PHOENIX — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Arizona-Nevada Area Office hosted a Business Opportunities Open House March 17. 

The event featured morning and afternoon sessions with two training opportunities; successful proposal preparation, and job site safety.   

"We want contractors that are capable, safe and do great work," said Col. Kirk Gibbs, commander of the LA District. "If they can submit better bids, we're going to get a lot better work and our projects will have better partnerships." 

The day's intent was to acquaint business owners and representatives with how the Corps operates. It was also an excellent opportunity for District program managers and division chiefs to learn about contractor capabilities.  

"I always fall back on relationship building," said Gibbs. "Don't use the word client, use the word partner. Because we can't do it without you, you can't do it without us."  

Brig. Gen. Mark Toy, commander of the USACE South Pacific Division, spoke about a change in the management of Veterans Administration projects and what it means to the Division. 

"What we're going to do here in our region,"  said Toy. "We're going to run that Program Management Office, right here in Phoenix, Arizona."  

The District’s Small Business mission is "to sustain the Corps as a premier organization in developing small businesses and maximizing opportunities to participate in federal procurement.”  It is a mission that the District excels at, having placed second out of all USACE districts in the Service-Disabled and Veteran-Owned Small Business categories for fiscal year 2012.   

"Last year, $358 million in total contracts awarded," said Gibbs. "Of that, $213 million with small businesses, we're very proud of that and we hope to have a bigger year coming up."