UMaine Conference Focuses on the Business of Homeland Security
Contact: Muriel Mosher, Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership, 207-623-0680Nick Houtman, UMaine Dept. of Public Affairs, 207-581-3777
ORONO, Maine — Maine businesses will join local, state and federal officials in a conference at the University of Maine on May 14 to discuss programs and business practices in the homeland security market. Maine Governor John E. Baldacci and U.S. Senator Susan Collins will co-chair the event that will feature keynote speaker Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border security and transportation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The purpose of the conference is to provide Maine businesses, researchers and local officials with information about federal procurement policies and grant opportunities.
“Too often, small businesses find it difficult to navigate the federal contracting process. This conference will help them to understand where to turn first for the information they need,” said Collins, who chairs the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees the DHS.
Governor Baldacci noted that the conference will provide small businesses and first responders throughout Maine with direct access to key personnel from the DHS and various state resources. Seminars will focus on federal and state procurement policies, supply chain management, emergency response and research and development.
Conference sessions will be held in the Donald P. Corbett Business Building, the Wells Conference Center, Jenness Hall and Neville Hall on the UMaine campus. In addition, federal and state programs and Maine businesses will set up exhibits to demonstrate products and share information.
Pre-conference activities get underway in the Alfond Arena the afternoon of May 13 with homeland security product demonstrations, laboratory tours and remarks by Jack Cashman, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development in the Alfond Arena. At the conference opening on May 14, Governor Baldacci will deliver the welcoming address followed by a keynote address by Major General John “Bill” Libby, Maine’s adjutant general and commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. Subsequent breakout sessions will address specific topics for participants.
Remarks by Collins and Hutchinson are scheduled during the luncheon in Wells Commons. The conference will conclude at 5 p.m.
Producing the conference are UMaine and the Maine Small Business Development Centers in association with the Maine Emergency Management Agency, the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Maine Market Development Center and the UMaine Office of the Vice President for Research.
Sponsors include the Maine Space Grant Consortium; Bushmaster Firearms of Windham, Maine; Applied Thermal Sciences of Sanford, Maine; ADT Federal Systems of Boca Raton, Florida; Sandia National Laboratories of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Central Maine Power of Augusta, Maine; the Maine Department of Transportation; Duke Energy of Veazie, Maine; Elm Construction Management of Portland, Maine; Sensor Research and Development Corporation of Orono, Maine; and Eastern Maine Development Corporation of Bangor, Maine. The Biotechnology Association of Maine is sponsoring pre-conference activities.
More information on the conference, including descriptions of seminars and an updated schedule, can be found here.