Sacramento Conference Provides Businesses Link to Federal Opportunities
October 24, 2005

The Federal Technology Center hosted its biggest and best-ever GovLink Conference on October 18-19, 2005 . The GovLink Conference 2005 provided excellent networking opportunities for federal agencies, prime contractors, and small businesses throughout the state of California and other western states. Almost three hundred attendees enjoyed presentations from speakers representing the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Microelectronics Activity, Army Corps of Engineers, Travis and Beale Air Force Bases, the General Services Administration, the Veterans Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal government agencies.

Additionally, conference attendees heard from industry representatives from major corporations including Boeing, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Aerojet, URS Corporation, Northrop Grumman Space Technology, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin. The GovLink 2005 Conference also offered 25 exhibitors the opportunity to showcase their products and services to an audience which included government and business representatives from California and nine other states.

Conference attendees included small business owners and representatives from a variety of product and service sectors. Those sectors included information management, engineering, construction, electronics, environmental protection, human resources, logistics, resource management, janitorial services, and graphic arts. Many small businesses reported that the opportunity to personally link up with procurement specialists from federal agencies and prime contractors was the most beneficial portion of the conference.

Events, such as GovLink Conference 2005, provide the capability to link small businesses to prime contractors and government agencies. We know that linkage has value for small businesses and for the state and our national economy.