Roderick “Rod” Johnson

Lending Relations/Small Business Development Center Project Officer, SBA Washington Metropolitan Area District Office

Roderick (Rod) Johnson a native Washingtonian, has a BS degree in business administration and a MS degree in financial management.

He spent 30 years in commercial banking rising from a young commercial banking trainee to Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking working for three of the top five banks in the United States. In 2008, he started his own business, RLJ Financial Consultants, LLC, which provides commercial loan brokering and business insurance across the United States.

As part of his dedication to serving his community, Johnson has served on numerous Boards of Directors for non-profit organizations through the years. He is currently on the board of New Endeavors by Women.

Meet Rod in Room 1 @ 9:00am for “SBA Loan Programs to Finance Recovery”

As we inch closer to economic recovery many small businesses are thinking about how to capitalize their recovery and begin the shift to growth again. After the assistance programs all expired you will still need a plan to get funding that allows you to shift back to stability and profitability.

The US Small Business Administration has several loan guarantee programs that can assist you in getting the funds you need to get your business back on track when we get back to normal. To help you start planning ahead we’ve asked Roderick “Rod” Johnson, Lender Relations Specialist with the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), to present the main programs. Understanding the focus of the programs will help you make good decisions moving forward to ramp back up, and eventually to recover profitability.

This session will also include a review of the basic requirements to apply for an SBA-backed loan, including best practices to help you prepare the information you’ll need when you approach a lender.

Josh Green

Director, Virginia Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP)

Josh Green is a mentor and entrepreneur whose career has primarily focused on business and organizational development. He is currently the Director of the Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP) – a program of George Mason University and the Virginia SBDC. ICAP works with early-stage technology and innovation-driven companies to validate their market on their path toward venture investment and scaling. For the past 13 years, he has advised private companies and nonprofit organizations across the United States in a wide array of industries.

Josh is also a founding member of a startup that produces a high-performance and environmentally safe hydraulic fluid, as well as an aerospace startup that manufactures next-generation unmanned systems.
Josh received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the University of Nevada.

Meet Josh in Room 2 @ 9:00am for “Identifying New Opportunities for Growth”

Small businesses face a different environment as they look to recover after the economic downturn from the COVID pandemic. Markets have shifted, consumers have changed habits, and what you did before 2020 may not work the same moving forward. So how do you know what products and services will take your business where it needs to go in the future “new normal”?

In this valuable session discover how the Lean approach and use of Customer Discovery can have a dramatic impact on your ability to accelerate commercialization – validate a business model, prepare for investment, and scale. These principles and practices are just as applicable for a new startup, an established business looking to stay relevant, or an enterprise making a pivot.
Join Josh Green, Director of the Virginia Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP) to learn how these processes and best practices can help you make good decisions about the direction of your own small business.

Robert Brooke

Director, Federal Funding Programs, Center for Innovative Technology (CIT)

Robert Brooke is responsible for the development and statewide outreach coordination of CIT’s Federal Funding Assistance Program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With CIT since 2002, Mr. Brooke has worked closely with small technology firms for more than 25 years. Through his efforts at CIT, Virginia continues to be consistently ranked in the top 3 states in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award dollars and total awards.

Mr. Brooke has developed a comprehensive suite of training and mentoring programs designed to assist Virginia’s small technology firms at each stage of the SBIR process. He counsels companies who are new to the SBIR/STTR program to help guide them through the process, develop a plan of approach, and provide introductions to other expert third party resources if necessary. Managing a special assistance fund, companies he works with may receive small grants to help pay for the cost of expert SBIR consultants.

In 2016, Mr. Brooke was recognized by the U.S Small Business Administration for his contributions to the SBIR programs, receiving a Tibbetts Award for excellence in the SBIR program. Mr. Brooke earned a B.S. in Marketing Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Meet Robert in Room 1 @ 10:15am for “Can Federal Innovation and Technology Grants Help You Grow?”

Intro to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.

SBIR/STTR awards $3.5B annually to small technology businesses, funding high risk, high payoff research with commercial and/or government sales potential. Learn who the participating agencies are, amount of funding available, basic processes, differences between SBIR and STTR, understanding Granting vs. Contracting agencies, how each agency differs in its implementation of SBIR/STTR, what the purpose of the programs are and the level of content required in proposals. Session also provides a quick overview of CIT’s funding support programs available to Virginia based companies, and, how CIT supports SBIR/STTR applicants from Virginia. Presented by Robert Brooke, Dir. Federal Funding Programs, CIT.

Mary Joynt

Marketing Advisor, Loudoun Small Business Development Center

With more than 20 years’ experience with all facets of account supervision and project execution, Mary Joynt an exceptional knowledge base to marketing activities, including branding, positioning, strategic planning, corporate identity, event planning, executive and internal communications, web presence, tactical planning, primary and secondary research, focus groups, advertising, direct marketing, project management, copy writing and editing,

Meet Mary in Room 2 @ 10:15am for “Grabbing Customer Attention in a Crowded Digital World”

How to stand out when everyone is clamoring to get noticed online.

