David K. Edwards

Founder, President & CEO

 

After completing his initial formal education in his home state of Mississippi, Dave Edwards began his career in the US Navy, serving 13 years in support of Naval Security Group, Navy Recruiting Command, and various shipboard commands supporting Combat Direction Systems. He is a veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

 

His first position after the Navy placed him in Hampton Roads managing a project to upgrade the US Navy fleet with Global Positioning System (GPS) capability. This was a new initiative with significant visibility and obstacles to overcome. This position required Dave to become a Navigation Systems expert in a matter of weeks by traveling to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) facilities for subject matter training and consultation on the technology. Shortly thereafter he was thrust into the US Navy fleet to manage the planning, scheduling, conversion, and testing for the upgrade on every US Navy surface and subsurface vessel. On behalf of the team that he led, he received many letters and messages commending their efforts and the success of the project. 

 

In his next position, he was responsible for building market share and credibility within the navigation community, while continuing to achieve exceptional customer satisfaction for his client base. He had the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia and Japan where he represented the US Government in an effort to gain confidence and resolve long-standing technical and programmatic issues. As a relatively new Project Manager, Dave was placed on a company fast track for higher levels of responsibility, and consulted with executive management in areas of strategic planning and corporate and field office performance.

 

Dave was then brought in to another company to launch its engineering services sector. This initiative required creating an organization from nothing but a remotely located corporate office. Immediately his team secured a sole-source contract award of approximately $3 million. Within months the contract base increased three-fold and within the first five years grew to $51.5 million; the staff grew to 130. When he left that company in 2016 as President, he was managing more than 350 engineers, software professionals, technicians, technical writers, training specialists, logistics specialists and administrative professionals who provided services and products to a portfolio of contracts in the $100-plus million range across major Naval Warfare Centers, all primary US shipbuilders, and 13 countries, as well as specialized contracts supporting commercial markets such as healthcare systems and transportation technologies. 

 

To the Navy and to a variety of commercial customers, Dave’s engineering services division provided a wide array of products and services in support of navigation, geospatial, unmanned vehicle, radar, and communications systems, including shipboard troubleshooting and repair; hardware and software design; engineering design, development, and production; system integration, testing, evaluation, and certification; module test and repair; and a host of tailored logistics, technical documentation, and training services.

 

During Dave’s tenure, he championed the maturation of a Quality Management System that was registered ISO 9001-2008 and certified CMMI Level 3, with practices recognized by the Project Management Institute. He engaged public relations firms to create awareness as a part of innovative recruiting strategies, and implemented effective federal and state-level lobbying initiatives. He was personally afforded the opportunity to work with local, state, and federal elected officials as well as other senior officials in government and private industry. In particular, at various times he has met with US Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen; Majority and Minority Chairmen of the Senate Armed Forces Committee; State Senators and Delegates; Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Chief of Naval Operations; and other leaders in strategic areas of interest.