Flourish in a Non Set-Aside World: Transitioning your Business from Small to Large

Mr. Harry Thornsvard is a C-level executive business leader with over 25 years of experience in leading both large and small businesses.  He has been responsible for the strategic direction, growth, and P & L of those businesses.  As a seasoned executive, he has also been responsible for several successful M&A transactions in those businesses which led to a significant equity event for the ownership of the organizations. Deep Water Point clients benefit from his expertise in strategic planning, C-Level advisory services and preparation and assessment of businesses for potential sale. Prior to joining Deep Water Point, Mr. Thornsvard held the position of CEO at Project Performance Company (PPC), GAITS, and RDR, Inc. He also served as COO at TranTech, Inc. and PTG, Inc.. Earlier in his career, he was a senior vice president at CACI. In these roles where he was a C-Level executive, he was responsible for the operations, strategic direction, P&L, and business development of the organizations he led.  Customers supported by his organizations included the Department of Defense, federal civilian and state agencies. Mr. Thornsvard has extensive experience in M&A, having been responsible for the sale of three companies and the purchase of two.  In those transactions, he was involved in every facet of the process, and has unique perspectives on what is important in the successful conclusion of those activities.  Mr. Thornsvard also has extensive experience in the management of organizations undergoing explosive growth, as well as contraction, and can be of immense help to businesses facing those challenges. Mr. Thornsvard earned his BA degree from the University of Virginia and has an MA degree from the University of Texas at Austin.  Mr. Thornsvard concluded a successful career in the US Army after 22 years of service.

Mr. Mike Mullen is a senior level industry executive with over 25 years’ experience in business strategy leadership management. His strong track record of enabling federal decision makers to achieve their goals through the acquisition of strategic IT and professional services make him an asset to all Deep Water Point clients. Mr. Mullen is Deep Water Point’s small and mid-size business growth expert and leads our Center for Corporate Growth focused on building efficient and effective growth engines across the business development life-cycle.  He has a strong track record growing start-up and transitioning (small to large) companies within the federal market. With Deep Water Point, Mr. Mullen has personally assisted 30 plus companies in accelerating their growth and/or navigating the transition to large business by reinvigorating their business develop engines and strategic plans and by focusing on adding “needle moving” revenue events through enhanced business development processes, significant captures, and M&A activities. Prior to joining Deep Water Point, Mr. Mullen served as senior vice president and chief business development officer at Project Performance Corporation (PPC).  In this role, he oversaw and managed the firm’s strategic direction, business development, and marketing and proposal development.  He successfully led them through a post-acquisition integration period by focusing on strategic account planning leading to improved pipeline and proposal productivity. Mr. Mullen established himself as a successful leader and business grower in the federal market at INDUS Corporation.  During his 16-year tenure at INDUS, he led the company’s growth from a start-up venture to a $100+ million enterprise across the federal marketplace. This achievement earned the company recognition among the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, and four consecutive years on the Washington Technology Fast 50 list.  Mr. Mullen was responsible for leading and overseeing the company’s entire business development life-cycle during this record setting growth and won significant game-changing contracts such as: GSA’s $50 billion Alliant program; Commerce’s $8 billion COMMITS program; Transportation’s $275 million FITSS program; FBI’s $125 million IT Support Procurement; NASA’s $150 million Business Applications and Sustaining Engineering program; and Health and Human Services $60 million ITSC program. Mr. Mullen recently completed a 4-year board tenure serving as vice chair at-large for the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) Executive Committee.  In his executive committee role, Mr. Mullen supported the development of ACT-IAC’s Education & Training initiatives focused on driving greater value to both government and industry members.  Mr. Mullen’s efforts have earned him recognition as IAC’s Individual Contributor of the Year (2008) and ACT-IAC’s Fellow of the Year (2009).

Bob Lohfeld serves as CEO of Lohfeld Consulting Group. He has more than 30 years’ experience winning contracts in the government market and is recognized consistently for leadership in business development, capture management, and winning proposals development. He teaches Capture Management, and he writes the Capture Management column in Washington Technology magazine. Prior to forming Lohfeld Consulting Group, Bob served as Division President at Lockheed Martin, Vice President of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, Senior Vice President at OAO Corp., Systems Engineering Manager at Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), and Program Manager at Fairchild Industries. He also taught at the graduate level at George Washington University School of Engineering Administration. Bob has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Proposal Management Professionals and Association of Proposal Management Professional National Capital Area Chapter (APMP-NCA)and as Chairman of the American Council on Technology Industry Advisory Council (ACT/IAC), Vice Chairman of the Technology Council of Maryland (TCM), and Board Member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), Government Electronics and Information Association (GEIA), and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF Capital Region). He is a three-time winner of Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100.

Mr. Murray Sewell is a senior business leader with over 30 years of experience in sales, strategy, and business development for Fortune 100 companies in support of the Federal Government and private industry. He has initiated, rebuilt, and reorganized multiple large sales and business development practices, and in doing so, increased their pipelines and revenues. Deep Water Point clients receive unparalleled support from Mr. Sewell’s leadership around sales strategies, tactics, and organizational development. Prior to joining Deep Water Point, Mr. Sewell served as vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Harris Mission Sustainment, where he integrated legacy Harris and Exelis business development teams and reorganized them by target market segment into a single cohesive unit. He reviewed, qualified, and drove the pipeline from $20 billion to $24 billion. Additionally, Mr. Sewell initiated standardized process implementation and consolidation of three separate CRM systems, and he started small business/mentor/protégé/joint venture initiatives targeting an additional $1 billion of pipeline. Prior positions at Harris included vice president, Business Development, IT Services; and vice president, Business Development, Intel/Civil/Healthcare, IT Services. Previous to his work at Harris, Mr. Sewell served as vice president, US Government Solutions, HP (formerly EDS), where he was responsible for leading all sales activity to the federal market. He consistently over-achieved against annual targets, and improved sales by 53% in a single year. His earlier work at Unisys involved IRS/Treasury account sales and subsequent sales directorship for the Finance and Law Branch. Mr. Sewell earned his BS in business administration from York College of Pennsylvania. He has completed professional courses through employer training programs and private training firms in Information Systems Planning, Marketing to the Federal Government, Federal Contract Management and Acquisition, and other management-related topics. Mr. Sewell was selected for and completed the Unisys Mentor Protégé program for high-potential leadership candidates. He is a member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), and he participates in industry events including the Electronic Industry Association, Industry Advisory Council, and Federal Government Information Processing Council.