PRESENTATIONS: The NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge Small Business event presentations can be found HERE.
VIDEO: The Small Business event was recorded. You can find the video HERE.
On Monday, July 27, IN3 hosted the NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge Connecting Businesses to Opportunities virtual event. Indiana and the Midwest are home to many organizations working to advance the defense sector by providing resources to small business wanting to connect their technologies with the Department of Defense (DoD) and other military entities such as Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane). The event brought together top leaders from NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge, Indiana PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center), NSTXL, Ivy Tech Community College, South Central Small Business Development Center (SBSBDC), Elevate Ventures and Purdue MEP.
IN3 is also one of those organizations working to connect businesses to resources and opportunities. IN3 works to create a hub of national security innovation by bringing together government, academia and industry to help solve critical defense priorities. IN3’s focus is on hypersonics, cyber-physical systems, trusted microelectronics, artificial intelligence and 5G.
The well attended event, with more than 130 registrants, provided valuable information and resources to help light the path for Indiana and Midwest businesses currently working in defense contracting or those businesses wanting to get into the arena.
Organizations and Speakers:
NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge: Anne Fields, regional director, NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge, began the session with an overview of her organization, which serves the Department of Navy (DON) as a “super-connector,” focused on scaling non-traditional agility methods across the DON workforce. The NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge has a number of focus areas including power/energy/battery solutions, unmanned aerial systems, cyber security and modeling and simulation. The organization, one of 13 Tech Bridge sites across the country, encompasses an innovation network intent on accelerating development of technology for DoD warfighters. https://www.secnav.navy.mil/agility/Pages/tb_midwest.aspx
Indiana PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center): Christine Jeffers, state director, Indiana PTAC, highlighted the support the state offers Indiana businesses by helping them compete for and win local, state and federal government contracts. Among the benefits provided by PTAC are one-on-one counseling, subcontracting assistance, bid-matching services, proposal preparation, certifications and others – at no cost. www.indianaptac.com
NSTXL: Brooke Pyne, S2MARTS director, NSTXL, informed attendees about S2MARTS. This is a DoD contracting vehicle for flexible acquisition in trusted microelectronics and other critical mission areas. Among its benefits to the attendees is improved DoD engagement with non-traditional defense contractors for increased adoption of new technology. Non-traditional contractors include many small businesses. https://nstxl.org/
Ivy Tech Community College/South Central Small Business Development Center (SBSBDC): Steve Bryant, executive director, Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship, Ivy Tech, and regional director for the SCSBDC, provided a wealth of information on workforce training and development, entrepreneurial resources to help start and grow businesses and a number of available funding and research sources. https://www.ivytech.edu/ and https://isbdc.org/locations/south-central-isbdc/
Elevate Ventures: Continuing with funding sources, Cy Megnin, entrepreneur-in-residence, Elevate Ventures, covered his organization’s available venture capital funds and its additional role as entrepreneurial development partner. For small businesses, this could mean a source of investment funds, advisors and entrepreneurial education and expertise. https://www.elevateventures.com/
Purdue MEP: Eugene Jones, manufacturing business development consultant, Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), closed the session with a briefing on the world class manufacturing expertise available to Indiana businesses. Assistance and resources include the Defense Cybersecurity Assurance Program, which provides resources to enable companies to comply with DoD mandated requirements and the organization offers a free small business information security educational series. https://mep.purdue.edu/
If you are interested in being added to IN3’s event invitation list for future events, please visit https://theari.us/upcoming-events/