Contact: Stephanie Brewster

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tel: 214-377-0133

Email: sbrewster@tucsonproject.com

TUCSON PROJECT LLC TAPPED FOR

 SBA’S E200/EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM

[DALLAS, TX – April 2, 2012] -  Tucson Project LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) was selected out of several hundred businesses competing for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) newly expanded executive training program for small businesses. The e200 program’s primary goal is to advance the abilities of small businesses to capture more and larger contracts.  The seven month program is being held in 27 cities, including Dallas, TX, and incorporates a proven research-based, accelerated curriculum designed to expose the firms’ CEOs to new strategies for corporate development and growth strategies.  Lectures throughout the program will include options for accessing new capital and securing government contracts.  More specifically, the program focuses on executives of established businesses, who are currently poised for growth, from communities across the country.  It also provides entrepreneurs the organizational framework, resource network, and motivation required to build more competitive companies.

SBA Administrator Karen Mills said, “With the tools, training and additional skills offered by the e200 Initiative/Emerging Leaders Program, participating firms will be able to create more opportunities to increase revenues and become an even more successful business.”  This program has resulted in entrepreneurial success that has generated new jobs, attracted investments, and has provided a more sustainable economic base. Past participating businesses of the program have gained revenues totaling over $7 million dollars.

Tucson Project LLC, based in Dallas, TX, provides business process solutions to government and industry in the areas of administrative services, project management, logistics, and IT support.  The firm has nationwide capacity and has supported a number of clients including Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice, USPS, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.  With the SBA’s continued technical assistance, Tucson Project will gain additional tools to extend its presence with Region VI federal offices, fortify its brand and name recognition, and become a more dynamic company.  “We are extremely motivated and excited about participating in this program and consider it to be invaluable technical support at a critical growth point for Tucson Project,” states Derick Jordan, President/CEO.

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Tucson Project and the WOW! Experience

Tucson Project hosted six undergraduate students from the University of Texas at Dallas’ Explore the World of Work! (WOW!) Externship/Job Shadowing Program during the week of spring break. The program is designed for undergraduate students of all majors to give them a firsthand look at the workplace in a career of their choice.  Tucson Project staff created a work environment for the students that included small projects related to the Company’s actual projects in the Governments Solutions Group. Students were assigned a variety of tasks including graphic design, web design, business development and research. Through exposure to a real work environment, the students will learn more about job requirements, employer expectations, and professionalism. All externships are an unpaid and non-credit volunteer experience. The program is also an opportunity for employers to conduct a week-long interview of the students and possibly consider them for current and future internship and job opportunities.  Veronica Parker, Tucson Project Senior Vice President welcomed the students and told the students; “… one key to your success will be your willingness to create your own personal brand comprised of continuous cycles of excellence and high performance. This will be a differentiator in your career quickly setting you apart and establishing you as an exceptional team member.”

Saamer, an extern majoring in Mechanical Engineering was assigned projects involving web development making use of his skills in JavaScript and HTML. Saamer was excited with the results of his projects stating, “I learned stuff that I thought I never would when I changed my major from Computer Engineering, but now I have fulfilled that dream.”

Many students, who are undecided about their majors and have many interests, participate in the WOW! Program to help them narrow down career options, while others participate to be connected to a local firm to experience their future career.  UT Dallas’ Career Center started the WOW!  Program four years ago with 20 students and has over quadrupled in size with almost 90 participants this year. The success of the program is largely due to the dedication of the staff at the Career Center as they do their best to ensure that both the students and the employers are pleased with their experience.  Local businesses of all sizes can participate in these types of programs nationwide to help shape the future workforce.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tel: 214-377-0133

Email: sbrewster@tucsonproject.com

TUCSON PROJECT ENTERS MENTOR-PROTÉGÉ PROGRAM WITH DHS

Tucson Project LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Akima Intra-Data have been approved to participate in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mentor-Protégé program. Under the Agreement, Akima Intra-Data, the mentor firm, will assist Tucson Project in improving its ability to increase its win rate and enhancing its service offerings.  The Program is designed to motivate and encourage large prime contractors to help small businesses improve their business development and technical skills.  DHS also designed the Program to enhance the performance of DHS contracts, foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between DHS large and small contractors, and increase prime and subcontracting opportunities.  “The new relationship is mutually beneficial for both companies,” states Veronica Parker, Sr. VP – Tucson Project, “We are very pleased with the opportunities this relationship will create and are confident this teaming will afford both firms new opportunities.”

