The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District hosted their summer Open House Networking Event June 13, 2023, at The Henry Clay Building in Louisville, Kentucky.

The free event was open to all businesses, both small and large, interested in working with the Louisville District. In return, USACE had the opportunity to gather feedback from contractors about the district's work performance.

“These types of outreach events are incredibly important,” said Louisville District Commander Col. Eric Crispino. “Ultimately these events help our partners better prepare to meet our requirements which enables us to deliver our program.”

Unlike the annual Open House event held in February, there were no presentations at this networking event. Attendees were able to meet directly with district leadership, program managers, project engineers, contracting officials, and other district personnel to discuss upcoming projects and business opportunities.

The summer networking event was split into two sessions; the morning session was dedicated to networking in an open space, and the afternoon session was devoted to one-on-one business capability meetings. In addition to the Louisville District staff, there were also several construction and Architectural/Engineering firms available in the afternoon to meet with small businesses that were interested in subcontracting opportunities. During this time, firms were able to discuss ways to grow their business within the federal marketplace.

Courtney Luckett, Louisville District Acting Deputy of Small Business who helped organize the event, stated that it was a big success. 

“We had approximately 200 contractors register for the event,” Luckett said. “Contractors really enjoyed the opportunity to have the face-to-face time with our district teams.”   The district’s next Open House event is tentatively scheduled for early 2024. 

Original source can be found here