Contractor sees export opportunities
Published 8:27 pm Thursday, January 15, 2015
![Phil Ayrton, Cindy Walters and Scott Bisciotti of Command Post Technologies celebrate the North Suffolk-headquartered company’s invitation to join a commonwealth program to help grow the export side of their business.](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/01/Contractor.jpg)
Phil Ayrton, Cindy Walters and Scott Bisciotti of Command Post Technologies celebrate the North Suffolk-headquartered company’s invitation to join a commonwealth program to help grow the export side of their business.
A service-disabled, veteran-owned company headquartered in North Suffolk hopes a Virginia Economic Development Partnership export-geared program will help it grow new revenue streams.
Command Post Technologies Director of Training Phil Ayrton said his company was invited to join the Virginia Leaders in Export Trade program after company representatives met with a representative of the partnership who had traveled here to talk about its Global Defense Initiative.
That initiative seeks to reduce the impact of defense spending cuts on Virginia’s economy by providing financial and other assistance to help the state’s defense-related companies diversify into international markets.
“As that progressed and we worked with the VEDP, our overseas efforts were good enough for us to be invited,” Aryton said.
Founded in 2008, Command Post Technologies also has a physical presence in El Paso, Texas, and Washington, D.C. But according to Ayrton, who is based in Las Vegas, many of the company’s 70 staff members are on the road a lot.
Command Post’s core activities include security forces training for military and law enforcement, engineering services for test and evaluation programs, and operational planning and network engineering in the cyber security sphere.
The company’s specialized training teams have supported a variety of conventional and special operations forces, and have provided counter-improvised explosive device and counterinsurgency pre-deployment training to more than 40,000 military personnel.
On the commercial side, Command Post Technologies also works with companies on leadership development training models.
The two-year VALET program was launched in 2002. It assists exporters in Virginia with established domestic operations and a commitment to expanding international exporting.
Currently, the program has 50 participants, according to a news release. New participants can access $15,000 in reimbursement funds from the commonwealth.
“The program provides participating companies assistance from a team of experienced international service providers to help meet their international goals,” according to partnership spokeswoman Suzanne Clark.
“Private-sector service providers, such as attorneys, web designers, bankers, translators, accountants and freight forwarders, contribute essential expertise to assist companies in executing their export initiatives.”
Ayrton said Command Post Technologies is looking to team up with companies in new international markets that are “likeminded and share the same sort of values we do.”
“Our hope is that, like other companies that have gone through the program, we will increase our revenue,” he said.
The Virginia General Assembly established the partnership, a marketing organization, in 1995 to stimulate economic growth.