Tucson Project LLC, based in Dallas, TX, provides business process solutions to government and industry in the areas of administrative services, project management, logistics, and IT support.  The firm has nationwide capacity and has supported a number of clients including DHS, U.S. Department of Justice, USPS, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Akima Intra-Data, LLC is part of the Akima family of companies operating under the Akima Management Services, LLC (AMS) umbrella. Akima Intra-Data focuses on specialized training and training support, data and records management, personnel support services, and administrative support. The firm supports many government agencies to include the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), and Department of Justice (DOJ).  “This partnership is an exciting opportunity for both companies to collaborate and expand into new markets” states Don Laney, President of Akima Intra-Data LLC.

Both Tucson Project and Akima Intra-Data are proactively aligned with DHS in promoting the capabilities of small businesses to provide quality services to DHS and all of its components.  The DHS Mentor-Protégé Program is an excellent tool for small businesses to pursue in an effort to accelerate their federal contracting skills.

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According to a study by the National Veteran-Owned Business Association, seventy percent of Americans stated they would be more likely to use a veteran-owned business than a non-veteran-owned business. This shouldn’t be surprising since service men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces are known for their commitment to integrity and excellence. Americans trust veterans will bring the same code of ethics to their business practices that they used in the service of their country. If you are a veteran considering starting your own business, or a veteran debating if you should register your company as a veteran-owned business, there are many benefits to consider.

While the government does not provide specific grants to veterans, the SBA does provide a Patriot Express Pilot Loan for veterans pursuing new start-ups or expansion of a small business. Check with your state government as well; some states have specific loans for veteran state residents. In addition, there are also training and mentoring programs like the Veterans Business Outreach Program that provide training, counseling, mentoring, and referrals for veteran small business owners. The VBOP can help walk you through the entire process of starting your business from concept and business plan mentoring to training in franchising and international trade. If you are a post 9/11 veteran with a disability, several business schools offer an “Entrepreneurship Bootcamp” that is “designed to open the door to business ownership for our veterans.”

Registering your business with programs like the VetBiz VIP program and Buy Veteran will help you market yourself as a veteran-owned business. Each agency of the federal government also has a procurement set-aside percentage for SDVOSBs. Registering your business as veteran-owned enables your firm to bid on contracts. The VetBiz VIP registry is used by the federal government as well as private businesses to find veteran-owned businesses for contract and teaming opportunities. VetBiz’s VIP program also provides information on contracting opportunities and news about legislation or other things that may affect your business. Buy Veteran is a campaign by the National Veteran-Owned Business Association. Buy Veteran provides a business directory of registered veteran-owned businesses for companies and private individuals to find local veteran-owned business.

There are many great benefits and opportunities for veteran business owners. If you are a veteran who owns a small business, identify yourself as a veteran! If you are a veteran considering opening a small business, take advantage of the many communities and mentorship programs designed just for veterans.

Tucson Project LLC is proud to employ veterans of our armed services from the US Army and Marine Corps. We thank all of our veteran employees for their service to our country and the dedication shown during employment at Tucson Project. We greatly appreciate the on the job integrity and excellence exhibited daily.

Small business employing veterans gain valuable team members that bring military-service instilled work ethic and commitment to excellence to their jobs. Service in the armed forces teaches men and women the skills and values that are necessary for small businesses to succeed. The military instills a high level of commitment to honor and discipline that makes veterans excellent employees.

There are several organizations that can help firms find qualified veterans in both technical and professional classifications. Marine For Life, a service provided by the US Marine Corps offers assistance to Marine veterans looking to find work employment. The program explains to employers, “the initiative, commitment, teamwork, communication skills and flexibility of Marines are what win battles. These same qualities are helping businesses succeed every day.”

