Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pa, June 8-9, 2011 -- "Colonel Cheri A. Provancha opened the sixth annual Letterkenny Business Opportunity Showcase with a discussion of the state of Letterkenny on the campus of Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pa, Wednesday afternoon.
“Our acronym says LEAD"that’s pretty powerful,” Provancha said. “I don’t think there is anybody out there with an acronym like that. That has been our pillar.”
The showcase focuses on businesses interested in building relationships and contacts within the Letterkenny community as well as the greater Franklin County community and businesses.
Twenty-two vendors, ranging from businesses that specialize in military transport containers to electronic and technological products and approximately185 participants attended the event.
Congressman William “Bill” Shuster, of the 9th Pennsylvania District, spoke at Wednesday evening’s dinner reception.
“It is extremely important to recognize LEAD and its industry partners...this is a unique opportunity [for businesses] to come and meet with local businesses and local leaders,” said Shuster.
Mr. Gary Motsek, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Program Support, was the keynote speaker for Wednesday evening’s events. Motsek’s presentation provided perspective on the future from the Department of Defense and praised the depot and their continued support of the military.
“Many of those [Soldiers] wrote letters back to you, thanking you for your support. You save lives because you are responsive, you’ve pushed, you jumped, you ran, you did whatever it took...you made it happen and the troops remember.”
Four awards were presented to partners of Letterkenny at the dinner. Col. Provancha presented AAI the Production Partner of the Year award for their efforts in the partnership for resetting of the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV).
“These new initiatives will serve us well into the future and I look forward to expanding the use of this and to a long and productive relationship with AAI Corporation and TUAV Systems,” said Provancha.
TW Metals, as the prime vendor for metals products for the Northeast Region of the United States, received the Supplier of the Year award. TW Metals was honored for their ability to consistently fill surge and unique requirements for the Depot.
“TW metals has become a customer centric partner in development metals distribution solutions for LEAD,” stated Provancha.
The Outstanding Corporate Support of the Year award went to Competitive Solutions, Inc. for their efforts in implementing and sustaining Process Based Leadership (PBL) at Letterkenny.
“LEAD has been able to maximize our workforce’s potential, reduce cost and overhead, and increase quality and customer service by initiating the skills learned through Competitive Solutions, Inc,” said Provancha. “Through the use of PBL, LEAD has been able to improve our business results, communication, trust, morale and interpersonal effectiveness.”
Letterkenny’s Child Development Center received the Commander’s Award for Exceptional Support to recognize their support of the Depot, its employees and local military and Department of Defense employees.
On Thursday, the awards recipients addressed the showcase and thanked Letterkenny for their awards. Michelle Rockwell, Training and Curriculum Specialist for the CDC, stated that it was a “tremendous honor” to work with LEAD and support the Depot.
“We know that the need for CDC is there and we continue to grow our program. Our goal is 120 full time children...from six weeks of age to five-years-old, we strive to continue to grow and support LEAD.”
Major General James E. Rogers, Commanding General, Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command said that industry has realized that [LEAD] has a workforce that is willing to be innovative and get the job done, better and faster and cheaper, but also very effective to the Warfighter.
“The Depot of Choice is exactly where Letterkenny is going so all of you here need to get on board, because we are all on board and we are going to make sure that Letterkenny stays the strength of this area,” Rogers said.
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