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SUCCESS STORIES
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Quality Support, Inc.: U.S. Department of State Success Story
In December of 1989, Mr. Wayne M. Gatewood, Jr. partnered with Lydia M. Miller to found Quality Support, Inc., a technical, management, and administrative support services firm. Originating from a small firm in Mr. Gatewood’s basement, Quality Support has since grown into a competitive and reputable firm with more than 100 employees and provides the Federal Government and commercial clients with worldwide conference and meeting support, travel and logistical services, records management, graphic design, courier services, human resources management, training, technical writing & editing, translation & transcription, systems analysis, and a variety of other technical, administrative, executive, and management support services, including classified services. Headquartered in Landover, Maryland, just 11 miles from downtown Washington, D.C. their highly-skilled staff provides direct labor support to the Federal Government at locations nationwide, from Washington, D.C. to Benicia, California. Additionally, on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, they have provided support on projects throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.
Quality Support now has a long and documented successful history of performance on behalf of the Department of State, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration, among many others, including several White House Initiatives. They have consistently supported numerous high-level dignitaries, foreign officials, U.S. political figures from the White House and the U.S. Congress, academia, and corporate principals and senior executives, and have worked with high-level security entities at the United Nations. The Department of State has become one of the firm’s largest and longest-standing customers, constituting nearly 45% of their annual requirements.
Quality Support’s first opportunity to provide service to the Department of State began in 1999, in support of the Iraqi National Congress (INC). They established an international office in London, England to organize and oversee numerous events on behalf of DOS in support of Iraqi National Congress initiatives. Quality Support assisted INC leadership by helping to plan and manage worldwide conferences and meetings, coordinated international travel, secured lodging and ground transportation, and produced and disseminated meeting materials. Quality Support’s efforts culminated in the first ever Iraqi National Congress held in New York City during October 1999 and was attended by numerous high level diplomats. Successful performance on this contract was a stepping-stone to Quality Support’s decade-long relationship with the Department of State.
Quality Support has a reputation and drive to exceed customer’s expectation that has not gone unnoticed. In recognition of the stellar services provided to the U. S. Department of State, Quality Support was nominated as the 2003 Department of State Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year and received the Assistant Secretary’s Award for Excellence in 2004. They were selected as the Small Business Administration’s Washington District Area Office 8(a) Graduate of the Year for 2002 and the Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year for 2003. In 2006, Quality Support received a Citation from Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. as one of the State’s Top Minority Business Enterprises, recognized for outstanding achievement in business development, client satisfaction, professional affiliations and community involvement. That same year, Mr. Gatewood was selected for the SBA Washington District Director’s Award and also received the NAACP Washington D.C. Chapter Award for Leadership in the Veterans Business Community. In May of 2007, Quality Support received a Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, Mr. Gatewood was selected to receive the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs, as part of their Champions of Veterans Enterprise Program.
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Media Fusion, Inc.: NASA Success Story
NASA Headquarters Printing and Design (P&D) has a new name and small business contractor—the Communications Support Services Center (CSSC) and Media Fusion, Inc. The pioneering Media Fusion, Inc. firm is well known throughout NASA for their innovative animation and 3-D development work, most recently on the Constellation Program, the Agency’s next venture into the cosmos that will take humans from Earth, to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond.
The new CSSC name emphasizes the expanded graphic and printing production services that Media Fusion, Inc. brings to NASA Headquarters. “Twenty-first century communications encompass more than printing and graphics. Exhibits, publications, podcasts, cell phone graphics, animations, and the like are vital elements in reaching the masses with your message,” said CSSC Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR), Michael Crnkovic. “Multimedia productions that reach the senses with audio, video, and motion along with traditional printing and graphics ultimately tell the whole story in a way folks from young to old can appreciate. We are excited about the capabilities Media Fusion brings to the table, and we couldn’t be more pleased with their performance to date,” Crnkovic concluded.
The CSSC contract is the first prime contract for Media Fusion, Inc., but the company is not new to NASA. Huntsville, Alabama based Media Fusion, Inc. has a long tradition of helping NASA communicate. Media Fusion, Inc. producers have been creating 3D animation, video, graphics, and multimedia for NASA for more than a decade. Founded in 1995, the company’s first NASA subcontract was signed in 1996 to support the Technology Transfer Office. A large number of contracts followed supporting Pathfinder X-34, X-37, In-Space, Next Generation Launch Technologies (NGLT), the Space Launch Initiative, the Exploration System Mission Directorate (ESMD), and many others.
