REGION’S BUSINESS OWNERS BENEFITING FROM SEED TRAINING

SEED is making a difference in Eastern Kentucky

September 8, 2018

Business owners and representatives listened intently to the panelists at the training August 28 in Hazard, Ky. Formed 32 years ago by Fifth District Congressman Hal Rogers to create jobs in Southeast Kentucky, the economic development organization, based in Somerset, serves a 45-county region in Kentucky. Staff works with business owners, small and large, throughout its service area to identify financing solutions to fund their location, expansion and working capital needs. For more information, visit:
www.southeastkentucky.com.

HAZARD, Ky. – John Young registered for Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corp. (SKED’s) most recent Supplier Education & Economic Development (SEED) training to get a better understanding of the federal government’s procurement process. The General Manager for Manchester based
Phillips Diversified Manufacturing was one of 12 small business representatives who attended the training August 28 in Hazard, Ky.

“The recent SEED training was of great benefit to our organization,” Young said. “We went to the training to get an understanding of the government’s procurement process. We were taken through the procurement process with focus on the importance of effective communication and strong program management: before, during, and after an award.”

Darrall Henderson, Ph.D., state director of Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) partnered with SKED for the event. He gave an in-depth presentation on execution, compliance and closing out federal contracts process at the half-day event held at the Hazard Community & Technical College campus.

He was joined by a panel of three representatives from manufacturing businesses across the region who are currently subcontracting and shared their stories of success in working with prime government contracts:

James Glass, co-owner of American Metal Works (AMW) in Paintsville, Ky.;
Scott Roush, director of manufacturing at Summit Aviation in Somerset, Ky. and
Anita Sutton, business development manager for Outdoor Venture Corporation (OVC), with locations in Pine Knot and Stearns,
Ky. All shared important information about their experiences in subcontracting with the federal government and gave the participants important tips on the process.
“Finishing up with the panel discussion put the icing on the cake,” Young added. “The panel answered questions based on their company’s actual experiences, and provided insight and recommendations that will benefit us as we move forward to become a government contractor. We left the training with a greater understanding of the work we need to do as a company, in order to be ready tosubmit and win a government contract.”

These trainings are designed to help the region’s manufacturers ready their companies with the appropriate certifications and quality control gauges to present their work to a wide range of prime contracting representatives at the Second Annual SEED Contracting Symposium to be held October 25 in Corbin, Ky.

SKED Executive Director Brett Traver says the training is the fourth this year for SKED’s SEED program. All are designed with a singular goal in mind: giving the businesses the tools they need to succeed and grow with more work.”

“It’s not just the information we share but also the business connections we help create that are proof SEED is making a difference in Eastern Kentucky,” Traver said. “We’re seeing company leaders who’d never even talked before building relationships that are mutually beneficial and creating economic development in the region.”

The Second Annual SEED Contracting Symposium is set for October 25, 2018 at The Corbin Center in Corbin, Ky.

For more information about future trainings or the symposium, please contact Brett Traver, SKED executive director at 606-677-6102 or btraver@centertech.com.