Baird hosted its fourth annual Government & Defense Conference on Wednesday to bring together the members of the government contracting (GovCon) sector, the federal government and industry to discuss the key industry trends and market outlook from the elite leaders across the federal landscape.
The conference was held as an in-person conference with an estimated audience of over 700 people and hundreds joining virtually to watch the company presentations, fireside chats and industry panel discussions to learn more about the most significant initiatives and challenges that the top minds in our community are facing today.
John Song, managing director for Baird and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, opened this year’s conference with some insight into Baird’s success in the federal market since last year. Song explained that Baird has become a $2.3 billion financial institution with more than 60 transactions that combine for more than 15 billion dollars in transactions.
Jean Stack, managing director for Baird and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, also provided an in-depth look into Baird’s market insight and M&A activities as well as the more than 28 deals the company has been involved with since Jan. 2020.
“These are what companies are talking about by way of how they want to execute on their M&A strategy,” said Stack. “Whether it be digital transformation, public health, data analytics, space, autonomy, electronic warfare and cybersecurity, these are the buzzwords of the day as our business models continue to evolve and technology and innovation drive our business forward.”
Visit GovConWire to read a recap of John Song’s opening remarks and Jean Stack’s M&A activity presentation.
In addition, Baird’s Government & Defense Conference featured numerous big-name executives from across the federal landscape and industry to provide the in-person and virtual audience with top of the line presentations regarding the latest initiatives of their respective companies and the work each organization is doing to address the greater challenges facing all of us in this sector.
John Song and Jean Stack were also featured throughout the day as moderators during fireside chats with top names and many Wash100 Award recipients such as LMI CEO Doug Wagoner, Parsons CEO Carey Smith, EverWatch CEO John Hillen and others. Each conversation gave Baird’s packed house an in-depth look into their companies key initiatives and challenges.
Elsewhere, Senior Managing Director and National Security Portfolio lead for Accenture Federal Services Tiffanny Gates, also a three-time Wash100 winner, hosted an expert panel detailing the challenges that the intelligence community faces as the U.S. works to counter emerging threats to our national security. Teresa Carlson, president and chief growth officer for Splunk and a six-time Wash100 Award winner, was featured as a key panelist during the panel discussion.
GovCon Expert Jim McAleese, principal and founder of McAleese & Associates, acted as the moderator for a separate expert panel exploring the acceleration of “lethality” in the federal sector to deter the potential fight against China and other U.S. adversaries.
Byron Bright, president of government services for KBR and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, also participated in the National Security Space Association Annual Update. BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker spoke about the ‘BlueHalo Effect’ and the company’s top mission priorities as well.
Following Wednesday’s highly successful and well-received Government & Defense Conference, the conversation has already started for Baird’s fifth annual event in 2022. Stay tuned to learn more about the latest news from Baird and wait to hear more about next year’s conference soon.
Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2022 Wash100 Award selection through Dec. 31st, 2021. Visit Wash100.com to submit your nominations and learn more about the highly prestigious history of the Wash100 Award and the most recent class of winners from 2021.
