GovCon Unscripted

Chelsea Roberts
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to GovCon Unscripted, where we dive into the unfiltered stories and strategies from all around the world of government contracting. Join host Chelsea Roberts as she explores how to navigate, thrive, and win in this complex but rewarding industry.

  1. 1d ago

    The $50M Company That Almost Couldn’t Be Sold | Robert E. Jones

    A $50 million company with 600 employees almost fell out of its own sale. Not because of revenue, but because every decision still ran through two people. Most owners think exit planning starts when they call an M&A advisor. In this episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts talks with Robert E. Jones, CPA and Principal Advisor at Corvata, who has spent 20+ years in government contracting, and says that by then the value of the business is already fixed. The real work happens two to five years earlier, left of the transaction, where structure, discipline, and decision flow still can be changed. In this conversation, Robert breaks down his Enterprise Readiness Operating Model, the seven decision failure modes that stall companies, why owner-dependency scares off buyers, and how tightening operations can move an EBITDA multiple from the low end of a 6 to 9x range to the high end. He also shows how tools most contractors already pay for can cut a 12-hour payroll run to two or three hours.   Timestamps: 00:00 Does anyone actually plan the exit? 01:00 “You will exit your business”: on your terms or not 02:00 Left of the transaction: where value is still changeable 03:00 The Enterprise Readiness Operating Model (structure, discipline, decision flow) 06:00 The seven decision failure modes 11:00 Due diligence: documents that “magically appear” 13:00 The $50M company that almost couldn’t be sold 20:00 Policy vs procedure vs work instructions 21:00 Getting off paper: SharePoint, Planner, and the tools you already own 25:00 Value growth: profitability, the multiplier, and the multiple 29:00 The 10-year math: working backward from the day you want out 33:00 The three kinds of optionality this work buys you Resources: Follow Robert E. Jones Follow Chelsea Roberts Other resources: Corvata's Website Schedule a consultation   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy   Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 JOIN OUR #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/ #govconunscripted #exitplanning #federalcontracting #enterprisereadiness #govcon

    The $50M Company That Almost Couldn’t Be Sold | Robert E. Jones

  2. Jul 28

    Design-Time vs. Runtime AI in Government: Why Most Agencies Get It Backwards | Doug Averill

    Your AI pilot probably isn't failing because the model is weak. It's failing because you pointed it at the wrong end of the process. Doug Averill has spent half his career in government and half in technology, and now serves as Vice President, Global Industry Market Leader, Government at Pega. In this episode of GovCon Unscripted, he draws a line most modernization teams never think to draw: the difference between runtime AI (burning tokens to execute the process you already run) and design-time AI (reimagining the process from the source policy before you build anything). Apply AI at runtime to a broken workflow, Doug argues, and you pave the cow path: you carry the skipped steps, the noncompliance, and the suboptimal outcomes straight into the new system, only faster. He and Chelsea get into why the fix starts with the source policy document rather than the current application, why the power users have to be in the room from the first pilot, why procurement belongs at ideation and not at the end, and why speed, from OTAs to fast pilots, is never the same thing as the outcome you actually needed. Timestamps: 00:01 — Why the US is now leading on AI uptake while process and policy slow everyone down00:04 — Context is the ceiling: why the smallest gap derails an AI tool00:11 — Blueprint for Government, source policy, and paving the cow path00:13 — Design-time AI vs. token-maxing runtime AI00:16 — Local models, warrants, and where a contracting officer should focus00:24 — Dropping point solutions on the front porch of IT00:25 — Getting procurement, CISO, and ISOs in the room to go idea-to-live in 90 days Resources: Doug Averill's LinkedIn profile Chelsea Roberts' LinkedIn profile Other resources: Pega Blueprint for Government Pega Government Website 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 JOIN OUR #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    Design-Time vs. Runtime AI in Government: Why Most Agencies Get It Backwards | Doug Averill

