The American Small Business Coalition Celebrates Fourth Year of Operations, Presents 2008 Member Awards with the Assistance of the U.S. Naval Academy Color Guard

Tysons Corner, VA and Columbia, MD (PRWEB) April 23, 2008

Members and associates of The American Small Business Coalition (The ASBC) gathered in Northern Virginia last evening to celebrate the fourth anniversary of The ASBC and the achievements of its Members.

The ASBC is an association focused on assisting small companies that do business in the government sector. It is committed to supporting the efforts of government organizations as they acquire the information, products, services and solutions needed from trustworthy industry partners in support of agency mission goals.

"Over the past four years, The ASBC membership has become a repository of excellence and a culture of facilitation," states Margaret Timberlake, President and co-founder of the organization. "The mission of The ASBC is founded on our Members leading with their expertise as opposed to socioeconomic designations they might possess," adds The ASBC's Chief Visionary and co-founder, Guy Timberlake.

During his opening remarks, retired Vice Admiral Jerry O. Tuttle, USN reinforced this sentiment with, "You, who were yesterday's upstart but are today's benchmark; you who are called upon to be the architects of the future - not its victims; you with an overdose of courage." Admiral Tuttle is a longtime Member of The ASBC Advisory Board.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of The American Small Business Coalition 2008 Member Awards.

• Flag Bearer Award was presented to Mr. Lee White, President of Technology Specialists, Inc., the Member who routinely carries the message of The ASBC through continuous participation and support.
• Eagle Spirit Industry Award was presented to Mr. Harry Ponack of Matthew Moving Company, an Industry Member who through his advocacy of The ASBC and support of other Members embodies the spirit of The ASBC.
• Eagle Spirit Government Award was presented to Ms. Louisa Strayhorn, former Director, of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, a Government Member who through their advocacy of The ASBC and support of other Members embodies the spirit of The ASBC.
• Rookie of the Year Award was presented to Ms. Kimberly Barnette, Ms. Afi Harrington and Ms. Shree Taylor on behalf of Delta Decisions of DC, LLC, a first-year Member in its first two years of business who has effectively leveraged The ASBC and achieved a level of success.
• Member of the Year Award was presented to Ms. Courtney Fairchild, President of Global Services, Inc. as the Member who has gone above and beyond in utilizing their membership, the resources of The ASBC and also provides ongoing and continuous support to others within The ASBC.

Founders Awards are presented to two Members based on merit criteria established by the President and Chief Visionary respectively. This years Founders Awards were presented to:

• Mr. Richard Dean, Principal of Market Intel Consulting
• Mr. Daniel DeVos, Chief Executive Officer on behalf of Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC)

A private reception for The ASBC's Annual Cornerstone Sponsors preceded the festivities. Attendees included executives and employees from organizational sponsors Freeport Technologies, Teqcorner, V2 Systems, Cisco Systems, Signs by Saenz, IDI Multimedia and their guests.

Other notable moments included:

• The reading of a congratulatory note to the 2008 award winners from Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
• A special video presentation featuring the United States Naval Academy Color Guard who offered their congratulations and those of the Commandant of Midshipmen to the awardees. The video, produced by Member and sponsor IDI Multimedia, showed the Naval Academy Color Guard conducting the ceremony of raising, lowering and folding the United States Flag. The 2008 Member Awards include the flags which had been flown at the Naval Academy.

During the event, Guy Timberlake read a letter addressed to the Commandant of Midshipmen, Rear Admiral (Select) Margaret D. Klein. The letter, penned by Admiral Tuttle on behalf of The ASBC, thanked her and Captain Gary "Grip" Williams, USN, Gunnery Sergeant Shannon Johnson, USMC and the members of the U.S. Naval Academy Color Guard, Aaron Kenneth Samuelson, James Andrew Sheehan, Aaron Blake Stroud, Brian Ross Warren, Matthew Joseph Wilder, Josue Saul Castrejon and Kevin Nicholas Flippin for their support and service.

For additional information about The American Small Business Coalition and to view the awards video presentation produced by IDI Multimedia, visit http://www.theasbc.org.

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