San Antonio Chamber Of Commerce: Chamber's Cybersecurity And Military Affairs Council Celebrate End Of Year With Joint Meeting

Press release from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce - News:

2021-12-15

Last week, the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s Cybersecurity and Military Affairs Councils held a joint meeting at Texas A&M University San Antonio to celebrate outgoing Chairmen for 2021, Military Affairs Council (MAC) Chair – Steve Cochran (AVP, Affinity Development & Operations, USAA) and Cybersecurity Council Chair – Rich Valdez (Chief Technology Officer, IPSecure) and welcome new Chairs for 2022, MAC Chair Rick Crider (EVP, Airport/Railport & Military Relations, Port San Antonio) and Cybersecurity Chair Larry Hurtado (President and CEO, Evanesco).

The meeting’s focus was to highlight work at the university, as well as initiatives surrounding Cybersecurity and working with the Department of Defense. More than 60 guests joined in person and via Zoom and were welcomed by Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson, President of Texas A&M University San Antonio. Dr. Teniente-Matson told guests about the redevelopment of the campus’ 694-acre masterplan to support its accelerated growth, including approximately $200 million in new facilities, infrastructure improvements and P3 partnerships, and highlighted efforts to build an economic regional hub for south Bexar County. After the welcome, Dr. Akhtar Lodgher, Director, Center for Information Technology & Cyber Security Texas A&M University-San Antonio, discussed TAMUSA’s 5 robust bachelor’s degree programs and 2 Masters of Science programs and relayed that the number of NSA/DHS Cyber Defense Education Certificates grew by 170% in the last two years. He also reiterated the willingness of the university to collaborate with industry leaders for partnerships, internships, and sponsoring events.

The featured speaker was Sam Riehn, CEO, SBIR Advisors, who provided a briefing on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. SBIR Advisors works to create a road map of contract opportunities for their clients and connects them with relevant Department of Defense stakeholders. They write proposals and help companies compete and win bids for contracts, guiding them through negotiations, contract terms, and post-award administration, as well as assisting with invoicing and initial deliverables. Riehn spoke about the SBIR and STTR programs from Customer Discovery through Production and Scale and highlighted a few keys to winning awards, finding the fit between a non-defense commercial product and the US Air Force/US Space Force, and identifying opportunities to push an organization’s capability onto the Department of Defense. The team at SBIR Advisors are former DoD Contracting Officers with over $20 Billion in Federal Acquisition experience, both classified and unclassified, and understand the Federal Acquisition Regulation System inside and out, helping clients win $100M in SBIR/STTR funding.

Finally, attendees heard from a Latasha Revis with new Chamber member, Siver Solutions LLC, who is an IT consultant company specializing in mobile/web application development, social media, and content creation for businesses and non-profits of all sizes. They have a combined 28+ years of experience in software development and IT and currently are working with the Alamo Area Council of Governments teaching adults with intellectual disabilities how to program using Java. They provide these adults internships within the company to help with Mobile App updates, Social Media Content creation and Website design.

Planning is underway for both councils in developing agendas and securing speakers and potential meeting locations in the new year. If you are interested in more details about this meeting or in joining us in 2022, please contact Lori Stinson, VP for Military Affairs and Leadership Development at lstinson@sachamber.org or Jeff Fair, VP for Cybersecurity and Economic Development at jfair@sachamber.org.

This press release was produced by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce - News. The views expressed here are the author’s own.