Executive Committee:

 

Richard F. Weidman

Director of Policy & Government Affairs, Vietnam Veterans of America

8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400

Silver Spring, MD 20910

(202) 585-4000 x127

RWeidman@VET-Force.org

www.vva.org

 

Richard F. “Rick” Weidman serves as Executive Director for Policy & Government Affairs on the National Staff of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). As such, he is the primary spokesperson for VVA in Washington. He served as a 1-A-O Army Medical Corpsman during the Vietnam War, including service with Company C, 23rd Med, AMERICAL Division, located in I Corps of Vietnam in 1969.

Mr. Weidman was part of the staff of VVA from 1979 to 1987, and from 1998 to the present, serving variously as Membership Services Director, Agency Liaison, Director of Government Relations, and now Executive Director for Policy & Government Affairs. He left VVA to serve in the Administration of Governor Mario M. Cuomo (NY) as statewide director of veterans’ employment & training (State Veterans Programs Administrator) for the New York State Department of Labor from 1987 to 1995.

Rick has served as Consultant on Legislative Affairs to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), and served at various times on the VA Readadjustment Advisory Committee, as a consumer liaison on the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Serious Mental Illness at VA, the Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment & Training, the President’s Committee on Employment of Persons with Disabilities – Subcommittee on Disabled Veterans, Advisory Committee on veterans’ entrepreneurship at the Small Business Administration, and numerous other advocacy posts in veteran affairs. He is currently Chairman of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force), which is the consortium of most of the major veterans’ service organizations and military service organizations regarding expanding opportunities for veterans, particularly disabled veterans to create, own, and successfully operate their own small business.

Mr. Weidman was an instructor and administrator at Johnson State College (Vermont) in the 1970s, where he was also active in community and veterans affairs. He attended Colgate University (B.A., 1967), and did graduate study at the University of Vermont.

Joe Wynn

President, VETS Group, Inc.

(202) 365-0482

JoeWynn@VetsGroup.org

www.VetsGroup.org 

 

In 2004, Joe founded the VETS Group, a non-profit organization that provides entrepreneurial education, federal procurement training, employment assistance and other supportive services primarily for veterans, people with disabilities and persons of limited means. Over the past few years, Joe has provided testimony to Congress and participated in conferences for federal, state, and local governments in an effort to heighten the level of awareness regarding the needs of veterans.

Joe received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force at the end of the Vietnam War and has been an advocate for veterans for more than 18 years. While working with the Director of Government Relations for the Vietnam Veterans of America on matters pertaining to federal procurement and veterans’ employment, Joe also serves on the Executive Committee of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force), which is composed of over 200 organizations and affiliates representing thousands of veterans throughout the U.S., to monitor the impact of legislation on veterans procurement programs.

Through the VETS Group, Joe is helping to develop an initiative to increase the number of procurement opportunities for veteran and service-disabled veteran owned businesses by identifying procurement opportunities in the private-sector marketplace. Partnerships are being formed with large corporate enterprises to offer veterans employment opportunities, business education, mentoring, technical assistance, growth capital, and access to international markets.

Joe Wynn, also serves as Director and Legislative Liaison for the National Association for Black Veterans (NABVETS); as the Chairman of the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committee for the NAACP-DC Branch; member of the Veterans Health Council and the Mayor’s Veterans Advisory Board for the District of Columbia. In 2005, Joe was appointed by the Honorable Nancy Pelosi to serve as a Commissioner on the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission that completed its work in early 2008.

Educational Attainment: Under the G.I. Bill, Joe attended the Universities of DC and Howard. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, a Master’s degree in Business, and two years toward a doctorate in Organizational Communications. He later served as an instructor and the Director of Education at the PTC Career Institute, a business school in Washington, D.C.

Awards: SBA’s Veteran Small Business Champion Award for 2005 of the Washington DC Region. NAACP’s 2006 Julius E. Williams Distinguished Community Service Award for Veteran’s Services.

Bob Hesser

CEO / President, Vetrepreneur, LLC 

bhesser@VET-Force.org

 

Mr. Hesser has over 40 years in the IT industry beginning when he joined the U. S. Navy in 1963. He received his first introduction to computers in 1964 learning programming and developing automated administrative systems. During his 21-years of service, Bob gained extensive knowledge of the IT industry. During his tour San Diego he earned his Computer Information Systems MBA in 1982. On May 1, 1984, he was transferred to the Disability Retired List as a Master Chief Cryptologic Technician (E-9).

