Summer Small Business Series – How GSA is Helping to Bridge the “Valley of Death”

Date:  August 23, 2023 

Time: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. ET (10:00 - 11:30 a.m. PT)

CLPs: 2.0

Who Should Attend:  Government, Military, and Industry at all levels who are DoD Acquisition and Engineering professionals, Small Businesses, Technology Providers

Speaker: Mr. Rodney Couick, GSA

Description:  Learn how GSA's office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) is helping to fuel the US economy, bolster the small business industrial base, and help innovative small business concerns survive the dreaded technology "valley of death".  

The AAS SBIR/STTR Program Advisor will provide an update on how AAS is assisting customer agencies with Phase III awards, AAS award data to date, and initiatives AAS is pursuing to enable expanded support.

Mr. Rodney Couick, GSA

Couick joined GSA in 2011 as the Director of Assisted Acquisition Services for GSA's Great Lakes Region.  He grew the region's portfolio to more than 700 contracts and task orders for professional and technology services in support of hundreds of individual customers from more than 10 different federal agencies with an annual obligated value of approximately $1 billion.  See Attachments for his full bio.

Ken Carkhuff, DAU Small Business Learning Director

Mr. Carkhuff is responsible for leading the life cycle activities of assigned Small Business Professional (SBP) learning assets.  He also serves as a professor for all instructor-led SBP courses.  He was the first DoD acquisition professional to earn the new DoD Small Business Professional Credential in May 2021.

He is a retired naval officer and former SH-60B helicopter pilot with over 2500 flight hours.  He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (BS, Physical Science), the Naval War College (MA, National Security and Strategic Studies), the Naval Postgraduate School (MS, Contract Management) and Liberty University (EdS, Educational Leadership).  He is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. 

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