Transitioning from Military to Entrepreneur

According to country singer Toby Keith, a soldier “will always do their duty no matter the price, counting up the cost and knowing the sacrifice.” After honorably serving the United States to protect American freedoms, many veterans live these same tenets as they begin new endeavors as business owners. In fact, veteran-owned businesses employ approximately 5.7 million individuals throughout the United States equating to an estimated $210 billion in annual payroll and $1.2 trillion in sales. Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Gabe Ruiz represents one of three million veterans who successfully served his country in the public service and private sector.

转移任务

Ruiz在成为一个企业家之前，担任陆军通信和技术收购官员26年。在他的任期期间，Ruiz通过开展研究，实施试点计划，在世界各地的100多军安装中将众多IT系统部署了陆军的整个IT基础设施的过程中，鲁伊斯在现代化，简化和重组整个IT基础设施的过程中。

“We researched Georgia, Arizona and Virginia because of our relationship with the government,” Ruiz said. “We settled in Florida because of the proximity to the Research Park next to the University of Central Florida (UCF).”

After retiring in 2006, Ruiz was determined to begin a new venture. A friend recommended he start a consulting firm for companies wanting to conduct business with the government. Ruiz transitioned from military to civilian life with ease; education and military experience provided an abundance of knowledge and expertise. Ruiz focused his “mission” on developing, implementing and executing a private sector business which supported the Department of Defense. “My mission as a civilian was to identify government needs and necessities, particularly within the Army,” Ruiz said. “I wanted to figure out how to bring value to government customers by modernizing their IT systems.”

Ruiz成立了Advanced IT Concepts, Inc.（AITC），aService-Disabled拥有资深年代mall Business and Minority 8(a) Information Technology公司位于佛罗里达州冬季斯普林斯的公司。AITC专注于当地，国家和联邦政府和私营公司的IT和物流解决方案。“我们通过帮助他们识别他们的需求来吸引客户。Ruiz说，我们确定潜在的替代方案和结果，以满足其业务需求。“例如，我们使用技术解决方案来实现IT系统集成，IT基础架构连接，物流支持，数据中心支持和网络安全保护。Ruiz说，利用新的新型，创新和成本效益的IT解决方案更有效地表现更有效，有效地和经济地实现整体成功，更频繁地取得成功，“Ruiz说。

AITC Strong

“员工是我们最大的资产，”Ruiz说。“军队价值忠诚，职责，尊重，自助，荣誉，诚信和个人勇气。我们的许多员工都有军事背景，我们公司的重点是国防部;因此，我们拥抱军事原则，信仰和理想。“

AITC recruits, hires and maintains unsurpassed talent to innovate and exceed client expectations. The talent pool incorporates a vast knowledge of the government, IT logistics and telecommunications infrastructure. To ensure goals are met, AITC provides advisory services, strategic planning, program management, system development, technology specialists, engineering, logistics and training support. “Due to our team’s proven expertise and experience, AITC is one of only a few small companies holding a high-level security clearance,” Ruiz said.

Geography is Everything

AITC considered multiple locations when setting up its headquarters. “We researched Georgia, Arizona and Virginia because of our relationship with the government,” Ruiz said. “We settled in Florida because of the proximity to the Research Park next to the University of Central Florida (UCF).” Central Florida offered easy access to the Department of Defense;Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division;美国陆军计划仿真，培训和仪表执行办公室;U.S. Army Simulations and Training Technology Center;Marine Corps Program Manager for Training Systems; and, theAir Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation。此外，它还靠近UCF，众多医疗机构和私人公司。“佛罗里达州是一家商业状态，我们在客户的后院，”Ruiz说。

与军队合作

In 2015, AITC won a 5-year, $45 million Army contract. The following year, AITC earned a $70 million contract with Army Medical Simulation Support Services based on an evaluation as the best-qualified contractor possessing the business practices and capabilities to meet or exceed the necessary requirements due to several years of exceptional past performance. AITC will assist in providing procurement and logistics services for medical-based simulation training. Additionally, AITC was awarded 10 government contracts based on several years of exceptional past performance. These acquisitions have a combined value of $13 million.

“The Army applies innovative technologies, tools and equipment to develop information that benefit and best generate operational decisions, results and solutions,” Ruiz said. “AITC aids their efforts in training advancement and skill development essential to successful missions.”

走向绿色

AITC最新的合同收购与美国农业部价值390万美元。在过去的五年中，美国森林服务的网络能力随着用户需求和新技术要求的增加而迅速放大。本合同涉及旧版地网设备的安全问题，具有新的替代和现代化现代技术。“我们很高兴与USDA森林服务更大的规模工作。正如过去10年的证明，我们是联邦政府的可靠和宝贵的资源，以获得具有成本效益，创新的技术解决方案。Ruiz说，这是培养额外业务的绝佳机会，培养了额外的业务和增长。“

“合同继续推动AITC作为联邦政府的可靠专业服务提供商的声誉。它转化为额外的工作，额外的计划支持人员和为我们公司的收入增加，刺激了我们当地的经济和国家的大量成功。Ruiz说，我们正在继续通过增加我们的合同组合来争取成功。“

Expanding AITC Facilities

由于合同的增加及其物流服务扩张，AITC最近在佛罗里达州Longwood购买了一个12,300平方英尺的仓库，增加了其他现有设施。该公司还在采购研究园区的新办公大楼，更接近其主要客户。这些投资有助于支持当前计划，同时增加未来增长的能力。

2017年的小企业人

AITC was recently a finalist with the公司成长协会2017年智能奖励和has won several awards including the Fast 50, Fast 100, Florida Companies to Watch fromGrowFL和资深人士的影响力from Orlando Business Journal.

2017年，鲁伊斯被命名为Small Business Person of the Year for the North Florida District由这件事U.S. Small Business Administration(SBA) North Florida District Office, which includes the top 43 counties of Florida from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Orlando. “I appreciate the encouragement I have received through the mentoring and advisory support from the Florida Small Business Development Center at UCF,” Ruiz said. “It has motivated me as I have grown AITC to achieve greater success. It is an honor to receive such a prestigious award.”