Defense and Homeland Security Consortium-FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

The growth of the technical, engineering and training services businesses supporting the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was recognized to be a major benefit to the local economy. Companies in that sector were invited to provide representatives to advise the local cities on action that could be taken to further enhance the business environment for these companies. Those representatives identified a number of industry wide goals that would benefit both large and small federal government contractors operating in Hampton Roads.

The representatives believed that the Consortium’s approach, while focused on DoD and DHS, would be generally applicable to almost all federal government contractors. They also believed the programs should be regional for all of Hampton Roads, not necessarily focused on any specific city.

Volunteers from companies in the defense and homeland security industry have been working with the economic development and workforce development organizations on the various goals that have been established.

The DHSC meets the second Monday of every month, with the Steering Committee meeting one month and then an open DHSC meeting the next month. All meetings are held at noon and rotate through different locations throughout the Peninsula and Southside of Hampton Roads.

How is the Consortium managed?

The DHSC is a Community of Interest of the Hampton Roads Technology Council. A Steering Committee has been established with a Chairman position. Major Goals were adopted by the full Consortium membership. Within each Major Goal, a number of Action Tasks have been identified and a Task Leader and Supporting Members have been selected for each from volunteers. The Steering Committee is comprised of the Chairman, all Task Leaders and the lead representative of local Department of Economic Development offices, universities, workforce development, small business assistance and other related regional organizations. Work on the Tasks is underway by these Task Groups between meetings and the status of each task is reviewed at the periodic Steering and Full Meetings.

The DHSC was originally formed by the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development in April of 2004. In April of 2006, the DHSC expanded to include the Chesapeake Department of Economic Development. In October of 2007, the DHSC became a “Community of Interest” within the Hampton Roads Technology Council in order to fully extend the regional character of the consortium. Beginning in 2007, additional Hampton Roads’ cities began to join the Consortium. The list of sponsoring cities can be found at www.PentagonSouth.org

Most of the other organizations are intended to provide trade show marketing opportunities, professional development and business networking. The benefits of the organization are direct to the member companies and the individual members. The DHSC volunteers seek to improve the general business environment of the industry. The focus is on regional issues related to work force development, education, trade training, city promotional activities in support of our industry and encouraging general synergism between companies and cities located in Hampton Roads.

The attendance at DHSC meetings and events does not require HRTC membership. There are many additional business development benefits that are available as a result of joining the HRTC, so we encourage you to explore the very minimal membership fees. For communication purposes, however, DHSC encourages sign-up as a website user of www.HRTC.org (no fee) in order to stay abreast of all pertinent events, information, updates, etc. via HRTC’s superior software capabilities.

There is no fee to attend the monthly lunch meetings because each meeting is hosted by one of the city’s economic development office. The price of admission is a willingness to learn more about the DHSC and potentially to volunteer to assist on one or more Action Tasks.

The focus is not on networking, but rather members working on the goals and objectives established by the members of the DHSC. In the future, the DHSC may decide to develop specific networking events separate from the regular meetings.