Albany chamber plans Space & Military Business Forum

ALBANY — The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce is offering a new and unique event to its membership next week, hosting its first ever Space and Military Forum to help businesses learn how to become NASA suppliers, subcontractors and service providers.

“It’s an opportunity for small, medium and large businesses in the Albany area, and really beyond that, to come and hear from NASA professionals and from NASA services about the different contract opportunities available,” Albany Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Barbara Rivera Holmes said. “And the great thing is, it’s already exciting enough when you’re talking about NASA headquarters, Kennedy Space Center, but we’ve also included the small business development offices from numerous military installations.”

The event, which is set for March 16 at the Imagination Theater at 117 Pine Ave. in downtown Albany, will feature presentations by a variety of entities connected to NASA and the United State Military, including NASA Headquarters, NASA Shared Space Services Center, John F. Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Marine Corps Logistics Command, Moody Air Force Base, Patrick Air Force Base and Robins Air Force Base.

“It’s pretty awesome to bring all of those business opportunities together in one setting and then present that to our business community,” Holmes said. “They all require vendor assistance of all different types, and so they’re looking for cleaning services, cleaning supplies, electricians, welders, everything that you could think of in order to operate a business. They need those services. It really is the entire scope of services.”

Holmes said that although the event, which is primarily sponsored by Albany’s A. West Enterprises, is something the chamber has never been involved with, it’s really just another way for the organization to provide meaningful opportunities to the business community it serves.

“The chamber works on behalf of its members in the community in a variety of ways,” she said. “(Recently) we were in Atlanta advocating for a variety of issues that affect our community and region, but we also do programming such as this where our members can partner and develop their business relationships.”

While most of the chamber’s events are catered specifically to member businesses, Holmes said the Space and Military Forum is open to companies from other parts of the region, state and country, so that local businesses can make connections with outside businesses and so visitors can see what Albany has to offer.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “From a community perspective, it’s quite an honor to have NASA, its variety of centers and military installations from around the area, come to Albany for this event. It’s great exposure and an awareness opportunity for the community. And it’s a good business development for our member businesses.”

Additionally, Holmes said Albany being chosen to host the event came about because of the types of businesses in Albany, the community’s positive reputation as being a good place to host events and because of its geographic advantage.

“We received a call from one of the organizers, and she had spent some time in Albany,” Holmes said. “She started looking at the geography and the businesses that we have and then looking at where other business opportunities were, and it just made sense (to host it in Albany).

“And it goes to show impressions matter. Location matters, hospitality, business climate, all of those things came into play in order for us to be able to host this event. It’s really confidence from the organizers that this is the right location.”

The Space and Military Forum will start at 10 a.m and run until 3 p.m. Registration cost is $10 for members of the Albany Area Chamber and for members of affiliated chambers in the region. The cost for non-members is $20. The cost of registration also includes lunch.

Space is limited, so prior registration is required. Registration can be completed at albanyga.com. For additional information, contact Mary Bickerstaff at [email protected] or at (229) 434-8700.

Holmes said after registering with the chamber, participants are also asked to contact Wendy Miller at [email protected] or at (321) 867-4629 to register for an afternoon matchmaking event toward the end of the forum.

Holmes said she is looking forward to the forum, and she hopes to see a strong turnout.

“It’s an awesome event, a fantastic event,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for our businesses, and it’s a great opportunity for Albany.”