More than 240 business leaders from around the state gathered at the University of Rochester on October 19, to learn about the role private sector business can play in homeland security.

The one-day conference was a reprisal of the heavily attended business-to-business homeland-security conference it held last spring in collaboration with Empire State Development (ESD).

The Honorable Thomas M. Reynolds (R-Erie County), Deputy Majority Whip for the U.S. House of Representatives, provided the conference’s keynote address.

Rep. Reynolds told participants that the private sector plays a critical role in homeland security.
"We know that research and technology will not be developed solely by the government," but by businesses and institutions across upstate, Reynolds said.

The conference was specifically designed to acquaint participants with government procurement procedures, to identify emerging technologies in the security field, and to pinpoint specific goods and services that government entities will be seeking from businesses.

Conference participants also heard from Jan Mares, director of business liaison for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Mark Cohen, deputy director and chief counsel for the New York State office of Homeland Security; Mark Camillo, director of Homeland Security Washington Operations and Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Robert Gearhart, directory of homeland security at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Other speakers included security experts in the public and private sectors across New York State.

The conference also included:

• An overview of federal and state government initiatives in homeland security from officials with the U.S. and New York State Offices of Homeland Security.
  
  
• A review of what government needs to ensure homeland security and how this offers business opportunities.
  
  
• A discussion of issues in "cyber-security" and the role of the private sector in meeting this need.
  
  
• A panel discussion on government procurement procedures and strategies, that featured speakers from the private sector and the state and federal governments.