He spent the next six-years as a Federal employee in San Diego. While there, his most significant contribution was his efforts and leadership in the nation-wide automation of sixteen commands through a NAVSEASYSCOM competitive procurement. In 1984, Bob began his active support of individuals with disabilities and assisted them in finding employment within the federal government. In 1991 and 1992 he worked with the Agricultural Marketing Service, where he was responsible for automating 129 nation wide locations by replacing a minicomputer system with the first Frame Relay microcomputer Wide Area Network under FTS2000. Because of his previous work with disabled persons, he was selected to represent USDA on several federal committees for identifying accommodations for the disabled and agency compliance with the American Disability Act (ADA). In 1993, as a GM-14, Bob left the government. He formed HITS to provide consulting services to business and government with a strong focus on assisting Small Disadvantaged Business. HITS is organized and focused as a comprehensive IT support product and services partner to its Government and Commercial sector clients; providing, unique products and services for specialized court and telecommunication systems. HITS has a GSA Schedule for IT & Telco Products (GS-35F-0509K). HITS was sold to another service-disabled veteran in May 2008.

Bob Hesser now does business through his SDVOSB company Vetrepreneur, LLC.

• 1998 – Present – Executive Board Member, Veteran Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force). VET-Force was previously known as The Task Force for Veteran Entrepreneurship (TFVE). The executive member responsible for finalizing wording of requests for Federal and State laws and regulations.
• April 30, 2003 – Testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Benefits Regarding H.R. 1460, the Veteran’s Entrepreneurship Act of 2003 and H.R. 1712, the Veterans Federal Procurement Opportunity Act of 2003
• May 5, 2004 – Awarded the 2004 SBA Veteran Small Business Advocate for the Washington DC District.
• September 29, 2005 – Spoke and served as a panelist at the Veterans Business Development and the Corps of Engineers Conference on September 29, 2005.
• November 16, 2006 – Represented the VET-Force at the OSDBU Council meeting on November 16, 2006 at the Department of Energy
• January 31, 2007 – Testified before The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on “Assessing Federal Small Business Assistance Programs for Veterans and Reservists” 2005 – 2009 -As Executive Member of VET-Force Mr. Hesser is a representative on the Strategic Plan evaluation committee concerning the Strategic Plans submitted by agencies under direction of President Executive Order 13360.
• Present – 1st Vice Chair VET-Force. Chairman Membership and Legislative committee.

James F. Wilfong

 

PO Box 38, Fryeburg, Maine 04037

800.834.1951 x13 (p)

207.712.4666 (c)

james@jameswilfong.com

 

In 1999, President Bill Clinton [D] named James Wilfong the Small Business Administration’s Assistant Administrator for International Trade, where he remained until 2001. This appointment highlighted a career of diversity with remarkable vitality and scope. Beginning as a small business entrepreneur in the ski industry in the early 1970’s, Wilfong has devoted more than 35 years to business development and public service in the areas of government, international trade, finance, marketing, small business management, entrepreneurship, education, public policy and community organizing.

Having served in the US Military, Wilfong continued to work for his community when he was twice elected to the Maine House of Representatives from 1974 to 1978. He was appointed to the Natural Resource, Agriculture and Performance Audit committees as well as Maine’s Special Commission on Forest Resources. In addition to his work in the Legislature, Wilfong’s public service record includes helping to coordinate U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie’s 1976 re-election campaign, chairing the Maine Advisory Council of the Small Business Administration (SBA), membership on Governor Angus King’s [I] Advisory Council on International Trade, and serving on the Commission on Maine’s Future during the administration of Gov. John McKernan [R]. Returning to the private sector after his legislative service, Wilfong resumed his career in the ski industry. He helped to found the North American operations of Atomic Ski Austria as its Director of Marketing and Sales, driving the company towards a second place market share position in the worldwide winter sports industry. He was the Strategic Marketing Consultant to two leading winter sports companies: Sport Obermeyer and The Northface. In 1992, Wilfong founded TradeNex, an export management company that assisted small businesses to distribute and market products internationally, most notably Volant Ski Corporation.

