Orsus expert to lead panel discussion at SIA Government Summit

June 10, 2008
Panel will provide an overview of the federal grant programs available to end users

Orsus, the pioneer in the field of Situation Management that offers a new holistic approach to optimizing situation planning, response and analysis, announced today it will play an integral role in SIA’s 2008 Government Summit on June 9-11 in Washington, DC, by leading a panel featuring officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, head of a city police department and a Port security director to discuss federal grant funds.

The two-day annual public policy conference will be held at the Hilton Embassy Row Hotel in Washington, DC. Hosted by the Security Industry Association, SIA’s 2008 Government Summit examines federal and state initiatives that impact the security industry and brings together government security professionals and industry executives with the nation’s leading policy experts.

As part of the conference, Mary Grace Karch, director of government sales for Orsus, moderates a panel on Wednesday, June 11 called, "Follow the Money: Gain Access to Federal Grant Funds." This session will provide an overview of the current federal grant programs available to a wide spectrum of end users from ports and police departments, to schools, hospitals, utilities and public transit systems. The panel discussion will focus on the grants award process, as well as examples of successful security projects that have been funded by grant programs.

The panel presentation includes several experts on procuring federal grants. Speakers include Amy E. Lassi, Project Management Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Ed Merkle, Director of Port Security and Emergency Operations, for the Virginia Port Authority; and Captain Steve Bamford, Assistance Chief of Police, City of Manassas.

"Grant programs are an extremely important topic for the security industry, and I am very excited about the excellent panel we have assembled for the Summit. This panel presentation is going to provide a roadmap to the types of projects the government is funding," said Karch. "Attendees will also gain understanding of how to help their customers apply for grants, and valuable information about the wide variety of available programs. Our panelists’ security project success stories are going to be especially interesting to our attendees."

Other distinguished speakers throughout the two-day event include keynote presentations by Greg Starr, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security at the State Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chief Privacy Officer Hugo Teufel, III. Two General Services Administration officials, David Drabkin and Kellie Stoker, are also speaking, along with Homeland Security & Technology Division Program Director Chris Logan, to name a few.

In addition to moderating a panel, Orsus is a sponsor of SIA’s 2008 Government Summit and has recently become a member of The Security Industry Association, a nonprofit international trade association representing electronic and physical security product manufacturers, specifiers, and service providers.