October 2024

Our Mission: Build Leaders and Lead Collaboration among Government and Industry to Develop

Multi Disciplined Solutions to National Security

and Infrastructure Challenges

2025 SAME Strategic Plan

From the President:

Happy Halloween SAME NoVA Post Members!

As we wrapped up our 9^th Annual B2B Event, I thought of all the activities that our Post participates in, and I thank each and every member for their support of our Post. We strive each year to make sure that we are providing value to our members through our different events. We want to provide an opportunity to learn and grow in your career, to expand your network, and find the right connections for your firm. We also give you an opportunity to give back by helping us connect with our upcoming STEM workforce through K-12 activities and providing scholarships. I hope you find that our Post is providing all that for you. If you want to get more involved, please reach out and we can find a place for you.

Our Veterans Committee Director, Craig Waddy, and I had a great time at this year’s MOAA Networking for Success event. We met new people that didn’t know about SAME as well as some current and past SAME members, who were glad to see us there. I talked to one military spouse who said her son wants to be a mechanical engineer and will be going to college soon. Scholarship program! We are hoping to see some of the attendees at one of our future events! Thank you to Brian Anderson for inviting us to participate. Past Post President Phil Hicks set up our relationship with MOAA a couple of years ago and I am happy we are continuing that connection.

We had a record-breaking number of presentations at our B2B Event on October 10th. Every year it keeps growing! Everyone had a great time, and truthfully, I always love hearing the cowbell! 😊 We were so glad that Cherie Kunz, MBA, Matt Karlinchak, William “Bill” Tully, PE, DBIA and David Wolfel, RA were able to join us and provide updates for their agencies and give a look at not only what is coming up, but also the challenges that they face in taking care of our warfighters.

I am looking forward to our Cyber Security Webinar with the Honorable Lucian Niemeyer, F.SAME. There will be more information coming out soon and you will see why you don’t want to miss it! And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the upcoming Annual Fall Festival at the Winery at Bull Run.

If anyone has any ideas or feedback, reaching out to myself or the Post Board members is a great way to ensure the Post continues to thrive and meet the needs of our members.

Thank you for your continued support of the NoVA Post and I look forward to seeing you at the Winery, or at the National SBC next month!

Julie,

Julie Smiley 😊

SAME Northern Virginia Post President

exp Federal Inc. | Proposal Manager

julie.smiley@expfederal.com

Upcoming Events:

Cyber Security Forum Webinar

with

Lucian Niemeyer

CEO, Building Cyber Security

in support of Infrastructure Security Month

Date & Time:

October 31, 2024

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM EST

Location: Webinar

Cost: FREE

Festival Registration

Recaps:

K-12 Outreach at the Osbourn High School

Julia DiGaetano, our K-12 Committee Director, and Senior Staff Geologist

with Soil Consultants Engineering (SCE), has been busy attending High School events and connecting with students interested in the STEM field. She attends on behalf of SCE, but also talks to students about SAME.

Below is her recap of two events.

The Career and Technical Education Day on September 18th

We set up a table representing SCE with SAME flyers at the Career & Technical Education Day at Osbourn High School in City of Manassas on September 18th. We talked to students about different pathways to careers in construction, civil engineering and geology fields. It was a blast, and we met with several of the City of Manassas officials that day! The event was a huge success, as over 800 students, from freshmen to seniors, attended the event throughout the day. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to connect with students and help provide insight into these fields.

The Women in Trades Lunch meeting on September 20th

I returned to Osbourn High School to speak with a small group of about 20 girls who were on track to enter a trade program or STEM career after high school. I shared my experiences working on construction sites and within a male-dominated field. I had many students ask questions afterwards and received very positive feedback from the event organizer. I would love to be able to expand this to other schools and hopefully get together other women from the NOVA post who would be open to going to schools and speaking with girls about working in a male-dominated STEM field. This could be a great initiative from our post as it would be incredibly helpful to provide first-account guidance and advice to girls who may be hesitant to enter a field that interests them because of disproportionate gender ratios.

Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Webinar

On October 4, 2024, our joint SAME Mid-Atlantic Posts hosted this month’s "First Friday" webinar session featured an informative discussion on the Corporate Transparency Act's (CTA) beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements. This event exemplified our commitment to keeping our community informed on crucial industry developments. Experts Nick Perry and Dan Ward, attorneys from Ward & Berry, PLLC, shared their expertise on this important topic. This session was particularly valuable for small businesses and their larger partners, offering guidance on navigating these new regulations effectively.

In 2021, Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act. This law creates a beneficial ownership information reporting requirement as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures. Starting in January 2024, many companies are required to report information about their beneficial owners, i.e., the individuals who ultimately own or control the company. They will have to report the information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The complete presentation video wil be available at the following link on YOUTUBE:

Presentation Video

Professional Development and Thought Leadership Opportunities

We're pleased to note that attendees were eligible to receive one hour of professional development credit (PDH), supporting our members' ongoing professional growth. If you or your firm have an interesting topic or best practice to share with our A/E/C industry professionals, we’re excited to announce that we’re currently accepting abstract submissions for the SAME DC Post First Friday Webinars starting in January, February or March 2025.

Sponsorship Opportunities are Available

The success of our "First Friday" webinar series is due in large part to our DC Post Annual Platinum Sponsors and First Friday Sponsors: Fox Rothschild and Parsons Corporation. We're grateful for their support and excited to announce that sponsorship opportunities for the 2025 webinar series are now available. This presents an excellent opportunity for organizations looking to increase their visibility within our community.

We appreciate your continued engagement with SAME Mid-Atlantic Post events. Your participation helps us build a stronger, more informed professional community. We look forward to seeing you at our next event!

Leadership & Mentoring Program

The DC & NoVA Posts are proud to host the “O-G” Regional Leadership & Mentoring Program (LMP) – one of the first within SAME founded in approximately 2016. We facilitate monthly discussions between our 12 members of this year’s class and our speakers who are Fellows, leaders in/from government, and unofficial mentors from across our Society.

On 9 Oct 2024, our LMP met with Karen Durham-Aguilera, PE, SES, Executive Director of the Office of Army Cemeteries & Army National Military Cemeteries at Arlington National Cemetery to discuss her Leadership Lessons Learned over her history within industry, USACE, and within the Department of the U.S. Army. Thank you so much KD-A for your continued support our program and for LTC Paul Sipe’s support during the event.

Next, our LMP will meet on 12 November 2024 at the Procon Consulting HQ in Tyson’s Corner, VA for our small business owner roundtable discussion. Our class will learn from three successful business owners and leaders: Kyu Jung, Co-Founder and President of Procon Consulting; Amy Morris, President of T3 Design Corporation; and Jim Hoffman, President of Summer Consultants. Thanks to Procon Consulting for hosting us and to all of our speakers!

B2B Recap

We had a sellout of our B2B presentation slots again. We had 34 firms provide their 3 minute presentation, some going all the way to the cowbell! Everyone had a great time with lots of networking time. And a big shout out to Cherie Kunz, MBA and Matt Karlinchak from USACE Norfolk, William “Bill” Tully, PE, DBIA from USACE Baltimore, and David Wolfel, RA from NAVFAC Washington for joining us and staying around for conversations with our attendees. If you missed out doing a presentation this year, make sure you watch out for the registration next year around August and claim your spot early!

All the presentations from the event have been uploaded to our website. Check them out below!

Presentations

Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Network for Success

On Wednesday October 2^nd, Post President Julie Smiley and Veterans Committee Director Craig Waddy attended MOAA’s Network for Success event at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington. There were over 150 transitioning uniformed service members, veteran and military spouse candidates in attendance.

The evening was an opportunity for attendees to get great advice on how to take the next step in their career. There was a moderated panel of speakers who have transitioned from life in the military to civilian life that talked about what worked or was a struggle in their transition. Additionally, one of the speakers was a military spouse who had learned how to start all over every time her husband changed stations. There were people there to help with resumes for both federal government focused, and public sector focused, as well as career coaching and employers looking to hire. There was ample networking time to speak with companies looking to hire veterans.

This is an event that MOAA hosts this every year. Please let us know if you are interested in participating next year!