Following his appointment in 1999 as Assistant Administrator for International Trade at the SBA, Wilfong developed and promoted small business trade with the goal of creating more vibrant, prosperous and peaceful communities throughout the world. He oversaw the agency’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) trade policy and supervised various educational, technical assistance, risk management and finance programs. Wilfong created the successful SBA trade finance program, Export Express, and advanced innovative policies designed to assist U.S. small businesses seeking to enter the international marketplace. He worked to enhance the voice of small business in the development of U.S. foreign policy both by serving as Vice Chair of the Small Business Working Group of the Organization on Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and as a member of the National Security Council’s Subcommittee on Africa. He helped coordinate the work of U. S. Bi-National Commissions, specifically in Russia, Egypt and South Africa.

While in that position, Wilfong addressed the Russian Duma on the role of entrepreneurial and small business development in the creation of free market economies. He was a member of the U. S. delegations to the World Trade Organization’s Seattle Conference and the OECD Bologna Conference where Wilfong represented and testified on behalf of small business interests. He has also testified before the U. S. Congress, the World Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Following his work at the SBA, Wilfong returned once again to the private sector and continued to pursue his public service philosophy: that citizenship demands involvement. In 2004, Wilfong was asked by Maine Governor John Baldacci [D] to join the Citizens Trade Policy Commission. In 2005 and 2006, Wilfong was appointed by the Bush Administration to the National Advisory Council of Exim. Governor Baldacci once again called on Wilfong to serve the people of Maine as the citizen representative on the State’s Groundwater Task Force Committee, chartered to review Maine’s groundwater policies. As a result of the recommendations from the Groundwater Task Force, new groundwater legislation inspired by Wilfong was enacted by the 123rd Maine Legislature. This “landmark legislation” [Governor Baldacci} established a State Watershed Committee on which Wilfong presently serves.

Wilfong has served as Senior Vice President for International and Public Affairs of eScout (now Perfect Commerce, LLC), a large global network of buyers, suppliers, and commerce providers that share knowledge and execute transactions via the Internet. Wilfong was the Vice President of Schooner Capital, the Boston based venture capital company. For 3 years he served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, the nation’s leading non-profit dedicated to increasing entrepreneurship and small business development. Wilfong coauthored Taking Your Business Global: Your Small Business Guide to Successful International Trade, published by Career Press in 1997. In 2004, he worked with Kris Sweden to create The Integrated Economic Opportunity Model©, a new approach to economic development that aids small business formation by placing people and ideas at the center of an integrated framework of legal, educational, fiscal and entrepreneurial prerequisites. He also authored Calculated Risk©, a college-level entrepreneurial and small business educational curriculum. In 2006 and 2007, Wilfong wrote essays on the state of groundwater issues in Maine.

Wilfong’s public speaking activities have taken him throughout the United States as well as to five continents, where he has delivered speeches on economic development in Bulgaria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, México, Nigeria, Russia, and South Africa. Wilfong gave the keynote address for the Maine Governor’s Conference on Small Business. In September, 2006, Wilfong gave the keynote speech for the convocation at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York on groundwater resource management. He has lectured on the groundwater subject at the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maine and before the Maine Association of Land Trusts. As a result of his leadership on Maine’s groundwater issues, the (Maine) Congress of Lakes Associations (COLA) invited Wilfong to deliver the keynote address at their annual meeting. In November, 2006, he returned to Hartwick to give a series of lectures on the effects of government interventions on free markets. At the University of Southern Maine (USM) Executive Business Forum in 2007, Wilfong spoke to the need for increased entrepreneurship and SME trade to ensure Maine’s economic future. He has also testified before the U. S. Congress on various occasions about international trade, small business development, international trade finance and most recently on freshwater resource protection.

In 2004, Wilfong was given the SBA’s Small Business Advocate for Veterans award for Maine. He designed a national veteran’s business-planning educational program in partnership with the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, Gateway Computers and the Kauffman Foundation.