Tim McElyea says “quality work, customer service, and building relationships with large business are key to our growth with NASA.” Three years ago, Media Fusion, Inc. signed a Mentor-Protégé agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the only subcontractor on the CSSC contract. SAIC has a rich history at NASA Headquarters and mentored Media Fusion, Inc. through the difficult process of writing their first prime proposal. SAIC also brings “invaluable customer relationships and process knowledge that helped us hit the ground running,” says Program Manager Cindy Miller.
Media Fusion, Inc. quickly embraced the new CSSC mission. One of the first priorities was to establish a contract-wide emphasis on customer service. The entire CSSC team “measures a large portion of our success on how we anticipate our customer’s needs and exceed their expectations,” says Customer Service Manager Gail Carter-Kane. From the proposal through contract transition, the Media Fusion, Inc. team began looking for ways to streamline production. Productivity has increased by more than 35 percent during the first 6 months, as measured by the number of projected completed projects compared to the previous year. The CSSC team is seeing a continued increase in customer requests and positive customer comments. Program Manager Cindy Miller summarizes the increasing amount of positive feedback as follows: “Management sets the priorities, and our very talented and motivated team makes things happen. You couldn’t ask for a better team.”
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ActioNET: U.S. Department of Transportation Success Story
Ashley W. Chen received her Master of Science Degree in Computer Science from Binghamton University and achieved the highest level of professional certifications from both Microsoft and Novell. After working for other small businesses as a technical and management consultant on high profile projects on Capitol Hill, Ashley founded ActioNet in 1998 with a "dream to build something great." She was inspired by an enlightening piece written by a traditional Japanese philosopher that stated, "action without vision is a nightmare, vision without action is only a daydream.” Ashley has transformed the company from an individually-operated company in 1998 to a dynamic information technology solution provider with over 140 staff members and over $16 million in revenue today.
Ms. Chen started by reading the publication “How to Do Business with the Department of Transportation” and promptly called the Small Business Specialists within the Agency. ActioNet’s first opportunity was a Year 2000 Project for the Department of Transportation (DOT) for just over $50,000. The project was delivered on time and under budget. Based on the results of this project, Ashley was asked to provide Enterprise Software Development services. This effort grew from two to twelve support personnel and resulted in Ashley receiving the DOT Outstanding Women-Owned Business Enterprise Award. Ashley has also been featured in the DOT “Transportation Link” newsletter in an article titled “Lights, Camera, ActioNet!”.
ActioNet’s Enterprise Software Development efforts within DOT have evolved into a mature and process-oriented approach that started with SEISM CMM® Level 3 and later CMMI® Level 3 and ISO 9001:2000 Certifications. ActioNet brought its process-oriented approach to other functional areas including IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity, which recently resulted in ITIL Certification. Through word of mouth, strategic marketing and a reputation for providing outstanding customer service, ActioNet has expanded its business opportunities with multiple DOT modals, working on exciting projects relating to Web Content Management, Inter-Agency Web Initiatives, Data Sharing, Collaboration, Enterprise Architecture (EA), Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Cybersecurity.
ActioNet’s most recent project was in support of the DOT Move from its prior Headquarters location to the new Southeast Federal Center. ActioNet was tasked with supporting the move of all critical systems to the new facility and accomplished this within a month. As part of ActioNet’s support for one of the DOT modals, ActioNet was the first and only group to be fully operational during the week-long move activities by activating the Continuity of Operations (COOP) site as the Production environment.
DOT has provided a fertile environment and has consistently supported small businesses in their goal of understanding how to effectively market and support new business opportunities. The OSDBU community has been unwavering in its support throughout the journey with the many challenges that face small businesses today.
Through hard work and persistence, Ashley turned her vision into action and her dreams into reality. Ashley was featured as a success story and selected as a panelist by the US Women’s Chamber of Commerce and AFCEA International in 2007. Ashley was named the SBA Washington Metro Region Minority Small Business Person of the Year and the Asian Entrepreneur of the Year by Asian Enterprise Magazine in 2004. ActioNet was a Deloitte Technology Fast 50/500 and Virginia’s Fantastic 50 award winner for the past five years as well as Washington Technology Fast 50 and INC 500. The foundation for ActioNet’s success is based on our customers, our employees, commitment to growth and continual process improvement. Ashley stated “As a small, woman-owned, minority business, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the DOT OSDBU Office and the OSDBU Community for its encouragement and support.”
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OSDBU Council Best Practices
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Quality Support, Inc.
Interaction with the Small Business Community