Strategic Goals/Objectives
a Living Document as of: 31 December 2013

Note: NCS has recruited 43new Member since 1 Jan 2013. At present, NCS has a total of 217Member Companies/Organizations/Individuals. The makeup of the Membership is as follows:

MS&T Company 109
Government/Academia/Not-for-profit 28
Non-MS&T Company 38

Practitioners 33

Students 9
Total 217

Objective 1—Expand M&S Technology & Applications
- Support knowledge transfer
- Support collaboration
- Support diversification

17 Jan, NCS once again participated as a sponsor of OTRONICON 2013 and George Cheros represented NCS and the MS&T Industry cluster at the VIP reception and displays.

30 Jan, George Cheros of NCS teamed with Kent Gritton to present a Team Orlando brief to 30 delegates that were attending the Society for Simulation and Healthcare Conference being held at the Orange County Convention Center. The group also toured UCF’s IST facilities.

15 Feb, George Cheros represented NCS and the MS&T Industry as special guests at FullSail University’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

17 May,Lt Gen (Ret) Baptistereceived a personal invitation to attend the commencement ceremony for the first graduating class of UCF’s Medical School.

23 May, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste and George Cheros met with Robert Kyle Evans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at Lake Nona. He was interested to learn more about NCS and the MS&T cluster in Central Florida and to explore closer cooperation to help him with his task to find meaningful employment for retiring veterans. Plans are underway to host a joint event in September to tell Industry of the services available through the VA to help former service members and explain what Industry can do to help.

24-26 Jun, NCS has agreed to be an in-kind sponsor and provide marketing support for the next Medical Technology, Training and Treatment (MT3) Conference. NCS has also been asked to coordinate booth sales. Note: Due to concerns about DoD travel and conference participation restrictions, MT3 was cancelled for 2013.

15 August, George Cheros, in collaboration with Jim Craig, arranged for Nike’s Advanced Research and Development Team, based in Beaverton, OR, to meet with and tour Lockheed Martin’s MS&T facilities. George accompanied the team on the visit and both organizations shared M&S technology and digital media applications. Both companies indicated the possibility of collaboration on future initiatives.

7 Oct, George Cheros met with Gerald R. Moses, PhD, Medical Simulation Program Manager, Health Services Group, General Dynamics Information Technology and Gino Auteri, Sr., Director Business Development, Military Health. Dr. Moses was visiting from Newark, OH and Mr. Auteri’s office is in Frederick, MD. GDIT is expanding their Medical Simulation capability and recently joined NCS as a Platinum member.

14 Oct, Lt. Gen (Ret) Baptiste and George Cheros met with officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office based in Miami, FL. Representatives included: Philip T. Y. Wang (Director General), Aurora Wan-Mei Tsai (Consular Officer), Joanna Chang and Shuhuei Su. The visit was follow-up to Gen (Ret) Baptiste’s keynote address to the Chinese American Scholars and Professionals Association of Florida (CSAPAF) conference held in Miami Gardens in Aug 2013 with an eye toward continuing a dialogue for increased partnership and collaboration between the Taipei office, NCS (Industry), the Metro Orlando EDC, the FHTCC, UCF and Team Orlando.

Objective 2—Support M&S Education, Awareness & Public Policy Development
- Support education/academic programs
- Communication & outreach
- Participate in Government affairs
- Sponsor events, conferences & meetings

3 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste and George Cheros met with Christian Butterfield, the Central Florida Regional Manager for Governor Scott’s office. He was given a briefing on NCS, the MS&T Industry and the possibility of a round of BRAC in 2015.

8 Jan, George Cheros represented NCS at a Healthcare Presentation sponsored by Cross, Fernandez & Riley (new NCS Member), Brown & Brown Insuranceand United Healthcare. The presentation was on recent legislation and its impact on businesses. Jennifer Spooner, CFR’s tax partner has agreed to give a similar presentation at a future roundtable hosted by NCS.

