Lowcountry security: 'Advanced security' a linchpin for region’s future

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Page 2 of 2 Last year, SPAWAR, the Charleston Defense Contractors Association and the South Carolina chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association began jointly sponsoring a program to bridge the gap between large and small companies interested in vying for Defense Department and Homeland Security contracts. The fourth and most recent of these sessions was in April. The goal of the event, the first of anticipated quarterly gatherings, is to further develop a searchable small business portal being developed by SPAWAR through which companies can find potential partners for joint bids on federal contracts. “Small business is the backbone of our economy and a very important element in SPAWAR’s business model,” said Ann Howell, who has since retired from her position as deputy director of SPAWAR’s small business program. “On one level, this will provide a greater opportunity for us to do some networking with small technology companies in the area,” she said. “At the same time, I think the programs will provide a great opportunity to educate local companies about doing business with each other, with SPAWAR and, by extension, with the federal government.” The effort comes at an auspicious time for those engaged in economic development in the tri-county region. “We’re really in the midst of a very interesting time for the region,” said David Ginn, president and CEO of the Charleston Regional Development. “There isn’t a community in the country that’s stepped up and said, ‘We want the mantle of being the leading provider of homeland security,’ and we have all the attributes to be that.” Activity levels and an increasing number of players have shown up recently on the homeland security front. In addition to programs under way at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the Port of Charleston and Hollings Marine Lab, there are ongoing law enforcement training programs and myriad research projects being conducted independently by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the Medical University of South Carolina. But if that momentum is to continue, planners, developers and private companies will have to create a setting in which the companies and agencies involved become inextricably bound to the Lowcountry, said Pennie Bingham, director of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s ThinkTEC program. The chamber has tried to foster that environment by hosting an annual Homeland Security Innovation Conference to highlight the development of security products for both private and public users. “When we first came up with the idea for this conference, the idea was to reach out to a market that had benefits we wanted to promote,” Bingham said. “Our goal was to showcase Charleston as a model community for public/private partnerships that furthered the nation’s homeland security goals.” In order to plan and support the conference, the chamber formed a task force consisting of key players in the current local homeland defense industry. “In terms of their work, there are some things they can talk about and some things they can’t, but a large part of promoting any industry is simply helping people make connections,” Bingham said. << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>