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The Atlanta-based Government Contractors Association is continuing an initiative to help Korean companies sell to government buyers in the U.S., potentially creating jobs at their partner companies domestically.
The GCA led a trade mission to Washington in September in partnership with the Korean SME and Startups Agency, or KOSME, with assistance from KOTRA, the Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which has an office in Atlanta.
It’s a continuation of an initiative the GCA launched in 2017 under the late Myra Cisse, the former executive director who died in 2020 after having trained and certified more than 10,000 entrepreneurs in her career. A $5,000 scholarship was set in her name for those interested in completing the Certified Capture Manager Program, a designation for those trained specifically in winning government contracts.
Traveling to Korea on multiple missions, Ms. Cisse had landed with key Korean trade groups in the health care, furniture and other sectors, helping them navigate the often-opaque world of government sales in the U.S. by partnering them with companies selling complementary projects.
GCA’s members span the U.S., but many are located across Atlanta and Georgia, including two of the six companies that traveled on the DC mission last month: JCL Enterprises Group and Blue Scorpion Reputation Management.
Organizing partners on the mission included Living Tree Global, a consulting firm founded by Man-gi Kim, who helped GCA initiate its original partnership with the business school at Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, which also attended.
The GCA thanked KOSME President Hak-do Kim for his work in hosting the group; the trip included meetings with Washington-based consultants providing insights on how to win business with government clients.
Learn more about the GCA’s Korean partnerships here: Korean Firms Break Into U.S. Government Sales Through Atlanta
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