Photo By Scott Sturkol | Fort McCoy Garrison leaders and staff as well as event organizers speak to guests...... read more read more
Subscribe
The 19th Wisconsin Government Opportunities Business Conference (GOBC) kicked off at Fort McCoy on July 30 at building 905 giving an opportunity for businesses to engage with federal and state government agencies.
Hosted across various Department of Defense and federal agency locations throughout Wisconsin, this year’s conference series centered on enhancing procurement prospects and fostering connections between businesses and key governmental entities.
Keynote sessions highlighted current operational priorities at Fort McCoy and other government contracting opportunities at government facilities across Wisconsin.
Fort McCoy Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon and Command Sgt. Maj. James Riddle, top enlisted leader to U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy, both participated in discussing Fort McCoy and federal opportunities for the businesses. Also included was a representative from Mission Installation Contracting Command-McCoy.
Cantlon spent several minutes describing Fort McCoy’s mission and more.
“Fort McCoy is 60,000 acres, and the primary mission of Fort McCoy is training Soldiers,” Cantlon said. “The … Soldiers who are here with units to train, (include) … Reserve, … National Guard, … active duty. In the case of mobilization, we are mobilizing Soldiers for contingent missions, for war, or for operations.
“Fort McCoy is the only federal installation (of its kind) in the Midwest,” Cantlon said. “We are the primary and premier training center for our Reserve and National Guard formations. Yes, there’s other places that could conduct mobilization. … But when things get big, when the operations get large and the numbers get large, Fort McCoy stands up. You’ve all probably seen this.”
Cantlon described how the post can also be a strategic support area for the U.S. government in a wide variety of roles.
“What’s a strategic support area? It’s basically a government saying, yeah, we want you to do this thing as well. Or for a while, you’re going to do this,” Cantlon said. “That happened four years ago, and we had 13,000 Afghans show up. So, we can take on those types of missions as well. We don’t have one of those going on right now, but you never know when we'll be asked to do something similar to that.”
Cantlon also described how Fort McCoy can support a disaster response or similar event.
“We also support federal government and federal resources from disaster response to emergency response or preparedness,” Cantlon said. “If something’s going on in the Midwest and the federal government’s ramping up for it and there needs to be support for potential operations, potential protection, potential anything, we are the place that holds and hosts our federal partners across the federal government. That could be FEMA, federal marshals, Secret Service, you name it — we support it here at Fort McCoy.
“How does it impact you? We do a lot of things. And we're a large military base. And we support tens of thousands of Soldiers,” Cantlon said. “So, there are a lot of support requirements here at Fort McCoy. There are a lot of business opportunities here at Fort McCoy. Our contracting command is exceptionally busy here at Fort McCoy because we don’t have the Soldiers and Army civilians to do all the work necessarily ourselves.”
Cantlon essentially told the attendees that Fort McCoy is one good area to do business.
“We do as much as we can, and we’ll do more if we have to, but we rely on the contracts and the partner businesses in and around Wisconsin to get it done,” Cantlon said. “This fort was built in nine months back in 1942, over 1,400 buildings, and those buildings require in some cases demolition, in some cases repair, and in some cases general upkeep. Same thing for the ranges and the grounds.”
Throughout the day, attendees also benefitted from networking opportunities aimed at forging connections with agency leaders and potential buyers. Sessions delved into contracting specifics, funding programs offered by the Small Business Association (SBA), and strategies for navigating the complex landscape of federal procurement.
Participants were encouraged to register as vendors on SAM.GOV and develop profiles on the U.S. SBA Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) to enhance visibility and credibility in the federal marketplace.
Organizers of the conference said GOBC introduces businesses to the complexities of government contracting, offering essential support and guidance. They noted the GOBC is a critical opportunity for smaller enterprises to compete on a larger scale and contribute to our regional economy. The event also underscored the collaborative efforts between regional economic development entities and military bases like Fort McCoy and Volk Field, Wis.
With the dozens of attendees, organizers also stated the conference will be even bigger and better when they plan the 2026 event at Fort McCoy.
For more information on upcoming opportunities and resources for government contracting, businesses are encouraged to connect with the Wisconsin Procurement Institute at https://www.wispro.org, or local economic development agencies like the Economic Development & Tourism Committee of Monroe County, Wis., at https://www.co.monroe.wi.us/government/county-board-of-supervisors/boards-committees/economic-development-commerce-and-tourism.
Fort McCoy has supported America’s armed forces since 1909. Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The post’s varied terrain, state-of-the-art ranges, new as well as renovated facilities, and extensive support infrastructure combine to provide military personnel with an environment in which to develop and sustain the skills necessary for mission success.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2025 03:37 |
| Story ID: | 545803 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 19th Wisconsin GOBC held at Fort McCoy connecting businesses with federal prospects, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
