Department of Defense
Mentor-Protégé Conference Wrap-UP
Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense
Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP)
Thank you for making the
U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD) 2008 Mentor-Protégé (MP) Conference a success!
Held March 10–13 at the Hilton in
Daytona Beach,
FL, the conference focused on the theme "Today’s Protégés, Tomorrow’s
Leaders:
Strengthening the Value Chain."
Keeping with this theme, attendees had the opportunity to celebrate the Mentor-Protégé
Program’s 18 years of success and foster new growth.
ATTENDANCE
This year’s
conference had record attendance with over 570 participants.
Conference attendees included DoD Directors of Services, Military
Services and Other Defense Agency Program Managers; and key large and small defense contractors (mentors and
protégés).
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Keynote Address
The Honorable Dr. James I. Finley, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology U.S. Department of Defense, delivered the conference keynote address
during the Nunn-Perry awards ceremony on Wednesday, March 12.
Confirmed by the Senate in 2006, Dr. Finley is responsible for
advising the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense
for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics on matters relating to
acquisition and the integration and protection of technology.
Nunn-Perry Awards
On Wednesday evening,
the Department of Defense presented the prestigious
Nunn-Perry Awards
to eight mentor-protégé teams. The teams were honored for their success in achieving
cost efficiencies, enhancing the protégés' technical capabilities, and increasing
new business opportunities for prime contracts and subcontracts within the DoD.
Among the winners were
companies involved in everything from engineering and manufacturing to information
technology and intelligence community support. This year’s winners joined 125 other
mentor-protégé teams that have won the Nunn-Perry award since its inception in 1995.
Learn more about the
2008 Nunn-Perry award winners.
PRESENTATIONS
Over forty speakers addressed
the 2008 MP Conference on dozens of topics, including:
-
Understanding how to do
business with the DoD;
-
Overcoming challenges and avoiding pitfalls
-
Leadership and organizational effectiveness
-
What commercial companies expect from protégés;
-
Institutions that support the Mentor-Protégé Program
-
Mentor-Protégé agreementlifecycle
-
Technology transfer; and Information technology infrastructure.
View a full list of presentations available for download from this year’s conference.
PHOTOS
Photos from
this year’s conference are available online
here.
MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program and upcoming events visit the
DoD Mentor-Protégé Website, call us toll free at (800) 540-8857, ext. 143, or send an email
to programinformationmp@osd.mil
For additional information, contact the Conference Hotline at (800) 540-8857 or
email at OSBPconference@osd.mil.
