPTO, answer questions and provide some great advice for small businesses wanting to work with the USPTO and the federal government generally.

About Ms. Kudrewicz

Kate Kudrewicz is the Director, Office of Procurement at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this capacity she is responsible for acquisition professionals leading change with annual obligations in excess of $600 million.

Kate has been a Contracting Officer at the USPTO since March of 1992 responsible for supporting the mission in the acquisition of a variety of goods and services.

Prior to her career with the USPTO, Kate was a Contract Specialist at one of the largest buying activities in the Federal Government, Naval Sea Systems Command. In the Undersea Warfare Systems Division, her responsibilities included the procurement of electronic warfare systems and spare parts for those systems for placement on US Naval vessels.

Upon obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree, she was selected into the Navy Contracting Career Intern Program, and as a Contract Specialist she participated in the program sponsored by the Career Management Center in Mechanicsburg, PA, assigned to the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Boston, MA. Kate is a 2002 graduate of the Industry Advisory Council Partners Program.

May 22 Homeland & National Security Outlook: The Chertoff Group

Join us for a discussion of the future of the homeland and national security markets with:

Jason Kaufman, Managing Director

Dr. Gary Shiffman, Managing Director

The Chertoff Group, a GTSC Strategic Partner, joins the Coalition to provide a detailed and informative assessment of the homeland and national security markets. The briefing will highlight the insights, wise counsel and operational experience of The Chertoff Group’s senior Principals who have served at the highest levels of government in the National Security community and overseen billions of dollars of technology development and acquisition for the US Department’s of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice, as well as at the National Security Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition senior members of our team have held C-suite and P&L level responsibilities at global technology companies such as L-3 Communications and QinetiQ. Mr. Kaufman and Dr. Shiffman have keen insight into which new technologies are likely to transform the landscape, and our experience allows us to predict which ones may be headed for obsolescence.

About Jason Kaufman

Areas of Focus:

Mergers and Acquisitions
Private Equity Investments
Defense Technology
Government Services
Cybersecurity

Jason brings to The Chertoff Group over twelve years of investment banking and private equity investing experience, exclusively focused on middle market defense and government services companies. During his career, he has advised on over 50 merger, acquisition, private placement, and corporate divestiture transactions worth over $2.5 billion in deal value. He has advised and closed transactions with many of the leading firms in the defense and government services market, including AECOM Technology Corporation, BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, CSC Corporation, Honeywell International, Lockheed Martin, ManTech International, NCI Information Systems, Raytheon Company, and Veritas Capital.

At The Chertoff Group, Jason provides M&A advisory services to the firm’s clients to assist them in achieving their strategic objectives. Prior to joining The Chertoff Group, Jason was a Senior Vice President at BB&T Capital Markets | Windsor Group. He began his career with Jefferies Quarterdeck.

Jason received a MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and a BS from Georgetown University.

About Dr. Gary Shiffman
Areas of Focus:

Terrorism, insurgency, and organized crime
Border security and facilitation
Emergency/incident management, institutional resiliency
Business growth in challenging markets
Global economic trends and national/homeland security

Previous Government Service:

Professor, Security Studies, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (2002 – pres)
Sr. Vice President, General Manager, L-3 Services Group and L-3 Risk Management Solutions, GS&ES (2006-2009)
Chief of Staff, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2004-2006)
National Security Advisor, U.S. Senate (1996-2000)
U.S. Navy, Gulf War veteran.

Dr. Shiffman brings to the Chertoff Group a deep terrorism/counter-terrorism expertise married with successful P&L experience at a Fortune 200 corporation. A prominent economist, he is well known for his perceptive application of economic insights to business leadership, and national and homeland security.

While at L-3, Dr. Shiffman developed a global strategy and associated organizational design for a $4 billion business group to diversify into new security markets, and he turned around a $100M business unit by focusing business structure, processes, and human capital on risk management and resiliency solutions.

During his tenure at DHS, Dr. Shiffman led many border security and facilitation policy initiatives, including the Secure Border Initiative Working Group which successfully re-engineered border enforcement and security processes. He also supported the development of the department’s framework for risk management and metrics.

Prior government service includes appointment as National Security and Senior Policy Advisor to the leadership of the U.S. Senate, and positions in policy, planning, and operations in the US Department of Defense. He is a decorated combat veteran.

Dr. Shiffman earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder; an M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University; and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University. He published Economic Instruments of Security Policy in 2006.

May 16: Brian de Vallance, Special Counselor to Secretary Napolitano

The GTSC welcomes Brian de Vallance, Special Counselor to Secretary Janet Napolitano & Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute for a discussion of how DHS is integrating public safety issues among Federal agencies and Federal, State, Local and tribal governments.