Currently, Wilfong is Chairman of the Board and co-founder of a new software engineering firm, Innovative Applied Sciences and operates his own consulting and educational company. Wilfong is a founder, organizer and Executive Director of H2O for ME, a citizen’s environmental group active in water resource issues. He is a member of the board of directors and is treasurer of the Small Business Exporters Association in Washington, DC. Wilfong also served as a member of the Entrepreneurs Advisory Council of the NxLevel Foundation. He is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Council and its Committee on International Trade. He is also a member of VET-force, an advocacy group promoting veteran-owned businesses. VET-force recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Defense Materials Organization of Australia to facilitate veteran-to-veteran SME business development, and the group is now working to develop similar MOUs with defense agencies in Canada and Denmark. Wilfong is a member of the Greater Lovell Land Trust, an organization dedicated to the protection of the Kezar Lake Watershed. Wilfong chaired the regional school re-organization and consolidation committee in Western Maine in 2007-08.

As the Senior Entrepreneur at University of Southern Maine’s Center for Entrepreneurship, he teaches SME and small farm business planning, marketing, finance and international trade education. In 2008, he worked to establish the Center for Entrepreneurship at Fryeburg Academy, his alma mater, in partnership with USM. The product of a rural farm and a one-room schoolhouse, Wilfong lives in the small town of Stow in the western Maine mountains with his wife, Valerie, a teacher in the local school district. Their daughter, Liza, is an active member of the arts community in Maine and will graduate with a BFA in the spring. Christian, a recent film school graduate, is working in the television industry in New York City. The family currently owns and operates the Wilfong Family (American) Tree Farm.

 

Robert W. (Bob) Yaap

 

Bob grew up in Oklahoma and graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1969 with a BS degree in civil engineering. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Infantry and served in company and battalion assignments before attending Army flight school. After flight school, Bob was selected for Cobra gunship training and then onto Vietnam with F Troop 4th Cavalry with the 1st Aviation Brigade. Subsequent assignments included the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning and the 120th Assault Helicopter Company at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.

Upon completion of his military commitment in 1975, Bob worked in the corporate world in engineering, sales and marketing for Butler Mfg Co. After 9-1/2 years with Butler and culminating with 6 years as Butler’s Western US Sales Manager, he struck out on his own working in the wind energy field and then became a Burger King franchisee in Las Vegas, NV. Bob then moved into the Institutional Investment field. In 1990, he heard about the relatively new CA Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) legislation. Upon investigation of the program and its opportunities and after meeting John Lopez, the author of the CA DVBE program, Bob and a partner, Dave Swoish, started Great Pacific Securities (GPS), an institutional securities Broker Dealer in early 1991. GPS serves many large city, county and state treasurers, pension funds, insurance companies and is an underwriter for Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Bank. It is also an underwriter for CA state municipal bonds. GPS employs several veterans and 2 other Disabled Vets. In addition, Bob co-founded Cadence Industries that warehouses and distributes telecom equipment to the telecom industry and Cadence Leasing that provides capital lease financing to government prime contractors.

Bob was an advocate for DVBE’s in the state of CA from the outset and was a charter member of the Orange County/Los Angeles DVBE Network that was founded in 1995. For 2 years he served as the Coordinator for that Network and he currently serves as the Assistant Coordinator. He also was one of the original members of the CA DVBE Alliance and served two terms as a Vice President of the organization. From 1992 to 1997, Bob participated with several DVBE’s from CA and John Lopez on trips to Washington DC to advocate to the US Congress for the passage of national DVBE legislation similar to the one developed in California and passed in 1988. That effort was successful with the passage of Service Disabled Veteran goals for all US government agencies and prime contractors in PL 106-50 in 1999.

In 2006, Bob was elected to serve on the CA DVBE Council in Sacramento and he continues to serve in that capacity today. The Council is made up of 20 DVBE’s from CA that work with the CA Dep’t of Veteran Affairs and CA Department of General Services to insure that legislation, regulations and the general climate for Disabled Vet owned firms in CA continues to be in the best interest of DVBE’s.

In 2008, Bob was selected by the SBA, Region IX (CA, NV, AZ and HI) as the Veteran Small Business Champion of the year for his advocacy over the years for the Disabled Veteran Programs. In May of 2009, Bob participated in the Run For The Wall and rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle from California to Washington DC with other Vietnam Vets to recognize POW, MIA and Veteran sacrifices as well as Veteran Advocacy programs.

Bob and his wife Marie have 5 children and 13 grandkids living around the country (and the world). He is active in Rotary International having served as his Rotary Club’s president in the 1992/93 year. Bob is also the Vice President of the West Point Society of Orange County.

Lupe Saldana

American GI Forum

 

Lupe Saldana was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. After graduating from the University of Corpus Christi on a boxing scholarship, he began his public service career as an Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from from 1965 to 1971. He rose to the rank of Captain while serving a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1968.

