By Debbie Gregory.

By Debbie Gregory.

Students from Knob Noster High School near Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri are being credited for designing an integral spare part that is now onboard all operational B-2 Spirit Bombers and aircraft simulators at Whiteman.

Using a 3-D printer, the “Stealth Panthers” robotics team at the high school created plastic covers for an important switch box inside the B-2 that can prevent possible in-flight emergencies, according to the Air Force.

Pilots had been mentoring robotics team members on other projects. As a result of that partnership, Brig. Gen. John Nichols, the 509th Bomb Wing commander, was curious if the students could come up with a solution for a switch cover.

The team worked with pilots and engineers last fall to create and test the 3D-printed prototype in a B-2 Spirit training simulator. The part prevents the inadvertent flip of an important switch that pilots use that will essentially turn off the generator and hydraulics but keep the engine on.

The plastic cover attaches to the switch panel with Velcro and protects the switches from being accidentally flipped, base officials said. Although the switches aren’t easily flipped, inadvertently doing so could be catastrophic. Each cover is marked with a control number; pilots are assigned one when they step into the aircraft and return it at the end of the mission. 

“The B-2 Spirit cockpit is equipped with state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology, but is a very cramped space, so something was needed to keep the pilots or other items from bumping into the switches,” said Capt. Keenan Kunst, a base spokesman. “The students were able to help us find a solution that was quick, affordable and effective.” The covers cost about $1.25 to produce.

Base officials were surprised at how quickly and efficiently the students produced something.

“Seventy-two hours after the initial design concept, the robotics team 3-D printed a cover for four important switches in the $2.2 billion aircraft,” Nichols mentioned in a base statement.

The school district received a $2.25 million grant for robotics and STEM programs from the Department of Defense Education Activity. About two-thirds of the district’s 1,600 students are connected to Whiteman.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

By Debbie Gregory.

One of the most important elements to a successful small business is strong financial health. Here are some metrics that every entrepreneur should make sure they consistently focus on:

The Break-Even Point – This is the the dollar amount you need to get to in a given period, generally monthly or quarterly. This amount needs to allow for the company to cover its own costs and sustain itself. Also, take into consideration even if it is not making a profit during a slow time, you will still have outgoing costs. This is sometimes called the margin of safety.

Operating Cash Flow – This lets you know how much cash your business brings in from its normal operations. It is common for businesses just starting out that they may operate at a loss in the beginning. Once established, this number should be positive.

Net Income Ratio/Profit Margin – Your profit, the money left over after operating expenses are subtracted from revenue.  This is a very important metric. You need to make sure your business still makes money overall after you pay your expenses. A business just starting out, or one experiencing a bit of a slowdown may have a bottom line in the red at some points, but you should always set your sights on growing your profit margins. If you are losing money, it’s time to look at ways you can trim expenses or reconfigure your operations.  

Working Capital – This number is determined by taking your current assets (cash, accounts receivables, short-term investments) and subtracting your current liabilities (liabilities due within the next 12 months).

Gross Margins – The gross margin is calculated as a company’s total sales revenue, minus its cost of goods sold, divided by the total sales revenue, expressed as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the more the company retains on each dollar of sales to service its other costs and then enjoy as profits. Tracking margins is important for growing companies, since increased volumes should improve efficiency and lower the cost per unit (increase the margin). 

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

By Debbie Gregory.

Contract financing, often referred to as “factoring” or “invoice financing” is a general term used for asset based lending products that will allow companies to finance slow-paying accounts receivable.

Contract financing differs from loans from a bank in the fact that rather than being based on the borrowing company’s credit record, it’s underwritten based on the creditworthiness of invoiced customer and the terms of the contract that customer has with the borrowing company.

That means that contract financing is a useful tool when the credit history of a small or medium company is such that it would limit or prohibit access to conventional bank loans and commercial lines of credit.

An agreed upon rate and fee amount between the borrowing company and the factoring company is withheld until the factoring company has been paid in full, at which point the factoring company releases any reserves.

This arrangement is beneficial to the borrowing company’s cash flow, which is vital to the success of any company.

Each financing company will have different rates and fee structures. By shopping around, comparing rates and doing due diligence businesses can avoid making a bad deal.  The right financing company will offer transparency, with their rates and fees upfront and clear.