  3. Jul 21

    You Don't Control Innovation. You Manage It. | Harlan Bennett & Rick Fernandez

    Kodak's own engineers built the first digital camera, and its executives shelved it to protect film. The gap between having ideas and managing innovation is where organizations quietly die. In this special episode of GovCon Unscripted, Chelsea Roberts sits down with two of the people writing the international playbook for innovation management. Rick Fernandez is President of the American Network for Innovation, chairman of the US technical advisory group to ISO TC 279, and a veteran of Florida Power & Light's Deming Prize win, the first awarded outside Japan. Harlan Bennett is CEO of Ever Evolving, Inc., VP of the American Network for Innovation, and vice chair of the same US advisory group.   Together they take apart the most common misreads in federal innovation: that innovation equals technology, that more ideas mean more innovation, and that a standard is just another compliance flow-down. Rick contrasts idea-driven programs (14,000 employee ideas collected, roughly 100 developed, 13,900 contributors alienated) with value-driven innovation that starts from strategic intent. Harlan shows SBIR performers how to escape the one-lane trap by validating adjacent customers before the build starts. And both make the case that ISO 56001, built on the same harmonized structure as ISO 9001, is a management system, not a control system.   They also preview what's next: innovation ecosystem management, IP-sharing contracts between primes and subs, and why innovation is no longer an individual game.   TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and guest introductions 01:00 Harlan Bennett: Ever Evolving, Inc. and the American Network for Innovation 02:30 Rick Fernandez: from FPL's Deming Prize to ISO TC 279 04:00 Why innovation needs standards now: the three S's 07:00 Innovation is not a technology: something new that creates value 09:30 The garage tinkerer problem and the one hit wonder 11:00 Managing innovation vs controlling it 12:00 Idea-driven vs value-driven innovation: the 14,000 ideas story 14:30 Innovation portfolio management 18:45 SBIR: escaping the one-lane trap 23:30 The recipe: maximize value, minimize risk, resources, and time 24:45 Ambidextrous organizations: innovating without dropping daily operations 25:30 Case study: an innovation management office, 100 projects narrowed to 3 29:00 Ecosystems: innovation is no longer an individual game 31:00 Primes, flow-downs, CMMC, and fair negotiations 37:45 Standards as enablers, not regulations 39:30 The harmonized structure: why ISO 9001 shops are halfway there 42:15 Where to find Harlan and Rick Resources: Harlan Bennett's LinkedIn Profile Rick Fernandez's LinkedIn Profile Chelsea Roberts' LinkedIn Profile   Other resources: Ever Evolving Inc. Website 2020 Innovation Website American Network For Innovation Website   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy   Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    You Don't Control Innovation. You Manage It. | Harlan Bennett & Rick Fernandez

  4. Jul 16

    Manufacturing Is Not a Dirty Word: Reframing the Jobs Rural Communities Need | Chrissy Marrucci

    Say the word manufacturing and a lot of people picture something old and dirty. For rural communities, Chrissy Marucci argues, it is something else entirely: jobs and the federal dollars that come with them. On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts continues the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Chrissy Marucci, President and CEO of Elevated Consulting & Development.   Chrissy lives in an entire HUBZone county in the mountains of Appalachia and has spent years connecting rural residents to real federal contracting careers. She and Chelsea talks about what HUBZone was designed to do (bring federal spending back into the communities that need it), why the program is about the place and the people rather than the owner, how the 35% employee-residency rule actually works, and why manufacturing deserves a serious rethink as a source of rural jobs. She also lays out the community development corporation she is building to keep that money at home.   2026 National HUBZone Conference, July 21 and 22 (golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.   Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and who Chrissy is 01:00 Elevated Consulting and Council back-office support 02:00 An entire HUBZone county in Appalachia 03:00 Building the HUBZone Workforce Program 05:00 What HUBZone does for rural areas 06:00 Manufacturing and construction in rural HUBZones 09:00 Advocacy, land use, and changing the narrative 10:00 Manufacturing is not a dirty word 15:30 Place-based and employee-based: the 35% rule 18:00 Remote work and unlocking rural talent 19:00 The community development corporation 21:00 Conference mode and see you in Chantilly Resources: Chrissy Marucci's LinkedIn ProfileChelsea Robert's LinkedIn ProfileElevated Consulting & Development's Website Other resources: Holler to Hilltop (community development)HUBZone Contractors National Council2026 National HUBZone Conference (register)  🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    Manufacturing Is Not a Dirty Word: Reframing the Jobs Rural Communities Need | Chrissy Marrucci