Lupe resigned his commission as a Regular Marine Corps Officer in 1971, while stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, DC to become a public servant and advocate for Veterans issues. He joined the American GI Forum in 1972 and was elected Washington DC State Commander in 1974 and National Commander in 1979. As National Commander Lupe represented the American GI Forum before the Administration, Congress, and Federal government. On March 20, 1980, President Jimmy Carter invited Mr. Saldana to the Oval Office to acknowledge his work as National Commander of the American GI Forum.

On March 1980, Lupe was named a member of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee (The Wall) and was a keynote speaker at the first National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service held on March 26, 1980. On October 1997, he developed a Mentor Program for the Arlington, Virginia High School Continuation Program. Lupe is also a volunteer in the National AIDS Marathon Program and has run the Marine Corps Marathon three times to raise funds for people living with HIV/AIDS. On May 1989 and 2001, Lupe was awarded the Unsung Hero Award for his volunteer work in the community.

On January 2001, Lupe was named a member of the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee for Veterans. On October 2005, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, James Nicholson, appointed Mr. Saldana to serve as a Secretarial Appointee on the Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. And on July 2008, Secretary James R. Peake appointed Mr. Saldana to serve as a Secretarial Appointee on the Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans. Lupe currently serves in the Executive Committee of the Veterans’ Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force).

Mr. Saldana has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics and a graduate Certificate in Urban Affairs from American University. In 1984, he completed the Contemporary Executive Development Program for Senior Executives at George Washington University and the Washington Executive Seminar at the USDA Graduate School in June 1986.

On May 2006, Lupe retired after more than 41 years of public service. This service included 15 years reserves and active military duty, 29 years as a senior manager at the Environmental Protection Agency and 5 years at the Bureau of the Census where he assisted the Director to establish the first National Hispanic Advisory Committee of the Census Bureau. Lupe is President of A Plus Home Improvement and Real Estate Investments, Inc. He currently resides in Fairfax Station, Virginia.

William R. (Bill) Picard

 

B.Picard@AdvancedEnvironmental.net

www.AdvancedEnvironmental.net

William R. (Bill) Picard is the founder, President and CEO of Advanced Environmental Solutions, Inc., (AES) a full-service environmental assessment and remediation firm, headquartered in Worcester, MA, with regional offices in Oklahoma City, OK and Atlanta, GA. Bill is a member of VET-Force and serves as a Special Advisor to the Chairman, he is also a Life Member of Vietnam Veterans of America. He has been selected as the Veteran Small Business Champion of the Massachusetts District and New England Region of the SBA (2004). He was the Co-Founder of the Northeast Veteran-Owned Business Network. Bill has served as a mentor to a number of Brother and Sister Veterans in establishing Veteran and Disabled Veteran-Owned Small businesses.

Bill is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Planning and the University of Rhode Island with a Master of Community Planning Degree in Environmental Planning. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He is a veteran of the United State Air Force and served from 1968 to 1975.

AES has been recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Veteran Friendly Employer. AES provides professional environmental services to the US EPA on regional and national contracts; the United States Air Force; the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; and, the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Paul M. Ignosh

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, I&A Consulting Group

 

Experienced executive with demonstrated success in entrepreneurial development of new companies, as well as successful experience in restructuring and leadership of growth oriented corporations. Proven credentials and “hands on” experience in all areas of business including business plans, start-up activities, public and private equity financing (raised millions of dollars via various public and private debt instruments, a successful IPO, and a range of other equity offerings), development and creation of partnerships and strategic alliances, overall P&L responsibility, capital and expense deployment, sales and marketing, strategic planning, budget and finance, billing and collections, customer care, technical and operations functions, legal and regulatory activities, and executive management. Expertise in the Federal Enterprise Architecture and the formal business processes associated with IT investments and Capital Planning mandated by the Office of Management & Budget. He is a member of VET-Force (Veteran Entrepreneurship Task Force) advocating Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOBs).

I&A Consulting provides management consulting services specializing in growth oriented technology based companies. Services include; Business Development, Strategic Partnering, Corporate Development, Sales Management, Financial Services and M&A. I&A is an SBA Certified Veteran Owned Small Business.