The US Army’s Army Career & Alumni Program also connects Army veterans with employers after a free registration with their “Employers Who Want to Hire Veterans” database. “These veterans want challenging work that recognizes the importance of competency and capitalizes on their abilities.”

Hire Patriots is a private organization “committed to finding a job for every US Veteran.” You can post anything from one day “off-duty” jobs to full-time employment opportunities for service members and their spouses.

As Veteran’s Day approaches what better way for the business community to say “thank you” to our service men and women than by supporting veteran-owned businesses and hiring veterans for gainful employment.

As we remember Veteran’s Day this week, we here at Tucson Project LLC would like to take a moment to express our gratitude to the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces. These individuals who answer the call of duty make many sacrifices in the service of our country. They sacrifice personal ambitions and desires in order to do what is best for our country. Many leave their families behind to travel halfway across the globe to distant and unfamiliar lands foregoing all the comforts and familiarities of home. Argentinean author José Narosky said, “In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” Each service member faces emotional, mental, and physical hardships in the service of their country.

Since the Revolutionary War, the sacrifices of our service men and women have preserved the freedoms and way of life that we hold so dearly here in America. Because of their sacrifices, we live in a nation that believes entrepreneurship should be the foundation of the economy—that an individual can see a need, start a business, and serve their family, their community, their country. The sacrifices of our veterans preserve our right to participate. Americans have the ability and the responsibility to participate in government, business, and education—ordinary citizens decide the future of our nation. The freedoms we enjoy have been, and continue to be, paid for by the selflessness and patriotism of the men and women of our armed forces. As Elmer Davis, Director of the Office of War Information during WWII, said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”

Veteran-owned firms like Tucson Project LLC, support keeping the homeland secure in a civilian role by offering services and solutions to US government agencies. We salute all of our fellow veteran-owned firms for their continuing service to our country.

And may we never forget the sacrifice of those who “gave the last full measure of devotion.” From the time of the American Revolution to Operation Iraqi Freedom, millions of men and women in our armed forces have sacrificed their lives so that “that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” They paid the ultimate price for our freedom. “They fell, but o’er their glorious grave / Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.”

Freedom is not free. It is paid for by the blood, sweat, and tears of the men and women of the armed forces and their families. They deserve our immense gratitude and respect. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your service. We are eternally grateful.

The 2011 American Express Open small business conference held in Dallas, TX focused on equipping firms to be excellent government contractors. The free conference was packed with useful information for both federal and state government contractors. The sessions were dynamic and informative, offering sound strategies for both firms looking to win their first government contract, and seasoned contractors seeking to improve their capture management strategy.  Entrepreneurs received specific checklists and resources in a number of areas including leveraging certifications, and how to effectively team to win federal contracts.  Homeland Security Small Business Advocate, Anthony Bell provided direct and practicable steps on how to prepare your firm to become positions the sell to DHS. Bell discusses the role of the DHS Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and how firms can use them as a resource.

The federal government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the world. American Express Open offers a number of reasons for small businesses to contract with governments; not the least of which is each year, the federal government spends nearly $100 billion on products and services supplied by small businesses. With special set-asides for different kinds of businesses such as Woman-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, there are even more opportunities for savvy small businesses to find a steady stream of income.

Many entrepreneurs had opportunities to meet directly with federal buyers through pre-registering for VIP Contract Connections and buyer/seller meetings. Local buyers, including the City of Dallas, were also present to discuss local contracting opportunities. Some small businesses were able to walk away from the conference with government strong leads and new contacts.

Open Forum has great resources for government contractors. If you’re considering contracting with the government for the first time, or looking to expand into other departments or collaborate with other contractors, American Express Open may be a good resource for you.

Have you ever had a bad boss? You know, the kind of boss that thinks since he has the title of “manager,” “supervisor,” or “team leader” and you do not, your input or feelings are unnecessary and unwanted. We probably all have. There is a difference between the boss that you endure and hope that if you complain enough to his supervisor, he might get reassigned, and the boss that has earned your respect and loyalty. One of them expects their title to do all the hard work for them; the other understands having a title of leadership is only the first step in becoming a leader.