The most common advice to businesses about how to react to the COVID pandemic was to leverage their online digital presence. Companies were encouraged to boost their exposure on websites, on social media platforms and by launching e-commerce to drive revenue. While this advice is correct, what happens now that even more businesses are generating content, and noise, online? How can your business cut through that noise and get your prospects and customers to pay attention to you? In this informative session, Mary Joynt, Marketing Advisor at the Loudoun SBDC and Owner of Joynt Communications, will help you understand how to be seen digitally. Focusing on simple but effective concepts and best practices this session will help you devise a strategy to get your message to the people you want to reach the most… those ready to buy your products and services.

Keynote Panel Discussion: “Pivoting in the Real World”

Stories of change and resilliance from three local businesses.

Meet the Panel in the Main Hall @ 11:30am

The pandemic of 2020 created turmoil and forced small businesses to face unexpected uncertainty and change. Companies had to make adjustments in their operations, and sometimes their core business model, to survive. In this panel discussion Eric Byrd, Manager of the Loudoun SBDC will talk with three local business owners about how they faced that challenge, which changes they decided to make, and what shifts do they think will be permanent and which temporary in their own businesses.

Tony Stafford

Founder, Ford’s Fish Shack

Chef Tony Stafford was born in Huntington, West Virginia. After attending engineering school, Tony went to culinary school at the National Center of Hospitality Study.

Tony opened Ford’s Fish Shack in 2010 in Ashburn, Virginia. Three years later, he opened his second location in South Riding, Virginia. In 2017, he opened his third restaurant in Lansdowne Virginia.

In 2017, Tony Stafford, owner of Ford’s Fish Shack, was honored as the recipient of the Jim Wordsworth Restaurateur of the Year Award by the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association.

The award recognizes a Virginia restaurateur who is distinguished as a successful operator, demonstrated exceptional leadership and extraordinary contributions to Virginia’s restaurant industry, his restaurant, and patrons.

In 2018, Tony took his team to New York City for the 10th Annual Lobster Rumble and a chance to win the title of “Best Lobster Roll in America.” Ford’s was a three-time repeat contestant in the legendary New York City Lobster Rumble hosted by Tasting Table on June 7, 2018. The competition invites 25 of the nation’s top lobster shacks from as far away as California and Texas to compete for the title.

Krista Woods

Founder, GloveStix

Krista was in the Sales, Training & Management Industry for 27 years. While raising three kids, she was promoted from sales to management quickly. In 2002 Krista became self-employed and for 12 years ran her own sales training and team building company where she used her skills as a Certified Color Code Instructor.

In 2016 Krista added award winning inventor to her resume when she created a product to eliminate odors caused by bacteria growth common with sports equipment and shoes.

After winning The Today Show’s “Next Big Thing” with her company GloveStix she went on ABC’s Shark Tank where she pitched her product to some of America’s toughest Investors and closed a deal with not one, but two of the Sharks, on National Television. Krista and her company GloveStix have been honored to receive over 15 awards over the last five years including GloveStix being recognized by Variety Magazine as one of The Best 12 Shark Tank Products That Are Pure Genius and most recently as one Washington Busines Journal’s Startups to Watch: 21 companies to follow in 2021.

Krista inspires audiences of hundreds of people with her dynamic energy and positive messaging. In her down time, she is always having fun with her family and friends. Post pandemic keep your eye out for Krista and her family on National Television as they were selected to compete on Family Feud hosted by Steve Harvey.

Panelist “Pivoting in the Real World” @ 11:30am

Justin Dobson

Founder and VP of Operations, Comfenergy

Justin Dobson has more than 25 years of experience in the heating and air conditioning industry. Doing work for residential and commercial clients throughout Northern Virginia, Justin developed a passion for solving customers’ comfort issues and high energy costs. He recognized the need for a better approach and founded Comfenergy in 2010 to give customers better solutions for their comfort, energy, and indoor air quality needs.

Justin is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he played baseball for the Hokies. After college, he played second base for the Ohio Valley Redcoats, a minor league baseball team in the Frontier League.

Panelist “Pivoting in the Real World” @ 11:30am

Eric Byrd

Manager, Loudoun Small Business Development Center

As the manager of the Small Business Development Program in Loudoun, Eric Byrd leads a team of experienced business advisors and educators to help small businesses thrive and grow. With 30 years of business experience, he has worked with companies and organizations of every size and structure. Melding strong storytelling skills from his days as a television editor, producer, director and screenwriter with skills learned from 20 years as a technology sales professional, Byrd uses proven tools to help business owners identify key areas of opportunity and challenges. 

Moderator, “Pivoting in the Real World” @ 11:30am