  5. Jul 14

    Same Work, Different Words: Why Federal Contractors Misread State and Local | Jonathan Santana

    A multimillion-dollar services contract, awarded in two weeks, with every I dotted and every T crossed. It was not federal, and that is exactly the point. This week on GovCon Unscripted, Chelsea Roberts sits down with Jonathan Santana, founder and lead consultant of Excelsior Consulting Services, LLC, an SBA HUBZone and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business supporting federal, state, local, nonprofit, and commercial clients. Jonathan earned his contracting warrant in the Air Force in 2003, bought through hurricane prep at Langley Air Force Base, deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq in 2005 as a contingency contracting officer, and later worked procurement at Miami-Dade County before founding his own firm.   The conversation covers the translation problem between federal, state, and local buying (acquisition becomes procurement becomes purchasing, while the terms and conditions stay nearly one to one), how NASPO ValuePoint works as a state-level analog to a GWAC or federal supply schedule, what it means to compete with Big Four consultancies that have pivoted to state and local, creative contracting inside the FAR (performance work statements over statements of work, FAR 13.5 procedures), why state and local can award in weeks when the incentive exists, and forensic governance, Jonathan's discipline of getting adversarial with program data before leadership bets on it.   Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Excelsior Consulting Services 00:02 The verbiage gap: federal vs state and local 00:03 NASPO ValuePoint and entering state markets through a multi-contractor alliance 00:07 Competing with the Big Four at the state and local level 00:10 A contracting warrant at Langley: hurricane prep on the clock 00:11 Deployed at Balad Air Base: contingency contracting in Iraq 00:14 SF-44s, purchase cards, and buying under pressure 00:19 Creative contracting inside the FAR: PWS vs SOW, FAR 13.5 00:23 How fast state, local, and nonprofit buying really moves 00:27 What is forensic governance? 00:31 AI, governance, and decision risk 00:35 Where to find Jonathan Resources: Jonathan Santana's LinkedIn ProfileChelsea Roberts' LinkedIn Profile Other resources: Excelsior Consulting Services' WebsiteExcelsior Consulting Services' InstagramExcelsior Consulting Services' Company LinkedIn Profile  🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy   Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    Same Work, Different Words: Why Federal Contractors Misread State and Local | Jonathan Santana

  6. Jul 9

    Substance Over Glitter: What Makes the HUBZone Conference Worth the Trip | Eric Coffie

    In federal contracting, most conferences give you a polished keynote you could have read in a press release. Eric Coffie goes to a lot of them, and he keeps coming back to HUBZone for a different reason. On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts continues the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Eric Coffie, founder and CEO of GovCon Giants. Eric attends a lot of federal contracting events, and his read on this one is blunt: most conferences are more glitter than substance, and HUBZone is where he actually gets the real deal. He and Chelsea talk about keeping perspective when set-aside programs come under scrutiny, why the value of a conference is in the room rather than the brochure, and the funding and scale panel he is hosting. The conversation lands on a simple message for anyone weighing the trip: come prepared, extract everything, and make the connections that carry the rest of your year. 2026 National HUBZone Conference, July 21 and 22 (golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.   Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and who Eric is 01:00 Nothing new under the sun: perspective on program challenges 03:00 Why HUBZone weathers the discourse 08:00 Substance over glitter: what makes HUBZone different 11:00 The exhibitors and primes in the room 12:00 The Building for Scale funding panel 16:00 Extract everything: prep and make the most of it 18:00 Boots on the ground, fourth quarter, and connections 18:30 Manufacturing and made in USA 19:00 See you in Chantilly   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/ Eric Coffie's LinkedIn Profile Chelsea Robert's Linkedin Profile 2026 National HUBZone Conference (register) Other resources: Eric Coffie's YouTube Account Eric Coffie's Twitter Account GovCon Giants' Website GovCon Giant's Instagram Account

