Small businesses get their chance to pitch ideas to Air Force

A French KC-130J in flight. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, played a key role in delivering two KC-130J and two C-130Js to a joint French and German squadron at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France. (Photo by Todd R. McQueen, Lockheed Martin)

A French KC-130J in flight. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, played a key role in delivering two KC-130J and two C-130Js to a joint French and German squadron at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France. (Photo by Todd R. McQueen, Lockheed Martin)
Business
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Nov 6, 2019
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Small businesses with viable ideas, take heed: If you wish to do business with the Air Force or simply want a glimpse of how that process works, a key Dayton event is approaching.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), working with the Dayton Development Coalition and JobsOhio, will host the AFLCMC Pitch Day at Carillon Park in Nov. 13-14.

The event takes its inspiration from the inaugural Air Force Pitch Day in March 2019, as well as commercial investment pitch competitions.

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The event will award Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts on-the-spot to companies based on a streamlined evaluation of written proposals and in-person presentations.

AFLCMC has already selected 17 companies ready for investment to pitch at the event. Winners will be awarded an immediate contract and receive an initial payment with a credit card.

AFLCMC plans to award over $12 million in contracts to the companies whose solutions are selected.

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The companies will give private pitches to Air Force officials on the morning of Nov. 13, which is Wednesday next week.

The next day, Nov. 14, will feature public pitches from the 17 companies and keynote presentations by Gen. Arnold Bunch, Jr., commander of Air Force Materiel Command, and Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, military deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics at the Pentagon.

Mark Kvamme, a partner at Drive Capital in Columbus, will give a keynote Nov. 13. Kvamme served as the first president and chief investment officer of JobsOhio, Ohio’s private, non-profit economic development corporation.

The (SBIR) program selects small businesses to help the military solve critical problems. AFLCMC Pitch Day companies have moved from Phase 1 to Phase 2 with their customer and are seeking contracts with the Air Force as well as a follow-on investment to begin commercializing their products and technologies for use on aircraft or weapons systems.

The event seeks to connect SBIR companies with the resources they need to complete their Phase 2 work and introduce them to the business resources available in Ohio.

For more information on participation opportunities, please check out the AFLCMC Pitch Day website: https://aflcmcpitchday.com/.

There will be no on-site registration for the event.

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Thomas Gnau is a business reporter who joined the Dayton Daily News in 2007. He has reported for daily newspapers in Ohio since 1991.