About Brian

Brian de Vallance serves as Senior Counselor to Secretary Janet Napolitano and Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he works on issues relating to integration of public safety issues among the Federal departments and between the Federal and state, local, and tribal governments. He also served as DHS’s Senior Accountable Officer for the implementation of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. During his career, he has also served on the senior staff of two governors, a mayor, a state Supreme Court chief justice, and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, where he worked as the U.S. Department of Justice’s director of intergovernmental affairs and its Federalism officer. He is a graduate of Brown University and Arizona State University’s College of Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the law journal. Brian lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons.

DHS S&T Funding Opportunity for CMAS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for research related to CMAS, as referenced in the 2012 DHS S&T Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (LRBAA).

The CMAS RDT&E Program enables and enhances the national capability to deliver geographic-targeted alert messages to mobile devices that elicit the intended public response. Per the WARN Act, S&T is looking for academic institutions, private sector organizations, government laboratories, and other entities to perform RDT&E activities that address geographic-targeting and public response performance gaps. These RDT&E activities will improve the functionality of CMAS both by reaching crucial recipients with CMAS alerts and by enabling CMAS alert recipients to act in a way that increases individual and collective safety and security.

More information about this funding opportunity, including links to the LRBAA, application, research areas of strategic interest, submission requirements and processes, and evaluation criteria can be found on Grants.gov: http://1.usa.gov/HFpUPR. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to submit white papers through the LRBAA system by May 24.

Market Solutions Series Launches April 24

THE MARKET SOLUTION SERIES: Lessons from the Sale of National Security Interest Corporation (NISC)
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GTSC launches its Market Solutions Series April 24th!

The Market Solution Series provides an inside look at creative, successful iterations in the Federal homeland and national security market. These intimate roundtables take you inside the “story” and allow you to understand the market components and forces that resulted in success. Developed for companies within the Coalition that want to partner, team and learn how to collaborate for success, the series focuses on real-world business solutions and ideas to pursue Federal opportunities.

Join us for our first candid discussion with
Andrew Maner
Vice President and Partner, NISC Business Leader in IBM’s Global Business Services Public Sector Practice and former Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

In 2010, IBM purchased the National Security Interest Corporation (NISC) after its stellar growth in the homeland and national security market. Join us to hear the story of how the NISC was started, funded and grown through acquisition and solid leadership to a success tory earning it NVTC’s “Hottest Exit” award.

About Mr. Maner
In addition to leading IBM’s NISC business, he was recently named to lead the Strategy and Growth for IBM Public Sector Leader Chuck Prow. Prior to being acquired by IBM in March of 2010, Maner was the Chief Executive Officer of National Interest Security Company (NISC), a 1,000 employee DC Capital backed Information Management/Services and Technology Management Consulting Company serving the intelligence, homeland security, DoD, federal medical and energy marketplaces.
In 2006-2007, he was President of ABM LLC, an advisory services firm specializing in federal strategic sales, marketing and messaging, and revenue growth activities in federal, state, and local security markets.
Mr. Maner was appointed by President George W. Bush in January 2004 as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until March of 2006. As the CFO, Mr. Maner was responsible for the on-going integration of agencies such as the Transportation Security Agency, United States Cost Guard, United States Secret Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FEMA into DHS. Maner also managed all budget, finance, financial systems, strategic planning and investment review functions within the ~$50 billion Cabinet Department.
Mr. Maner also served at the U.S. Customs Service (later to become U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Department of Homeland Security) from January 2002 to January 2004. Mr. Maner was the Chief of Staff to U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, serving as the agency’s principal operating officer. In March 2003, Mr. Maner was also asked to direct and manage the merger of the four component agencies of CBP, including U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol, INS inspections and Agriculture & Quarantine Inspections. The merger involved a total of 42,000 personnel and budgets totaling ~$7.0 billion.
Before Joining U.S. Customs, Mr. Maner was Vice President for Development and Sales for ICG Commerce, an international supply chain services provider. During his tenure, Mr. Maner also founded and managed the company’s indirect channel practice, their leading vertical revenue producing division. He also co-managed private fundraising rounds that raised over $100 million from financial sources worldwide. Prior to ICG Commerce, Maner was a Principal at aligne, Inc., a technology consulting firm specializing in information technology, e-commerce initiatives and supply chain outsourcing.
Mr. Maner served in the administration of President George Bush in the White House Office of Advance and later as a Staff Assistant under Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater in the White House Press Office (1991-1993). Following the change in administration, he continued to work for former President Bush and Mrs. Bush, as Director of Press and Political Affairs in the former President’s office in Houston, Texas. During the U.S. aid effort in Somalia in 1993, Mr. Maner served as Special Assistant to the United Nations Envoy to Somalia in Mogadishu, where he helped manage operations and interactions between the thirty nations contributing troops and aid. He also assisted with political, economic/trade development and food aid efforts throughout the country.
Mr. Maner is a graduate of Purdue University (B.A.), where he currently serves as Chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Board. He received his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. In 2005, Mr. Maner was selected for the coveted Purdue University “Old Masters” award program and was chosen to receive the Distinguished Public Service Award from the United States Coast Guard in 2006. Maner is on the Board of Directors of the Armed Forces Foundation. In June 2010, Maner accepted the “Hottest Exit” award from the Northern Virginia Technology Council in recognition of NISC’s sale to IBM. Maner was also recently selected to the FED100 for 2010, an honor recognizes the Top 100 individuals for their accomplishments in the Federal Government/Contracting Community partnership. Maner lives in Washington D.C with his wife Julie and their 3 sons.

