Mary Ann Beyster gives Key Note at SAIC's Women-Owned Small Business Conference

On June 10, 2008, SAIC's Small Business Program sponsored a day of panel discussions, presentations and matchmaking sessions to allow small business representatives an opportunity to meet with their government counterparts and key SAIC program managers. These are important networking opportunities to advance small business in performing government contracts.

Mary Ann Beyster was the luncheon speaker and first focused on the key themes described in The SAIC Solution -- ethics of entrepreneurship, broad-based employee ownership and participation, and a culture of passion for doing great things. She spoke of how these elements created a culture of distributed leadership and freedom with accountability, and allowed SAIC to become a very successful large government contractor.

Mary Ann then spoke from the FED's consulting experience and where she sees small business innovation in the future. She feels that the 21st century business model for success will be different from what we have seen before -- network-based delivery is key, innovation will be energized primarily through small business, and entrepreneurial financial models will move beyond conventional venture capital.