Representatives from the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville participated in Energy Huntsville’s Energy Summit 2016 Nov. 17-18 at the Davidson Center on the campus of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
Huntsville Center’s Energy Division earned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 2016 Good Neighbor Award for its collaboration and partnership with Energy Huntsville, a volunteer-based, non-profit dedicated to growing the region’s economy in the energy sector and establishing the city as the “go-to technology center for solutions to energy programs and projects.”
Matthew Urbanic, Huntsville Center Energy Division contracting officer, said Huntsville Center program managers and contracting officers leveraged this event to build and maintain strategic relationships across the industry, and to both share and gain lessons learned from our previous projects.
“This was an excellent opportunity not only for the government and industry to exchange ideas, but also for businesses of every size to develop their own projects and partnerships,” Urbanic said. “The Corps considers events like these essential for ‘cross-leveling’ fundamental knowledge of industry trends and innovations to make what we all do better.”
Urbanic spoke at the summit during a segment entitled “Building bridges between small business, large business and the federal government.”
“The Corps of Engineers has long considered small businesses to be the economic engine of our great nation,” Urbanic said. “They bring agility, energy and expertise to any of our projects, and their knowledge of their own communities gives insight that simply can't be gained otherwise.”
Porscha Porter, Huntsville Center’s Energy Division branch chief for Strategy and Business Management, moderated a panel focusing on federal government energy initiatives and partnerships.
One of the Strategy and Business Management Branch missions is to help other agencies and communities develop similar partnerships to achieve federal sustainability goals detailed in Executive Order 13693; Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade.
Porter said her takeaway from moderating the panel and hearing the responses of the panel members was the similar alignment multiple federal agencies have with one another.
“We are all facing similar challenges and with the current fiscal climate, realize the benefits of collaborating, sharing resources and the important role third party financing is playing in accomplishing our mission,” she said.