Establishing a business from planning to implementation is no small feat, but that only marks the beginning. A business must continuously stay ahead of the competition and seek lucrative opportunities like federal government contracts to become a successful enterprise. One individual providing small business owners with the necessary knowledge and tools to help them stay ahead of the curve, secure lucrative contracts, and maintain a healthy government-business relationship is a business coach, retired federal contracting officer, and CEO of Acu-Elligent LLC, Lori Smith.
A native of Macon, GA, Lori Smith is a visionary leader with more than forty years of federal experience culminating as a federal contracting officer committed to helping black women-owned and other small businesses obtain government contracts and simplify the federal contracting process. During her years in federal service, she proffered her expertise to direct a full range of contract administration actions, such as overseeing a $128 billion portfolio, providing executive support, and human resources management services.
Over her years in service, Lori Smith has developed a keen ability to recognize the various problems organizations and individuals seeking contracts with the Federal Government often face. “Black women-owned businesses, as well as other small businesses, get lost in the procedural aspect of government contracting. For some, it discourages them from engaging, and I want to change that,” she explained. To empower these small businesses, she founded her consulting firm, Acu-Elligent LLC, to help them articulate their vision, and assist them with understanding federal contract terms, federal regulations, pricing and billing regulations associated with doing business with the federal government.
At Acu-Elligent LLC, Lori collaborates with a team of seasoned business strategists, mentors, professional trainers and thought leaders who employ expert knowledge to define and develop the most cost-effective solutions to help companies achieve their government contracting goals.
The firm’s unique approach helps small businesses maximize their potential and develop an alignment and a clear roadmap towards achieving a healthy business relationship with government agencies, policymakers, government contractors, end-users, suppliers and subcontractors. With over seven decades in the industry, Acu-Elligent’s team of business strategists has earned a stellar reputation for successfully proffering the best solution and helping businesses navigate through opportunities and challenges through strategic positioning, relationship, and resources.
In addition to helping small businesses achieve their contracting goals, Lori Smith is also equipped with sound consulting/business principles and well-validated techniques which produce excellent results. She is the author of the best-selling book Winning Business Proposal Strategies for Success: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge. The book helps the readers understand business intricacies and how to write to win more customers, clients, and contracts. Other works include Customer Relationship Management: A Business Guide to Customer Relationship Management, Discovering Techniques for Attracting and Retaining Customers. Her latest effort, Business Development and Strategic Marketing: A Practical Guide for Business Owners, Understanding Business Development, Guidance for Orchestrating Strategic Marketing Plans for Success, will be published soon.
Lori Smith holds a BS Degree in Resource Management from Troy University and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Oklahoma. In addition, she earned her certifications in DAWIA and FAC-C Level III and is a certified GrowthIQ Personality Assessment Evaluator with a MA in Business from the University of Phoenix. Lori is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business from Northcentral University, and is American Board certified as Hypnotherapist, Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a NLP Coach, and is certified as a Time Line Therapy Practitioner as well.