I&A currently leads a consortium of companies providing unique and innovative technologies to the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal, State and Local agencies. The mission of this engagement is to improve the business processes associated with networking and wireless technologies for infrastructure to provide interoperability to 80,000 municipalities and over 100 Federal Agencies as related to the National Response Plan. We manage working relationships with Federal markets including DISA, STATE, DHS, FEMA, HHS, DOD and large integrators Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, CSC, IBM, Unisys and Verizon.

Paul studied Business Administration and Accounting at Allegheny Community College in Pittsburgh, PA. and Science and Electrical Engineering at San Diego State University in San Diego, CA..

He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Touchdown Club Charities and resides in Reston, Virginia with his wife, Carol.

 

Dennis DeMolet

 

 

Dennis DeMolet, a leading expert on Small Business and Veterans’ Business affairs, and an active proponent for disabled veteran, small business, and non-profit organizations. He has distinguished himself in these fields, receiving numerous accolades and honors during 35 years of dedicated service to the business and veteran community. His expertise is sought by Federal government and state policy-makers as well as by numerous community organizations. In representing the veteran community and its organizations, he has significantly contributed to key governmental policy changes and is credited with obtaining recognition of veterans as a vital force to this Nation.

DeMolet’s vast knowledge of veterans’ business affairs together with his enthusiasm, energy, and stellar reputation has secured his appointment to many influential policy committees. As such, he has regular access to key executive leadership officials in government, industry and academia. Formally the National Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Veterans Business Affairs for the United States Small Business Administration in Washington D.C., Mr. Demolet holds great respect with the Small Business community our United States.

Mr. DeMolet comes from Fortune 100 companies as Digital Equipment Corporation, Hughes Aircraft, and Raytheon. This experience has enabled him to pass on his knowledge for the benefit of Small Business and Veterans in business.

A decorated United States Marine Corps Vietnam service connected disabled veteran, DeMolet is CEO of DeMolet Consulting who was selected as Chairman of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) Advisory Committee for Veterans Business Affairs (Former). He is a member of the International Board of Directors of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). Under the Governor of Ohio, DeMolet has been appointed to the Ohio Board of Trustees for Ohio’s Veterans Homes for his business background.

Serving as the first Disabled Veterans Outreach Representative Chairman for Ohio in the late 1970’s, and leading the Veterans Readjustments Act for Preble County, Ohio in the 1980’s, he clearly understands the political and business environment that is crucial to the climate of change. He successfully establishes strategic positioning of synergistic solutions on many Government agencies for those corporations, small businesses and non-profit organizations he represents in business development, marketing and management services.

DeMolet was honored as the United States National Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year for 2003 by the United States Small Business Administration. He has also been selected Ohio’s most outstanding disabled veteran. Federal Computer Week honored him as one of the leading IT Professionals in their Federal 100 awards for 2001. The, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, (AFCEA) have bestowed several additional accolades for his tireless efforts and many achievements for their organization, including the Medal of Merit for 2006. In addition Mr. DeMolet also was honored by the Veterans Administration Center for Veterans Enterprise as National Individual Championship Veteran for 2005. Mr. DeMoloet now serves on many government and private secotr board, to include being the President of the National Military Intelligence Association Ohio chapter.Mr. DeMolet continues to assist Small Business, government his community, the nation and all Veterans.

 

 

 

 

Lisa N. Wolford

 

As founder, President and CEO of Client/Server Software Solutions (CSSS.NET), Lisa N. Wolford brings exceptional business savvy through creative leadership to both CSSS.NET and the local business community. While serving in the Marine Corps, Ms. Wolford working in Communications. Graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Magna Cum Laude in 1992, she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a triple specialization in Management Information Systems, Accounting and Japanese Strategic Information Systems. Subsequently, she consulted on a variety of engagements including information technology project management, methodology implementation, architectural and software design, development, and testing. In 1997, Lisa founded CSSS.NET, specializing in providing high quality Information Technology (IT) services and solutions to Federal and Commercial customers.