    Substance Over Glitter: What Makes the HUBZone Conference Worth the Trip | Eric Coffie

  7. Jul 7

    The 8(a) Program Isn't Being Killed. It's Being Starved. | Steven Koprince

    The SBA hasn't let a single new company into the 8(a) Program in over 250 days. Federal contracts attorney and educator Steven Koprince explains what that means for the program's future and for the small businesses waiting at the door. Steven Koprince spent more than 20 years as a federal government contracts attorney, founding Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC before moving into education, writing, and board service. In this conversation with Chelsea Roberts, Steven walks through the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, the shifting culture around contracting officer discretion and bid protests, why AI-drafted GAO protests keep getting thrown out for hallucinated case law, and the slow-motion contraction of the 8(a) Program: SBA has approved only a fraction of its usual annual admissions and has not processed a new application since August 2025. Koprince also breaks down a common and costly SAM self-certification misconception that catches contractors off guard. Timestamps: 00:03:00 — Legal environment shifts and the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul00:07:00 – 00:13:00 — Contracting officer discretion, bid protest strategy, and relationships with agencies00:15:00 – 00:19:00 — AI-drafted protests and hallucinated case law at GAO00:20:00 – 00:25:00 — The 8(a) Program's admissions freeze and sole-source pressure00:25:00 – 00:31:00 — Small business self-certification, affiliation rules, and the SAM misconception Resource Links: Steven Koprince's LinkedIn profileChelsea's LinkedIn ProfileThe FedLift Launchpad 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    The 8(a) Program Isn't Being Killed. It's Being Starved. | Steven Koprince

  8. Jul 2

    Your Network Is Your Net Worth: Why Nobody Wins Federal Work Alone | Tim Hagerty

    In federal contracting, your network is your net worth, and most small businesses are working with one far too small to win what they are capable of winning. On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts continues the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Tim Hagerty, founder and CEO of TeamingPro and a board member of the HUBZone Contractors National Council. Tim started TeamingPro after a lesson every small business learns the hard way: capability is rarely what holds you back, your network is. He breaks down what actually makes a strong teaming partner (past performance with the specific buyer, not just a matching capability), why teaming wins a larger slice of a bigger contract rather than a smaller slice of the same one, and how technology can take the friction out of finding and reaching the right partners. The conversation widens into the fragility of the domestic manufacturing supply chain and the reshoring opportunity, then lands on the 2026 National HUBZone Conference, where TeamingPro is powering the matchmaking so attendees arrive already knowing who they should meet. 2026 National HUBZone Conference, July 21 and 22 (golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.   Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and who Tim is 01:00 What TeamingPro is and why he built it 02:00 The convention problem: 4,000 people, no blinking arrows 06:00 What makes a strong teaming partner 10:00 The network is the bottleneck, not capability 14:00 The bigger pie: small businesses winning together 17:00 TeamingPro’s role in the HUBZone Conference matchmaking 25:00 Manufacturing supply chain risk and reshoring 33:00 SBA momentum and opening up competition 36:00 How to reach Tim and TeamingPro Resources: Tim Hagerty's LinkedIn Profile Chelsea's LinkedIn Profile Other resources: TeamingPro Website HUBZone Contractors National Council 2026 National HUBZone Conference (register)   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    Your Network Is Your Net Worth: Why Nobody Wins Federal Work Alone | Tim Hagerty
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About

Welcome to GovCon Unscripted, where we dive into the unfiltered stories and strategies from all around the world of government contracting. Join host Chelsea Roberts as she explores how to navigate, thrive, and win in this complex but rewarding industry.

Information

  • Creator
    Chelsea Roberts
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    103
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    GovCon Unscripted

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