SECAF Member Forum: Prepare and Plan for Your Exit Strategy

Join Protorae Law’s Devon Hewitt at SECAF’s Member Forum: Prepare and Plan for Your Exit Strategy on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

It is never too early to think about and plan for your eventual exit from your business.  There are many possibilities to explore, such as selling your business to a third party, bringing on a minority investor, or a buyout by your management team.  While the options vary, a common thread running through all succession planning strategies is the importance of starting early and planning intentionally.  The exit strategy that develops on short notice is rarely executed well.   Ideally, you want to plan carefully in advance, build value, vet the available options, and be prepared to move on the best strategy when the time is right.

This panel discussion is will be of interest to small business owners that are interested in strategic planning, building value, and understanding potential exit strategies.  Whether you have already started your exit planning already, or never given it a thought, you will benefit from the insights of your fellow business owners who have gone through various exit and investment strategies.  They will share their personal stories on what they did to prepare, what worked well, and what they would do differently.  This Member Forum will also feature industry experts who will provide legal and practical insights on the unique considerations for small business contractors when embarking on strategic planning and executing exit strategies.

Moderator:  Cameron Hamilton – Senior Managing Director, The McLean Group

Cameron Hamilton, a Principal of The McLean Group, joined the firm in 2001 and has been involved in more than 20 successful sell- and buy-side M&A and capital formation engagements. Currently, he focuses on serving federal contracting and defense technology clients. His recent deals include advising Peace Technology, Inc. in its sale to ITSolution, GTEC’s acquisition of Signature Government Solutions, Dyncorp’s acquisition of Casals & Associates, Tetra Tech’s acquisition of Haselwood Enterprises and DPK Consulting, Arrowhead Global Solutions’ acquisition by Caprock Communications, Abraxas Corporation’s acquisition of Dauntless and  FIC’s acquisition by MPD, among others.

Before joining The McLean Group, Mr. Hamilton led the consulting division responsible for strategic business process analysis and return-on-investment opportunity valuation at ClearCross, Inc., a leading international trade compliance software vendor. He also was the primary financial analyst supporting ClearCross’ multiple acquisitions and capital raises.

Mr. Hamilton holds an AB in economics from Princeton University, where he was a member of nationally ranked varsity swimming and water polo teams.

Panelists:

Kathryn B. Freeland is Chief Executive Officer of A-TEK, Inc., a Virginia based woman-owned small business that provides Enterprise IT, Cyber Security, Cyber Data, Analytics, Scientific Analysis, and Application Development solutions, services, and staffing to Federal Government agencies across multiple mission areas including Homeland Security, Healthcare, Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Life Sciences.

As the CEO, Mrs. Freeland is directly responsible for leading the company’s strategic vision and direction, developing strategic and tactical goals, operating plans, and policies for the corporation, and implementing board approved plans. She directs the company with a highly strategic business plan, referred to as Vision 2020 – The Way Forward, with the goal of optimizing profits and return on invested capital. Mrs. Freeland plays a vital role in business development, customer satisfaction, financial stability, and employee relations.

A serial entrepreneur, she is also the Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer of RGII Technologies, Inc., an Information Technology, Systems Integration, and Engineering Solutions Company whose myriad of customers included nine presidential cabinet agencies of the federal government. Mrs. Freeland successfully built and sold RGII to Computer Horizons Corp in 2003. Under Mrs. Freeland’s leadership, RGII more than tripled in size with revenue growing 4800% over an 11-year period. After fulfilling a three-year transition period with Computer Horizons, she retired in 2006 from the brain child she started in a basement office in search of her next entrepreneurial venture, A-TEK, Inc. Prior to founding RGII, Mrs. Freeland spent over seven years supporting various Federal Government agencies in the areas of Financial, Information and Program Management Support. Mrs. Freeland is a visionary leader who has made her mark in the business community.

Devon Hewitt, a partner at Protorae Law, has over 25 years’ experience in the field of Government Contracts and represents emerging, small, mid-size and large government contractors located across the United States and abroad.  Ms. Hewitt is best known as a bid protest attorney, having participated in well over 100 bid protests lodged at various federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the Government Accountability Office.  She also has participated in bid protests filed at the United States Court of Federal Claims and is one of the few bid protest attorneys that has argued bid protest decisions on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In addition to bid protests, Ms. Hewitt represents government contractors in a wide variety of transactional matters such as the drafting and negotiation of subcontracts and teaming, cooperative, nondisclosure, non-compete, operating, joint venture, commercial vendor and “OTA” agreements.  She also advises government contractors on issues related to the Service Contract Act, intellectual property and data rights, suspension and debarment, contract claims, ethics and compliance, Organizational Conflicts of Interest, FOIA requests and reverse FOIA letters, notices of default and terminations, and government investigations, among others. She has significant experience with the Small Business Administration’s small business preferential programs and has twice served as a trial expert on this topic.

Ms. Hewitt recently was appointed General Counsel of the Small Emerging Contractor Advisory Forum (SECAF) and has been a member of its Board for over five years.  She is active in the National Veterans Small Business Council and represents many SDVOSBs and VOSBs.

Jack Moore joined Evans Incorporated in 2008 and became co-owner of Evans in 2019.  Jack has over twenty-five years of consulting experience across a variety of industries, as well as a BA in Economics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), both from Duke University. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Jack is a people and ideas person. He excels at building relationships, understanding the needs of clients, and keeping employees engaged. At Evans, Jack’s people skills aren’t wasted. Along with his qualifications and professional expertise, Jack uses his passion for people as another tool in his arsenal to tackle unique organizational issues. While he still provides senior-level consulting services to some of our key clients, Jack’s primary focus is promoting the Evans human-centered brand and injecting innovation into our client-facing solutions, all while building our own healthy organization.

Jack enjoys being an Uber-driver for his two teenage children and is an unabashed Duke fan, attending games at every opportunity!

You must be a SECAF member to register for this event.