You may be wondering if a company has to factor all of their invoices. The answer depends on the factoring company selected. Some will allow their borrowers to pick and choose which invoices to finance, while others may require the borrower to finance all of their invoices.

Contract financing companies are most often private firms, and you can usually find them online. The general procedure is to leave your contact information and wait for a phone call from the finance company.

Under many circumstances, contract financing can be a powerful financial tool for business owners to take control of their cash flow and use it strategically to work for them.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

By Debbie Gregory.

A slap on the wrist for eight years of scamming veterans might be something like $10,000 or $20,000, minimum but a man accused of misleading veterans to turn over much of their military retirement or disability benefits has been fined $1! Yes, that’s not a typo. One American Dollar.

Oh, and he has been ordered to stop engaging in the illegal scheme of pension poaching.

Despite finding that Mark Corbett’s acts were deceptive and unfair and likely caused “substantial injury” to veterans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) handed Corbett the ridiculous fine.

Since 2011, Corbett served as an agent for companies that the CFPB declined to name, calling them the “Doe companies.” He brokered contracts for the companies, marketing to veterans online who were searching for loans to veterans or for pension sales.

On websites he operated, Corbett marketed a deal for veterans with retiree or disability pensions. He set them up with offers from the Doe companies to purchase some or all of those future pension payments in exchange for a lump sum. Veterans would then use an online portal to redirect pension payments to a bank account controlled by one of the Doe companies.

Under federal law, assigning veterans’ pensions to a third party is prohibited. In fact, several veterans complained to Corbett that the transactions were illegal, a charge he denied.

The consent order handed down states that the $1 be paid within 10 days of the effective date, and thereafter distributed to the Civil Penalty Fund to compensate victims of financial crimes!

This is not the first time during the current administration that the CFPB has taken an inability to pay into account to reduce a fine for violations of consumer protection law. Under the previous acting CFPB director, Mick Mulvaney, currently serving as the White House Chief of Staff, this type of reduction was so widespread that it came to be known as the “Mulvaney discount.”

Mulvaney has since been replaced by his former aide, Kathy Kraninger. The discount, however, has remained.

This would be laughable if it wasn’t so egregious. Tell us what you think at info@vamboa.org.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,

By Debbie Gregory.

By Debbie Gregory.

Today we will review how two tech companies, who rely heavily on government contracts to provide income and to keep their workforce busy, were able to adjust, and ride out the recent shutdown. Additionally, we will learn how they applied innovative thinking to not only retain their team but to positively ride out the government shutdown.

Evans Incorporated was founded by Sue Evans in 1994; with a single contract. Ford hired Evans Inc. to help them to reimagine and automate a paper-intensive, OSHA-mandated processes.  To help them to successfully transition away from that manual paper-based system to a much more streamlined computer-driven web-based work process. Thus Evans Incorporated was formed.

They have grown quite a bit since those early days; currently approximately 90 percent of Evans Inc.’s revenue comes from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). And recently, nearly all of the company’s contracts with the FAA were under a stop-work order during the government shutdown. Instead of furloughing valuable employees, Evans Incorporated kept working; internally reassigning their team to focus on and update the company’s strategic plan. To also identify and implement improvement goals for the year.  Employees focused on internal research and development efforts, resulting in several innovations.

“We’re committed to them, they’re committed to us,” said Bob Etris, a partner at Evans Incorporated. “We were fortunate. Airplanes still need to fly, the government will eventually reopen, so let’s continue to do good stuff in the meantime.”

HumanTouch, a McLean, VA IT consulting firm was founded in 1998 and specializes in cybersecurity, cloud and IT modernization.

HumanTouch found a unique way to ensure its employees and team remained whole through the shutdown. Because the company could not afford to lose their talent pool, the management team decided to take a very unique approach: they sacrificed a portion of their salaries to retain employees working on contracts that had been stopped.  CEO Moe Jafari forwent his salary altogether.  These actions directly resulted in salaries being covered and health insurance premiums being paid for their team.

Should the threat of another shutdown in mid-February come to pass, similar government contractors could potentially survive it a little easier by paying attention to the actions of these two companies highlighted above on how to weather the political storm.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,