CSSS.NET is a Small Business Administration certified 8(a) small disadvantaged business (SDB), woman owned business (WOB), service disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB) firm, providing multi-disciplinary information technology solutions at all levels of these federal agencies and organizations. CSSS.NET is a trusted solution provider offering IT and engineering services and solutions, throughout the United States. Ms. Wolford’s technical expertise and educational background ideally prepared her to successfully lead the information technology services firm. Initially, Ms Wolford primarily focused the business within the commercial marketplace. As the business developed, CSSS.NET worked for and built strategic partnerships with firms such as Ameritrade, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Commercial Federal, Computer Sciences Corporation, ConAgra, First Data Resources, HDR, Honeywell, InfoUSA, State of Nebraska, Pamida, Raytheon, The Interpublic Group, and Union Pacific Rail Road. CSSS.NET has established itself as the premier business partner of choice, with Corporate Headquarters in Bellevue, NE. and additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Ill.

Subsequently, Ms. Wolford steered CSSS.NET firmly and fully into the federal marketplace, contracting with U. S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Veterans Administration, and Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA). At USSTRATCOM, CSSS.NET provides the full range of IT specialties, services and support. At CMS, CSSS.NET provides database development, data warehousing, security audit and database administration services. At AFWA, CSSS.NET provides information security and systems administration services and support. CSSS.NET has received numerous awards, ranging from Diversity-Owned Business Awards and Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards of Excellence to the prestigious national Nunn Perry Award.

Ms. Wolford looks for ways to bring new technology and technology partners into the local area. Ms. Wolford set up an annual Industry day for businesses in the community to hear senior level decision makers from Offutt AFB and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), along with local political and industry leaders discuss future opportunities that will affect the Nebraska business landscape. Ms. Wolford has been instrumental in bringing new large government prime contractors in the Bellevue to assist on the program for Offutt AFB. She has also brought work from contracts outside of Nebraska back to the CSSS.NET corporate offices so that she could employee people from Nebraska on these contracts. These actions result in the potential for new jobs and increased opportunities for current residents of the Bellevue area.

Ms. Wolford has recently been awarded a Nunn-Perry Award for 2009 in recognition of its technology transfer work in Geospatial Information Systems. CSSS.NET is the only business in Nebraska to ever have won this award; named NAPEW 2009 “Woman of the Year” in IT Engineering Services; 2009 Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce “Omaha 25 Excellence in Business” award; 2009 CEO taped to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs regarding the effects of sole sourcing & contract bundling on Veteran-owned businesses (VOBs). In addition, Ms. Wolford is also a Board Member of the Task Force for Veterans Entrepreneurship, Board Member of NaVOBA (National Veteran Owned Business Association), and a Board Member of the Peace Center (Provides free PTSD treatment for Veterans and their families).

CSSS.NET’s strong reputation is based upon integrity, value, and quality as a direct result of the solid professional leadership provided by Ms. Wolford. She has carefully structured a hand-selected employee cadre, and is able to provide outstanding employment opportunities for many veterans, applying their talents to deliver solutions to federal requirements. This approach also enables CSSS.NET to uniquely offer a higher standard of dedication and customer service to our clients and partners.

Ms. Wolford has extended her service to her country beyond her personal tour in the Marine Corps throughout her business enterprise. Ms. Wolford attributes the success of CSSS.NET to several key elements: her Marine Corps training, education in information technology and business administration, and a staff of talented dedicated employees.

John K. Lopez

 

Mr. Lopez has extensive experience in business, health services management and economic development and is an acknowledged pioneer in entrepreneurial development and the application of advanced technology to professional medical and health care systems.

He has been Director of the Business Development Center of Santa Clara County, California, a federal, state and county economic development program that initially (1975) addressed the economic potential of the area now designated as “Silicon Valley” – the largest and fastest growing high technology area in the U.S., encompassing over one million persons and 6,000 high technology organizations.

He has served as a consultant to the State of California, Department of Public Health and the University of California, Los Angeles, where he contributed to the development of 42 professional allied health curriculums and served as an instructor in the Clinical Instructor Training Program, conducting the program in thirty-seven countries throughout the world.

Mr. Lopez has also served as Consultant for Program Development and Evaluation for the Office of the Governor of California, the Assembly of the State of California, to the Superintendent of Banks of the State of California and the Entrepreneurial Curriculum Development Program of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Lopez is a Disabled in Military Service Veteran (Korea) Member of the United States Marine Corps.

