rap #275 10/20/08
FREEHOLDERS’ DOING BUSINESS WITH THE MILITARY WORKSHOP ATTRACTS NEARLY 300 BUSINESS OWNERS AND MANAGERS
MORE THAN 300 business owners and managers turned the Mancini Room at the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County
Library into a standing-room-only venue last week when the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders hosted a "doing
business with the military" workshop.
Attendees at the October 16 workshop heard from nearly a dozen professionals from both Navy Lakehurst and McGuire
Air Force Base on the finer points of bidding on and winning military contracts.
"With Navy Lakehurst alone awarding nearly a billion dollars a year in contracts, I felt it was important for the
county to host this forum," said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. "The military can be an important client for many of
our businesses and we want to make sure our businessmen and businesswomen can compete for these contracts on an even playing
field with other out-of-county companies."
Among the types of companies the base regularly does business with are: plumbers, electricians, heating and air conditioning
installation and service, construction companies, auto parts dealers and auto mechanics, catering services and restaurants,
copier and printing services, office cleaning and janitorial services, furniture dealers, snow plowing companies, private
lumber companies and water delivery services.
Vicari said some smaller businesses might be hesitant to bid on federal government contracts because of the bureaucracy and
strict regulations involved.
"This workshop helped to cut through some of that red tape and help our small businesses take that important first
step in dealing with the military," Vicari said. "I want to personally thank all of the speakers for taking the time out to
attend this important forum."
Attendees also heard from Emil Kaunitz, whose company, Specialty Systems Inc. of Toms River, consistently wins
military contracts.
Kaunitz encouraged the business owners to not only bid on contracts, but to go the extra mile and build a
professional relationship with the base leaders.
Fourth District Congressman Chris Smith also addressed the crowd and talked about the upcoming partnership between
Central New Jersey’s three major military bases.
Navy Lakehurst, McGuire Air Force base and Fort Dix will be combined into a larger joint base that could offer even
greater economic opportunities for local businesses.
Smith and Third-District Rep. Jim Saxton recently announced that the Department of Defense plans to invest hundreds
of millions of dollars in the new joint base over the next few years.
Also among the workshop presenters were Kathleen Donnelly, director of the Engineering Department at Navy Lakehurst,
and Thomas Hill, head of the base’s contracting office. Donnelly is the highest-ranking civilian on the base.
Both Donnelly and Hill, along with Dawn Chartier, Deputy of the Navy Lakehurst Office of Small Business Programs,
spoke generally about the types of the services Navy Lakehurst is interested in.
After the 90-minute main session concluded, the workshop broke down into six smaller sessions, each concentrating
on specific types of contracts.
The presenters included:
- 1 Jack Murtagh and Carl Ruzicka, Branch Heads who addressed Common & Peculiar Support Equipment.
- 2 Barbara Petrzilka, a Branch Head who spoke about Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment.
- 3 PCOs Cindy Scheper and Elaine Lovering discussed services acquisition.
- 4 Cindy Castaldi, Purchase Card Coordinator Navy Lakehurst, talked about bankcard acquisitions.
- 5 Lidija Erazo, director of Business Operations at McGuire Air Force Base, talked about Joint Base acquisitions.
- 6 Dawn Chartier also continued her program directed at small businesses.
