Regina C. Stout Wins Award for Work with VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Philadelphia District Office has announced Regina C. Stout of Lockheed Martin as the winner of the 2007 Eastern Pennsylvania SBA Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year Award. She is being recognized for her outstanding work with the Chamber initiative VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS. This is the second year in a row that this award has been given to someone involved in the VETWORK program.

A panel of 23 judges representing lending institutions, small business owners, and economic development organizations made the selection. Ms. Stout will be honored at the Annual Small Business Week Awards Ceremony held at Citizens Bank Park in June.

VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS specifically identifies Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and Veteran-Owned businesses and connects these experienced suppliers with interested buyers. It helps these businesses capitalize on their unique classification as regional corporations look to satisfy supplier diversity requirements. Demands are especially strong in the following areas: industrial supplies, electrical, HVAC, machinist and printing.

A major goal of the program is to build awareness within both the veteran and the general communities of the business and contract opportunities available to veterans if they come forward and identify their business as veteran or service-disabled veteran owned, specifically by registering in the Central Contracting Registry (www.CCR.gov).

The next VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS event is a networking session on Thursday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge.

The VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS program is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation and Merck and supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, and the Procurement Technical Assistance Program.

For more information, or to sign-up for the program, visit vetworkyourbusiness.gpcc.com or contact Brynn Hines at bhines@greaterphilachamber.com or 215-790-3630.