bws #259 09/0/08
Vicari Arranges Workshop
To Promote Local Economy
TOMS RIVER -- Ms. Kathy Donnelly, the highest ranking civilian at NavAir, will be among those meeting with Ocean County
business people to provide information on "Doing Business with the Military,” a workshop arranged by Freeholder Director
Joseph H. Vicari to promote attracting appropriations to area military installations into the local economy. It will be
held Oct. 16 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library.
Ms. Donnelly heads the Support Equipment (SE) and Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) Engineering
Department of the Naval Air Systems Command at Navy Lakehurst, New Jersey. She manages more than 1,300 civilian and
military professionals providing technical direction and guidance for the planning and execution of programs involving the
research, design, acquisition, development, maintenance and operation of Aircraft Platform Interface equipment critical to
Naval Aviation.
Thomas F. Hill and Dawn Chartier will accompany Director Donnelly. Hill is Division Head of the NavAir Lakehurst
Contract Division and brings 29 years of experience in contracting in the private and public sectors and was an adjunct
professor for the Florida Institute of Technology's MBA program. Chartier is Deputy of the NavAir Lakehurst Office of
Small Business Programs and is the New Jersey representative for the Department of Defense in the Middle Atlantic Regional
Council.
Also speaking will be Emil Kaunitz, president of Specialty Systems, a local businessman, will share some of the
nuances of working with military contracts.
Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari who arranged the workshop said, "We are appreciative of the caliber of people
who will be at the session. Getting in position to do business with the military can be intimidating for both large and
small businesses. This is the first, but a really major, step for us in that process. We want to channel some of the
millions of dollars that will be flowing to the three military bases into our local economy. There is a learning curve,
and it will take some effort. The Board of Chosen Freeholders is really appreciative that Director Donnelly, Mr. Hill and
Ms Chartier and their staffs from Navy Lakehurst are willing to help us do that.”
“Congressman Chris Smith played a significant role in this process, and we are hoping he will be able to attend,”
Vicari said.