10 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste was a keynote speaker at the Orange County Mayor’s Economic Summit. In addition to rolling out the results of the updated MS&T Economic Update Study, commissioned by the FHTCC and completed by Dr. Guy Hagen, TuckerHall, he informed the attendees of the possibility of a round of Base Realignment and Closure in 2015. BRAC remarks focused on state and local community actions to prepare for BRAC and outlined both the challenge as well as the opportunity to grow the cluster as a result of BRAC. The presentation also solicited additional community support for the planned efforts from attendees.

10 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste represented NCS and the MS&T Industry cluster as the keynote speaker at an international round table event at the University Club. The focus of the remarks was the power of the Central Florida MS&T cluster and its importance to a more diversified state economy. The presentation also provided an opportunity to make the attendees aware of the possibility of a round of BRAC in 2015.

11 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste participated in an economic development impact study commissioned by UCF and conducted by Joshua Wright, EMSI Senior Editor and Consultant.

15 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste represented NCS and the MS&T Industry cluster at a round table event hosted by the publishers of Florida Trend Magazine. Organizers invited a number of business leaders to get their take on the business climate as we move into 2013 for a multiple page magazine article dedicated to Orlando.

15 Jan, George Cheros met with Peter Allport, Senior VP & Market Executive of Florida Capital Bank. They are a growing community bank with a presence along the high tech corridor and Jacksonville. They are interested in possibly joining NCS and supporting the community BRAC initiative.

16-17 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste and George Cheros travelled to Tallahassee to defend a Metro Orlando Community funding request before the Florida Defense Support Task Force (FDSTF). The request was for $875,000 which would match confirmed community partner commitments to execute a mitigation strategy in advance of a potential round of BRAC in 2015.
18 Jan, NCS in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Central Florida hosted a group of visiting Japanese Entrepreneurs. They were interested in learning more about high tech opportunities in the Research Park and across the high tech corridor of Central Florida.

22 Jan, Parsons in partnership with NCS hosted a Small Business Forum. The intent was to showcase Parson's many lines of business to potential small business partners.

28 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste participated as a panelist during a workshop in Brussels, Belgium hosted by the European Commission (EC) and European Defence Agency(EDA) entitled: “Regional Smart Specialisation for the EU Defence Sector”. The organizers wanted to feature the success story of the civil-military cooperation surrounding the MS&T Industry cluster in Orlando as a model for growth and job creation. On the margins of the workshop, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste visited NATO HQs to promote increased MS&T Industry collaboration with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (Based in Norfolk, VA) and the Members of the NATO Alliance. This is an area of recommended focus outlined in the Spectrum Group’s SWOT analysis of Team Orlando. While at NATO Gen (Ret) Baptiste met with Gen Knud Bartels, DE Army, Chairman NATO Military Committee, Lt Gen Jurgen Bornemann, GE Air Force, Director General NATO International Military Staff, LTG David Hogg, USA, United States Military Representative to NATO and Lt Gen Walt Gaskin, USMC, Deputy Chairman NATO Military Committee.

31 Jan, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste represented NCS and the MS&T cluster at an economic forum hosted by Fifth-Third Bank. The event featured the bank’s economic strategist who gave a presentation on the near to mid-term economy and then fielded questions from the audience. Of note: he predicted automatic sequestration cuts will go into effect on 1 Mar due to the inability of Congress to agree on bi-partisan spending cuts.

5 Feb, NCS in partnership with Kinberg & Associates, LLC will host a legal roundtablefocused on affirmative action regulations and the federal agency (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs) responsible for enforcement. Small businesses should be aware there is a developing trend for primes to require subs and suppliers to certify compliance with these OFCCP requirements. Ed Kinberg will walk participants through the regulations and what they should know about the current enforcement/compliance trends.

11-12 Feb, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste represented NCS and the MS&T Industry cluster at the next M&S Leadership Caucus and National Modeling & Simulation Coalition (NMSC) meeting in Chesapeake, VA.

