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GOV. BLAGOJEVICH
STAGES HOMELAND SECURITY CONTRACTING
FORUM IN ROCKFORD
Rock Valley
Training Event Attracts Nearly 100 Local
Companies Interested in Business
Opportunities in the Homeland Security
Market
ROCKFORD - Continuing to meet his
commitment to make Illinois the nation's
homeland security market leader, Gov.
Rod R. Blagojevich's administration held
a successful homeland security
contracting and matchmaking forum for
nearly 100 businesses at the EIGERlab in
Rockford today. The Illinois Department
of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's
(DCEO) Homeland Security Market
Development (HSMD) Bureau organized the
forum in partnership with the Homeland
Security Procurement Technical
Assistance Center (HSPTAC) at the
College of DuPage. The forum was the
second of four matchmaking events being
held throughout Illinois in order to
give businesses interested in the
homeland security market an in-depth
educational guide to federal, state and
local government procurement
opportunities in the $45 billion
homeland security industry.
"We are committed to assisting Illinois
companies in becoming top competitors in
the homeland security industry by
showing them how to service the needs of
both business and government. Helping
these companies grow means a safer
country and more Illinois jobs," Gov.
Blagojevich said.
Each event provides practical guidance
for doing business with the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
guidelines for writing successful
proposals, market analysis and
information gathering techniques, an
overview of DHS contracting agencies and
their functions and a discussion of the
current State of Illinois procurement
systems. Attendees also learned directly
from government procurement officers how
navigate both state and federal
contracting Web sites and identified
strategies to grow their businesses.
"The Homeland Security Procurement
Technical Assistance Center plays an
integral role in helping Illinois
companies bring homeland security
contracting dollars to Illinois," DCEO
Director Jack Lavin said. "These forums
give Illinois businesses a leg up in
competing for these contracts by showing
them how to develop the knowledge of
available opportunities and the
relationships with key industry
contractors that they need to grow their
business, which will help them create
lasting jobs for today and tomorrow."
The next forum is set for May 23rd at
Black Hawk College in Moline and will
include a focus on disaster planning.
The series began on March 15th at the
College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn in a
forum for more than 90 attendees and
will conclude on June 14th at John A.
Logan College in Carterville with a
specialized track on writing for U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA)
contracts.
To register to attend the next forums,
please contact HSPTAC Director Rita
Hatcher-Haake at 630/942.2616 or email
hsptac@cdnet.cod.edu.
HSPTAC was established in 2005
specifically to help Illinois businesses
compete for public sector homeland
security contracts. In addition to
hosting a series of conferences and
forums, HSPTAC features a specialized
in-take process, business opportunity
listings, relevant training sessions and
ongoing relationship building with
federal agencies through HSMD. HSPTAC is
focused on keeping track of the issues
and trends in the rapidly changing
homeland security industry. For more
information on HSPTAC, visit
www.cod.edu/BPI/hsptac.htm.
DCEO's Homeland Security Market
Development Bureau is focused on
supporting businesses engaged in the
homeland security industry. HSMD offers
a variety of investment tools designed
to help existing Illinois companies
expand operations and utilize available
state and federal programs and services.
For more information on HSMD, visit
www.hsmd.illinois.gov.
Gov. Blagojevich's Opportunity Returns
regional economic development strategy
is the most aggressive, comprehensive
approach to creating jobs in Illinois'
history. Since a one-size-fits-all
approach to economic development just
doesn't work, the Governor has divided
the state into 10 regions - each with a
regional team that is empowered and
expected to rapidly respond to
opportunities and challenges.
Opportunity Returns is about tangible,
specific actions to make each region
more accessible, more marketable, more
entrepreneurial and more attractive to
businesses. It is about upgrading the
skills of the local workforce,
increasing the access to capital,
opening new markets, improving
infrastructure, and creating and
retaining jobs. Opportunity Returns is
about successfully partnering with
companies and communities, both large
and small, to help all of Illinois reach
its economic potential. |
