What to expect at our VA Power Breakfast
Gettyimages.com/ Kiyoshi Tanno
By
Nick Wakeman
A line-up of senior Veterans Affairs Department leaders will be on hand to share insights on how you can support the mission of providing benefits to military veterans.
We have a top-tier lineup of speakers ready for our July 14 Power Breakfast on Doing Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The event is next Friday at the Carahsoft Conference Center in Reston, Virginia. You can find details and registration information here.
Breakfast and networking starts at 7:45 a.m.. The program kicks off at 8:30 a.m. Everything should wrap by 10:20 a.m.
Procurement initiatives, IT priorities and small business goals are on the agenda for our discussions with VA leaders in charge of these programs.
Michael Parrish, the VA's chief acquisitions officer, will kick the morning off with an explanation of how the department is evolving the ways it does business. One of his top priorities is the Pathfinder project to streamline how the VA buys goods and services. If you want to do business with the VA, you need to understand Pathfinder.
The VA's deputy chief information officer Luwanda Jones will overview the department's IT initiatives and how they are using strategic sourcing practices. Jones is leading efforts to improve the VA’s IT infrastructure and will share how industry needs to play a role in those efforts.
Small businesses and especially veteran-owned companies have a large role to play in VA operations.
Anna Urman, director of strategic outreach at the VA’s Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, will highlight new initiatives to increase the department's work with small businesses at VA. She will share information on upcoming opportunities, common mistakes and misconceptions about doing business with the department.
We’ll also take a dive into the VA's spending patterns through a presentation from Nate Nash, co-founder and CEO of our sibling business unit GovTribe. He will share data on top contractors and contracts as well as what the NAICS codes say about VA’s priorities.
Here is a link to register for the event, which will provide plenty of insights.