Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer joined with U.S. Senator Bill Nelson on Monday to host a day-long summit aimed at giving Orlando’s Small Businesses new tools to help them secure contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Orlando Small Business Defense Procurement Summit drew 500 small business owners from around Central Florida and featured presentations by Cecilia Muñoz, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of White House Intergovernmental Affairs and Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics.
The event is part of a larger effort by the White House and the Defense Department to encourage more small businesses to pursue DOD contracts and give those businesses a greater understanding of how to interact with the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal contracting agencies. The event also included panel discussions with federal contractors and provided Orlando’s small businesses with the opportunity to engage in matchmaking sessions with major prime contractors and government contracting officials.
“We are so excited to have been able to work with our partners at the White House and the Department of Defense to provide Orlando’s small businesses with another tool to help them grow their companies, create jobs and continue building a 21st century economy here in Central Florida,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “Small businesses and entrepreneurship are the life blood of our local economy and we are committed to doing everything possible to support the success of our small businesses.”
“We need to be doing all we can to support local small businesses,” remarked U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. “This event is aimed at doing just that by helping them learn how to get contracts with the federal government and defense-related industries.”
Each year, the U.S. Department of Defense spends more than 400 billion dollars on contracts with private sector companies. Florida ranks as the fifth largest state in terms of DOD spending. In 2011, the DOD expects 12 billion dollars will be spent in Florida, with 3.3 billion dollars in contracts going to Florida’s small businesses.
