SMA is proud to be one of the two Patron Sponsors of the Capture and Business Development Conference (CBDC) to be held virtually by the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) on Thursday, 28 January. The CBDC is a one-day, information-packed conference specifically designed for professionals and their companies who are responsible for winning new business. Attendees will get expert opinions, APMP approved best practices, and invaluable mindshare on what it takes to win in today’s technology-driven capture and business development marketplace.

As well as featuring our innovative Talent on Demand (TOD)® platform that matches your capture and proposal team staffing needs with our resources, Dave Patterson, Senior Vice President for Strategic Accounts at SMA, will present “The Genesis[1] Work.”

All too often the work of developing a proposal begins with…well, the proposal. Perhaps the source selection did not have much of a warning.  Perhaps the government was vague about its intention for a new competition, or a recompete of an existing program. Perhaps you’re the incumbent and focused on just doing the job; making the client happy; getting really good CPARS, and the necessity of considering what needs to be done to keep the contract is a shadowy imperative. Too bad, you are in for a rough ride to be a winner. It doesn’t have to be that way. Your probability of winning could be quite good, but it takes what this presentation refers to as “The Genesis[2] Work.” It’s the “in the beginning” work. That’s right, the business capture management rigor; all of the upfront tasks. If you are fortunate, then the program that you want to compete for has a source selection schedule that offers time on the front end to do the capture management tasks.  On the other hand, as is generally the case, your team is scrambling to gather business intelligence, do price-to-win analysis and all the other critical tasks to accomplish that put you in a better position to win. The Genesis Work approach sees the traditional capture management tasks as perpetual business development responsibilities. That is the underpinning approach to what will be presented. Dave is looking forward to seeing you, virtually, of course.

Dave Patterson has extensive experience in creating winning capture strategies during source-selection proposal development as well as leading and managing large proposal development projects. He is the former Executive Director, National Defense Business Institute (NDBI) at the University of Tennessee, and founder and managing partner of Castlebridge Keep, LLC, a business development consulting firm. Previously, Dave was Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), responsible for advising and assisting the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) with the development, execution and oversight of the $500+ billion DoD budget, developing legislative strate­gies, financial policy and management systems, and business moderniza­tion programs. Dave led the Defense Acquisition Performance Assess­ment Project, a comprehensive evaluation of the DoD acquisition system and decision-making processes. As a founding and managing partner at Bucher, Hutchins, Kohler and Patterson, Inc., Mr. Patterson led their commercial consulting practice, developing management strategies for acquiring new business. From 1999 to 2001, he was Vice President and Site Manager for SMA (then SM&A) support to Lockheed Martin’s winning Joint Strike Fighter com­petitive proposal preparation, organizing and leading the capture teams in developing a straightforward compelling proposal strategy.

SMA’s Capture Support and Proposal Development Practice can help you with “The Genesis Work” for your next must-win opportunity. For more information, contact us:

[1] Moses (No Last Name), The Bible, Chapter One, Verse One. KJV, King James Publishing House, English Translation, 1611
[2] Ibid.