USCIS Entrepreneurs in Residence Program

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has partnered with business experts to improve procedures for employment-based and high-skilled visa categories used by immigrant entrepreneurs. Director Alejandro Mayorkas kicked-off this innovative program, called the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative, with an Information Summit in Silicon Valley in February. Now, USCIS has entered a new phase of the initiative by bringing together the EIR Tactical Team. For 90 days this collaborative team, composed of both USCIS employees and entrepreneurs from the private sector, will identify opportunities where USCIS can streamline pathways for foreign entrepreneurs. Team members began their work at USCIS in late March. Last week, they traveled to the California Service Center and met with USCIS officers to discuss the visa categories most often used by immigrant entrepreneurs: H-1B, L-1 E-1, E-2, and O-1.
EIR team members come from diverse backgrounds and offer vast business and immigration expertise. The USCIS employees are seasoned professionals with experience in employment-based immigration. The entrepreneurs bring a wide-range of real-world startup experience, including product development, investment and finance, and technology innovation. Together, they have worked with private companies, non-profits, students, and domestic and international startups at all stages of the startup lifecycle. You can read complete team member bios on the EIR Tactical Team website.
Team members include (listed alphabetically):
Luis Arbulu, Founder and Managing Partner, Hattery
Sunny Choi, Associate Counsel , USCIS Office of Chief Counsel
Robert H. Cox, Associate Counsel, USCIS Office of Chief Counsel
Liz Elkiss, Counselor to the Director, USCIS
Paul Ford, Vice President, Community Development, SoftLayer Technologies
Ted Gonder, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Moneythink
Mark E. Harvey, Supervisory Immigration Services Officer, USCIS California Service Center
Efren Hernandez, Senior Advisor, USCIS Office of Policy and Strategy
Tanya Howrigan, Supervisory Immigration Services Officer, USCIS Vermont Service Center
Julia C. Kennedy, Adjudication Officer, USCIS Service Center Operations
Emery Moore, Supervisory Immigration Officer, USCIS Vermont Service Center
Blake Patton, Entrepreneur in Residence, Advanced Technology Development Center
Paul Singh, Partner, 500 Startups
Catherina Sun, Assistant Center Director, USCIS California Service Center
Natalie Tynan, USCIS Office of Policy and Strategy
USCIS is excited for the opportunity to bring together a dynamic team of industry experts and talented employees to explore ways to better serve their customers and promote American prosperity and job creation. To read more about this program or employment-based immigration please visit http://www.uscis.gov/.

Nominate a Colleague for the Rick Rescorla Award for Resilience

Nominations are still being accepted for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience, in memory of Richard “Rick” Rescorla. During the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Rescorla led the evacuation of Morgan Stanley’s 2,700-person work force in the World Trade Center, saving many of his coworkers at the expense of his own life.
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience is DHS’ first national resilience award for superior leadership and innovation by a non-governmental organization or individual who exemplifies the qualities and achievements of Rick Rescorla, emphasizing leadership in effective preparation, response, and recovery in the face of disasters.
For more information on eligibility and criteria for the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience and how to nominate an individual or organization, visit www.dhs.gov/rrraward. An individual or organization may be nominated for the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience through May 15, 2012. The award will be presented annually beginning this September.
Please email additional questions to [email protected].

MEMBERS ONLY: Join us in the Verizon Box for Networking at Wizards vs. Bucks!

Thanks to Interstate Technologies, one of GTSC’s newest members, you are invited to join us for some great networking, fun and Wizards vs. Bucks!
Register here as soon as possible to grab your tickets for the game April 18!
First come, first, served.
Thanks Interstate!!

GTSC Proud to Announce Scott Algeier, Executive Director, IT-Information Sharing & Analysis Center as Strategic Advisor

The Government Technology & Services Coalition is proud to announce our most recent Strategic Advisor, Scott Algeier.

Scott is a renowned expert in cyber security providing innovative strategic policy and business consulting services to organizations focused on critical infrastructure protection. He is the Executive Director of the Information Technology – Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC), a non-profit industry association that facilitates the sharing of cyber threat information within industry and across critical infrastructure sectors. At the IT-ISAC, Scott leads the initiative to develop and implement enhanced information sharing and analysis capabilities. In addition, Scott is Founder and CEO of Conrad, Inc., a consulting firm focused on engaging clients in the development of homeland security policy through direct engagement with policy leaders. We are excited to have Scott’s leadership to include small and mid-sized companies in sharing threat information among private sector entities and better understanding the challenges of sharing critical information between the public and private sector. More information on Scott is available here.