StratComm, Inc. Named Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year
BOSTON – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has named StratComm, Inc. the 2016 Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year, and has named StratComm founder and president Robert George the Massachusetts Small Business Person of the Year.
View the announcement released by the SBA hailing StratComm and Mr. George.
StratComm, a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business, has served the program management and communications needs of federal agencies, the Armed Forces, and Fortune 500 companies in a variety of sectors for more than 35 years. During this time, StratComm evolved from an acclaimed book publishing company partnering with Time-Life Books and National Geographic Society into the innovative, agile, communications and project management firm that it is today. StratComm performs essential work for important organizations worldwide. Their technology, combined with years of experience and good judgment, has made them thevendor of choice for critical program management and communications missions.
StratComm manages large, multifaceted, mission-critical federal programs worldwide utilizing emerging technologies and state-of-the-art logistics. With a collective knowledge base spanning all key business sectors and a dedicatedteam of talented professionals, StratComm analyzes, engineers, and implements unique solutions to the complex requirements of major federal programs.
A recent success story of the firm is the management, streamlining, and implementation of the Social Security Administration (SSA) Verbatim Hearing Recorder (VHR) program for the Offices of Disability and Review in the New England region. SSA faced a sizable challenge: For many years, this large, robust agency was responsible for the complex endeavor of managing individual subcontractors to support the VHR program.
The StratComm team conducted a thorough analysis of the program and subsequently introduced significant scheduling efficiencies, successfully facilitating communications, while managing the program under one umbrella, yielding a considerable improvement in program performance.
Another triumph for StratComm has been its execution of two prime contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Recently, the Agency had a requirement to print, bind, kit, and delivers 7.5 million early-grade reading books and teacher guides to 11,000 schools across Indonesia—within five months. Through vigorous coordination with vendors, the StratComm team quickly coalesced many disparate moving parts, from printing, to packaging, to international logistics, warehousing, and distribution, while closely monitoring quality control, ensuring that each of the millions of books precisely met the rigorous specifications. The program concluded successfully and ahead of schedule, and now more than 3 million elementary school children in Indonesia will have access to reading books in their classroom.
Similarly, StratComm also delivered 2.5 million math and science books to Tanzania as part of a U.S. Presidential initiative, inspiring millions of Tanzanian school children to pursue their educational and career aspirations.
“I had the distinct pleasure of working with Bob [George] and his team on a high-visibility procurement, one resulting from a 2013 presidential promise to provide the government of Tanzania with 2.5MM secondary math and science textbooks. The challenges of printing, binding and delivering an order on this scale halfway around the world to East Africa would be considerable for a large business; that StratComm, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, was able to not only meet but exceed USAID/Tanzania's demanding requirements on such a short time-frame, was nothing short of extraordinary — and a powerful testament to Bob's leadership and can-do attitude, as well as his team's thorough and uncompromising professionalism.…In my four years at AID, no contractor ever performed better on behalf of the taxpayer.”
—Douglas Dye, USAID/Tanzania Contracting & Agreement Officer
Program management is merely one facet of StratComm’s unique business. Consistent with its roots in publishing, StratComm manages content creation and web design and development programs, creating high-quality print and technical publications, websites, and web-based training platforms for leading public and private sector organizations. Notably, these clients include IBM, Goldman Sachs, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the United States Navy and Air Force, and the U.S. Departments of State, Education, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, Agriculture, and other important, high-profile agencies and organizations.
Mr. George founded the company in 1978 as Boston Publishing Company following his tour in Vietnam as a Marine Corps pilot where he flew 118 combat missions. His service to our country gave him the inspiration and expertise to document the Vietnam War history in a 25-volume landmark book series published by Time-Life Books, The Vietnam Experience. The company received national acclaim from the success of the series and it went on to be twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and to this day is the best-selling book series of all time.
Throughout his years as a small business leader, Mr. George has configured StratComm to best reflect the technologies and global business trends of the time. Navigating an ever-changing economic landscape, StratComm has transformed into the innovative, thriving Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that it is today. As a result of Mr. George’s leadership, inspiration, and continued reinvestment in StratComm, the company has grown in workforce over the last three years by more than 100 percent, an accomplishment that was recognized by the Boston Business Journal, ranking StratComm No. 12 in its most recent list of largest veteran-owned companies in Massachusetts.
"We owe a great deal of StratComm’s success to the support provided to us by SBA and by Len Green, Procurement Advisor at the Procurement Technical Assistance Center. Their assistance and counsel guiding us through the process of federal contracting was invaluable. Further, SBA’s Disaster Relief Loan Program provided much needed support on 9/11 when the offices of our sister company’s client, Deloitte Touche, were consumed by fire following the fall of the twin towers.”
—Robert George, President & CEO, StratComm, Inc.
Notably, Mr. George, who was an active pilot in the Marine Reserves and the Civil Air Patrol at the time, flew medical supplies from Hanscom Air Force Base to JFK Airport during the evening of 9/11 to support the emergency medical responders.
As a graduate of Missouri State University and Harvard University with a degree in History, Mr. George has a passion for history and world affairs, and this passion is particularly reflected in the challenging work that StratComm performs in developing countries around the world for agencies such as the U.S. Department of State and USAID.
Mr. George will be honored in Washington, D.C. on May 1-2 at a special ceremony as part of National Small Business Week, which since 1963 has brought small business leaders from across the country together to honor their valuable work.
About SBA National Small Business Week
Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year. As part of National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S. territories. Every day, they’re working to grow small business, create 21st century jobs, drive innovation, and increase America’s global competitiveness.
Released: April 18, 2016
Contact: Norman Eng (617) 565-8510