12 Feb, George Cheros met with Joe Vetter, SVP of Commercial Banking at PNC and Ryan Mahaffey, VP. PNC has a strategic initiative to develop lending relationships with government contractors. They are interested in joining NCS and offered to conduct roundtable discussions and sponsor NCS events. A subsequent meeting was held on 3 Mar with Messrs. Vetter and Mahaffey, along with Douglas Brown (Group Mgr., Gov’t. Contracting). In that meeting, Gen (Ret) Baptiste gave an overview of Team Orlando and the challenges associated with BRAC, Sequestration and the CR. PNC discussed its capabilities to help growing industry companies and their focus on government contracting. They confirmed their intention to become members of NCS.

13 Feb, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste was elected to the NMSC Policy Committee (Board of Directors Equivalent). BG (Ret) Steve Seay was also elected to serve. This provides solid Orlando representation in this effort to establish a National Enterprise to represent the M&S Community.

18 Feb, CH 9 news called to interview Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste on the potential impact of automatic sequestration cuts and what a round of BRAC in 2015 might mean to NSA Orlando. To augment the background information, CH 9 did an on camera interview with Dr. Dan Holsenbeck, VP University Relations at UCF which was broadcast during their 6:00 p.m. news program.

19 Feb, to foster closer collaboration with the Tampa-St Petersburg community, NCS planned to host a number of business leaders for an orientation visit of the Research Park. Participants would include: John Schueler, USF; Stuart Rogel, President/CEO Tampa Bay Partnership; Brig Gen (Ret) Chip Diehl, FDSTF; Rick Homans, Hillsborough EDC; Walter McCracken; Mike Meidel, Pinellas County. A reciprocal visit of Orlando business leaders to Tampa Bay is in planning. Note: this was cancelled and will be rescheduled.

19 Feb, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste, President John Hitt, UCF, Rick Weddle, EDC and George Cheros met with Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs to review community actions to mitigate the threat of a round of BRAC in 2015. The Mayor wants to ensure she is fully engaged and understand when her office can help support this community effort.

21 Feb, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste was interviewed by WDBO Radio on the expected impact of automatic sequestration cuts on the Florida Defense Industry and MS&T cluster in Central Florida.

22 Feb, Bill Patton, Chairperson SBA Region IV at SBA Rules, Regulatory and Enforcement Board of Directors asked NCS to host an event with Industry focused on Regulatory Fairness for Small Business. One issue discussed was the recent court ruling on 8a contract awards. The event attracted nearly 80 attendees and had solid representation from local Congressional offices.

22 Feb, Air Force Chief of Staff General Marc Welsh visited FullSail University on Friday, 22 Feb. Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste has been invited to meet with him and discuss the increasing collaboration and cooperation between FullSail and NCS. A family emergency forces Gen (Ret) Baptiste to miss the event but George Cheros attended to represent NCS. Gen (Ret) Baptiste has also been invited to sit on a military advisory council at the University.

25-26 Feb, Congressman John Mica asked NCS to pull together a team of MS&T Industry leaders to travel to D.C. and engage selected lawmakers. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the importance of M&S in support of readiness in this time of decreasing defense budgets. The team also raised the possibility of another round of BRAC in 2015 and its potential impact on NSA Orlando. Participants included: Jim Craig, LMCO & NCS Board Member; Brent Smith ECS, Lt Gen (Ret) Tom Baptiste, NCS, BG (R) Steve Seay, and Rick Weddle, EDC & NCS Board Member; Dr. Mike Macedonia, SAIC & NCS Board Member; Brian McManus, Director of Federal Affairs for Florida Gov Scott; and
Anthony Principi, The Principi Group (supporting the FDSTF)

