American Defense Alliance and the MBDA Federal Procurement Center Collaborate to Promote Small Business Access to Government/Defense Contracting

On March 11-12, 2025, the American Defense Alliance (ADA) held its ‘2025 Southeast Defense Procurement Conference’ in Atlanta, Georgia, that brought together key stakeholders from the defense sector to explore procurement opportunities across the Southeastern United States. ​ The ADA is led by President & CEO Charles F. Sills, who also serves as COO of the U.S. Commerce Department’s MBDA Federal Procurement Center (FPC).

Under the MOU between the FPC and the ADA, the Atlanta conference included a presentation by the FPC’s ‘Tiger Team’, introduced by Keith Moore, Operator of the FPC, and delivered by Tiger Team lead Oscar Frazier.  This key briefing provided information to the conference attendees on how the MBDA FPC can support innovative small and medium businesses in the defense industry, to grow their companies and contribute to U.S. National Security and the Warfighter.

The conference featured prominent figures such as Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA), Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Congressman Neal Dunn (R-FL), a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; and Pentagon Keynote Speaker Brandon Cockrell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability (Installations, Energy & Environment).

Major focus areas included defense acquisition priorities, subcontracting opportunities, innovative technology solutions, and cybersecurity compliance. ​ Speakers and panelists represented the Army Corps of Engineers, the Air Force Materiel Command, NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command), DEFENSEWERX, the Army’s Military Base-Community Partnership Office, Project Spectrum (the Defense Dept.’s cybersecurity training center), and other commands and bases.

Attendees had the chance to connect with program managers, contracting officers, and small business program directors from various military branches, fostering collaborations that could advance their business development efforts, while helping shape the future of defense procurement. ​

One-on-one matchmaking sessions provided special opportunities to meet the speakers, as well as principals from Prime Contractors in a wide range of industry sectors from military base micro-grids (Honeywell) to AI for defense (Accenture).  And the Federal Procurement Center’s Tiger Team hosted a matchmaking table to introduce attendees to the benefits of FPC membership, and FPC mentoring across the board in Government contracting.

The American Defense Alliance is dedicated to the critical mission of supporting U.S. National Security and our Warfighters by informing the private-sector Defense Industrial Base of Federal acquisition requirements and priorities – and facilitating connections between qualified, innovative small and medium Businesses and Prime Contractors, enabling them to collaborate effectively in identifying, pursuing, and performing Government contracts.

The MBDA Federal Procurement Center is empowered to help emerging and small companies throughout the country, gain access to and succeed in the Government contracting sector, through capacity-building curricula and customized mentoring, and through partnerships with industry, academia, and Government agencies.

For more information, contact Charles Sills at [email protected], cell: 248 514-2293; or Keith Moore at [email protected], cell: 609 206-1440