In his latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership, John Maxwell says that being given a title of leadership is only the first step on a long journey to become a great leader. “The title or the position doesn’t make the leader, the leader makes the position,” Maxwell explains in “A Minute With Maxwell.” If you’ve been given a title of leadership, don’t think of it as a shield to hide behind or a sword to thrust in someone’s face, think of it as a great responsibility that you must strive to live up to.

On the other side of the coin, if a title does not a leader make, then a title becomes unnecessary to be a true leader. If you have not been given a title of leadership, don’t be content to sit on the sidelines thinking that since you don’t have a title, you don’t have to be a leader. You can build your leadership skills now. In many cases, supervisors are looking for people who possess good leadership skills. They may notice your potential and choose to reward you with a title of your own.

Proactive leaders start with a vision. The leader must be able to see the vision – what some call the ideal scene. The beginning of a vision is just the mere thought, then with persistence and commitment it is transformed into a physical reality. In order for a manager or executive to motivate teams to work towards creating that physical reality, they must be able to see the vision. A shared vision is a great way to build a sense of belonging for staff and stakeholders. Framing the vision is not an easy process to which leaders rarely ever have all the right answers. What makes a leader successful is their willingness to ask the difficult, yet necessary questions. In his new book, entitled What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, Harvard Business School professor and author Robert Kaplan outlines many of the questions effective leaders should be asking. The first question asks whether you are managing your time effectively or not.

Time management is an essential skill at every career level, and it is a skill many people fail to maintain. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in daily requirements and schedules that vision-critical strategies are forgotten.  It is necessary to regularly examine how your time is spent. It may be that the schedule you have always stuck to isn’t helping you achieve your key priorities. You may discover you are spending an inordinate amount of time on non-essential or even counterproductive tasks, and an insufficient amount of time on the tasks which are most essential to the vision.

The first step to good time management is determining your priorities. It is much easier to determine which priorities are most important if you have an overarching vision to align the goals and projects.  Adding clarity to your vision will provide a road map that will offer project managers and leaders with high-performance tactics and consistent communication a conduit for robust processes and systems. Your vision should focus on both the present and the future. Determine why you are in the place you are, and what you hope to achieve in the short-term. Then determine where you want to see yourself and your company in the future. Don’t be afraid to dream big. A wise man once said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” A good vision statement will help you stretch yourself.

Once your goals are defined, determine how you are going to achieve them. What steps will you need to take in order to reach your goals? These should be clearly defined and possess easily measurable steps. Try to limit yourself to 3-5 critical tasks. If that proves too difficult, place tasks into one of three groups. The first group consists of tasks that you must not only complete, but complete with excellence. The second group is tasks that need to be done, but will not require the level of perfection tasks in the first group will. The third group’s tasks are those tasks which would be nice to get to, but are not essential to realizing your vision.

Now you can determine if you are properly appropriating your time to successfully complete your key priorities. Harvard Business Review suggests you create a spreadsheet to help you document your time. Block out action categories that best describe your daily activities. Then track how much time you spend at each of these activities. Count your time for one activity only; don’t try to push the same time into two or three different categories. Do this for two weeks. At the end, tally up percentages of how much time was spent on each category.

How do your results line up with your key priorities? Are you spending too much time on tasks that could be done just as well by someone else? Are you spending too much time supervising your staff and not enough time building client relationships?  Reorganizing your time so that the bulk of it is spent on activities that best serve your top priorities is key.

Interested in learning more about Tucson Project LLC? Check out our PowerPoint presentation for more information about the company and how we can support your organization in managing and executing mission-critical projects. Tucson Project offers business process solutions, administrative support and professional support services. Our number one priority is our client’s mission. Clients can always expect superior customer service, a four-step Project Management Process designed to ensure your satisfaction, and a commitment to excellence illustrated through our Quality Assurance Program. Also included is a list of some of our current and past projects as well as our partner government agencies and private corporations. We’re convinced the combination of excellent performance and competitive pricing makes Tucson Project consistently the best value for the contract dollar.