He was founding Co-Chairman of the National Task Force on Veteran’s Enterprise of Washington D.C. and the California DVBE Alliance and has been Chairman since 1985 of the Association for Service Disabled Veterans (ASDV). The Association for Service Disabled Veterans initiated P.L. 108-183 “Sole Source and Restricted Competition Procurement for Service Disabled Veterans”, P.L. 106-50 “The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act”, P.L. 109-461, “The Veterans’ Benefits Healthcare and Information Technology Act of 2006” and the President of the United States’ Executive Order 13360.

The Association for Service Disabled Veterans (ASDV) is the non-profit organization that pioneered the concept of “ENTREPRENEURSHIP” as a valid goal in the rehabilitation of disabled in service and prisoner of war military veterans (SDVE). In 1989, ASDV sponsored “pioneering” legislation that requires that 3% of the total procurement of State of California Government Agencies, and their prime contractors, be directed to service disabled veteran enterprises (SDVE). That legislated policy was subsequently endorsed by a state constitutional referendum and approved by the State of California Supreme Court.

Mr. Lopez is honored by the 2009 CTIA International Telecommunications Association “TRAILBLAZER AWARD” for continuous pioneering service to military veterans and disabled persons worldwide.

Mr. Lopez is also honored by the State of California, Office of the Governor, Annual presentation of the “JOHN K. LOPEZ, EXCELLENCE IN VETERAN BUSINESS” Award.

Mr. Lopez is also honored by the JOHN K. LOPEZ “KEEPING THE PROMISE” award, given annually to a California organization by the State of California DVBE Alliance. The 2006 Awardee is Southern California Edison.

He is also honored by the “JOHN K. LOPEZ NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD” given annually for National Achievement by The Veterans’ Corporation. Established by act of the U.S. Congress, the board members are appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the U.S. Congress. The 2006 Congressional Awardees are U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.

Frank Campanaro

 

Frank Campanaro is CEO of Trillacorpe Construction, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) offering full service General Construction, Construction Management, A & E, and Green/Sustainability services for Military and Government bases/installations. Trillacorpe Construction was formed by seasoned construction professionals who are also Veterans with a passion to create opportunity for other Veterans and Veteran owned businesses alike. Trillacorpe Construction is under contract for tens of millions and has hired several Vets and SDV/VOB subcontractors. Mr. Campanaro was recently named the Small Business Administration’s 2009 Veteran Business Champion of the Year for the State of Michigan and the Midwest Region.

Mr. Campanaro founded Trillacorpe Construction after 20 years experience as a successful real estate developer and contractor, specializing in site selection and acquisition as well as the development and construction of residential, commercial, retail, industrial and office properties. Mr. Campanaro is a recognized leader in promoting employment assistance, job-training and technical skills programs for U.S. Veterans, having served as an Airborne Ranger and receiving distinguished awards for valor including a Presidential Unit Citation. Mr. Campanaro was nominated to the Executive Committee of VET-Force, a task force composed of over 200 organizations representing thousands of Veterans throughout the United States. VET-Force has made it their mission to monitor the implementation of the programs, agencies, and organizations referenced under the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999; to present a strong unified Veterans’ voice for virtually all of the major Veterans Groups as well as entrepreneurs.

Dick Richards

 

Dick Richards is currently the Senior Vice President for Operations at ERIMAX, Inc., a Federal Contractor specializing in IT, Acquisition Support and Program Management. During his career, he has held numerous executive level management positions at several large and medium-sized Federal and Commercial contractors, and has grown and managed staffs in excess of 650 IT professionals. He has also founded several companies focused on IT/outsourcing consulting, as well as international voice/data communications and Internet services. He chaired two national committees involving electronic imaging, and authored two imaging standards (one international and one for the DoD). He earned an MBA in Finance and MIS from Marymount University, and a BS in Engineering Management from the United States Naval Academy.

Charles W. Jones, Jr.

 

An Auburn University NROTC graduate in 1971, he served in the United States Navy as a repair officer for Cruiser Destroyer Force Pacific, where he coordinated maintenance and habitability improvements for the command. Charles is the founder and has been president of CMARK International, Inc. since 2000. CMARK provides facility and logistic support to primarily U.S. Government Institutions.

Prior to founding CMARK, Mr. Jones was a certified flight instructor and, from 1984 – 2000, the President of Commercial and Marine Products Corp., a provider of commercial kitchen equipment and marine products to military and industrial customers. Mr. Jones has more than 30 years of experience and expertise in working directly with the U.S. government and private U.S. government contractors, ship and shore.