People Contacted:
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Marco Rubio
CongressmanBill Posey
Congressman Ron DeSantis
Congresswoman Corrine Brown
Congressman Alan Grayson
Congressman Dan Webster
Congressman Ander Crenshaw
Mr. Kent Clark, Defense Appropriations Representative for Congressman
Bill Young
Congressman Randy Forbes, VA
Mr. Gabe Camarillo, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army
Acquisition, Logistics & Technology
Congressman Mica also invited 20+ Industry leaders to join thediscussion
in his office

Congressman Mica spent the entire day escorting the team around and introducing us to members of the Florida delegation and key people associated with Defense Appropriations. The primary topic was how M&S can help maintain readiness in the current budget constrained environment. Congressman Mica is a senior representative on the transportation and investigation committees and represents the Research Park and MS&T cluster in Orlando/Central Florida. Congressman Mica was unaware of the leased space the government is occupying in the Research Park (~200 sq ft, $5+m/yr) and the risk that posed in a future round of BRAC. We discussed various options currently under consideration.

To our surprise, almost all the leaders were well informed about the benefits of MS&T and very supportive of PEO STRI and NAWCTSD. Sen Rubio, Kent Clark, and Gabe Camarillo all articulated the ROI on simulation immediately.
Kent Clark said the service chiefs at the morning hearing on sequestration testified that simulation was being directed for use to mitigate training readiness shortfalls. (Jim Craig from LM produced a memo from FORSCOM to support this claim). Mr. Clark also told us it had been decided by House leadership to develop a separate Defense Appropriations Bill as part of the continuing CR process. Congressman Mica is suggesting a presentation to wider Florida delegation and others in March, possibly connected with Central Florida Partnership trip to D.C. 13-14 Mar.

26 Feb, NCShosted a tax roundtable featuring Cross, Fernandez & Riley; LLP focused on the financial and tax implications surrounding ObamaCare!

27 Feb, Greg Warmoth, News Anchor and Reporter at CH 9 is dedicated the
2 Mar Central Florida Spotlight News Program to the potential impact of automatic sequestration cuts on Florida’s Defense Industry and what a possible round of BRAC in 2015 could mean to the Central Florida Community. Show taping was completed on 27 Feb and included the participation of Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste, NCS and Rick Weddle, EDC. Additional content with Congressman Mica had already been taped.

29 Feb, George Cheros and Henry Okraski (NCS BoD) met with Ashley Chalk, Dir. of Legoland Marketing Partnerships, to discuss potential STEM Education collaboration in the area of Elementary Schools at the Legoland Theme Park. Students travel from all over Florida and the Southeast to participate in these interactive educational programs. The current STEM initiatives are targeted at Middle and High School students. Next steps are for Ms. Chalk to formulate a proposal to be discussed.

4 Mar, George Cheros represented NCS and the simulation industry in
the first of four Workforce Florida Technical Resource Group Task Force Meetings. The group consists of 15 industry representatives from the state of Florida. They are providing input for the development of programs to attract and retain the best IT, engineering and technical personnel.

4 Mar, George Cheros teamed with Kent Gritton to present a Team Orlando brief to an advance team that will be representing 9 Louisiana parishes (including New Orleans and Baton Rouge) to gain a better understanding of the Team Orlando model of cooperation and collaboration between industry, academia and government. The group also visited the IST facilities and the UCF Business Incubator. As a product of this overview, the group is planning a larger delegation visit in October 2013 to showcase Central Florida to this Louisiana Economic Development group.

5 Mar, NCS co-hosted a round table event with CliftonLarsonAllen focused on R&D Tax credits for small businesses. Note: this event was cancelled.

6 Mar, Lt Gen (Ret) Baptiste attended a small group meeting with SAIC President/CEO Gen (Ret) John Jumper at their Orlando facility.

7 Mar, George Cheros met with Ms. Kathie Canning, Executive Director of the Orange County Convention Center. She pledged her commitment to renew their NCS membership, but also to fully support our 20th Anniversary Celebration. She offered to contribute display space in a prominent location at the Convention Center to promote the industry or establish our Hall of Fame.