The Meade Business Connect (MBC) Mentorship program recently welcomed the newly accepted 2023- 2024 cohort with its kick-off orientation and happy hour.
New Cohort members Latasha Billups of Regulus Technical Services, LLC and Gwen Greene of Applied Information Technology, LLC
The Micro Business Mentorship program was created last year with a goal of supporting the development of emerging businesses by giving them the opportunity to meet and learn from FMA Prime Hosts and relevant subject matter experts.
“The Micro Business program is designed to encourage, educate and connect new business leaders who are focused on serving the missions based at Fort Meade,” said Shana Cosgrove, MBC Mentorship Co-Chair and CEO of Nyla Technology Solutions. “Through monthly meetings, the cohort gets to better understand the local business community and learn tools and techniques for functional areas of their business, such as finance, marketing and HR. We are excited for the second year of this program and are grateful for the time and support we’ve received from the community’s large businesses and extraordinary subject matter experts.”
The FMA received a record number of applications this year. 18 companies were chosen to go through the almost year-long program.
Original Cohort members Kwami Fox of Imperial Cyber Group, LLC, Monte Blakely of Crimson Science, LLC and Ilene Silverman of Bytoa.
The participating companies accepted into the program are: ACME IT Corp, ADM Solutions Inc. LLC, Akiva Technologies, Applied Information Technology, LLC, Calibyr Corporation, Carter Enterprise Solutions, LLC, CloudFire Consulting, Inc., Crown Point Technologies, LLC, Culper Technology, Datacraft Solutions, LLC, DataHaven Solutions, Inc., Fire Tower Technologies, LLC, GIGATEC, MARATECH, LLC, Minerva Cyber Technologies, LLC, MPA Technologies, LLC, Neural Solutions and Regulus Technical Services.
During the program, the cohort members will meet regularly for a series of content sessions. Meetings begin with presentations from an FMA Prime Contractor, who is hosting the meeting and are followed with presentations from subject matter experts. Networking among the cohort and leader is a vital part of the program.
The initial Micro Business Mentorship Program consisted of 16 companies including Crimson Science, LLC.
Monte Blakely (pictured far left) and Ilene Silverman (pictured far right) helped welcome some of the 2023 new Cohort Members (from back left to right) Andy Naylor of Datacraft Solutions, LLC, Brian Greeson of Fire Tower Technologies, LLC and Michael Partilla of MPA Technologies, LLC.
“Participating in the Fort Meade Alliance’s 2022 Micro Business Mentorship program introduced me to a slew of prime contractors and fellow small company founders that I would not have met otherwise, said Monte Blakely, CEO of Crimson Science and a 2022-2023 cohort graduate. “These relationships have supercharged my professional network and will help power my company’s future growth.”
The new cohort recently held its first mentorship meeting highlighting recruiting tools, process and best places to source.
For more details about this program, or to keep an eye on when applications will open for the 2024-2025 Cohort, visit our website – https://fmadpd.wpengine.com/micro-business-mentorship-program/
