IVAC Business Breakfast Seminar - "Accessing Government Contracts"

The Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development (IVAC) will hold their Business Breakfast Seminar on Wednesday, March 14th @ 7:15 a.m. at Mario's Maples in Peru.  The focus of the seminar will be "Accessing Government Contracts".   
 

Speaker:
Jennifer Bias - Ficek Electric

Jennifer Bias is the President and Owner of Ficek Electric & Communication Systems, Inc.   They are an electrical and low voltage contracting firm that specializes in electrical construction, voice and data low voltage cabling, VoIP telephony and security systems.  Jennifer has worked in the business for many years alongside her father (Bill Ficek) who founded the company 42 years ago.  After his retirement in 2005, Jennifer purchased the business and became certified as a Female Business Enterprise (FBE) through the State of Illinois Business Enterprise Program and a certified Woman Owned Business (WBE) through the national organization of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council.  Determined to make the business her own, she headed full steam ahead in the local, state and federal government contracting arena.  She was awarded the Illinois/Iowa Small Business of the Year at the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) Small Business Symposium in 2012, the winner of the 2012 Women?s Business Development Council (WBDC) $100,000 technology makeover contest, and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 by the Illinois Small Business Development Center at IL Valley Community College. 
The business currently holds (3) Illinois statewide master contracts along with many more federal and local government contracts.  She will be sharing her lifetime experience and journey down the government contracting path with facts and tips to help your business succeed along with help in avoiding the pitfalls.  A woman owned construction company is very non-traditional and has presented unique challenges but Jennifer has learned not only how to survive in it, but also how to succeed in it.