Noah Leask honored by South Carolina Small Business Administration

CHARLESTON, SC – Noah T. Leask, Founder, President, and CEO of ISHPI Information Technologies, Inc. (ISHPI) headquartered in Mount Pleasant, SC, is this year’s winner of the South Carolina and Region IV Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year, awarded by the Columbia, SC District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The Southeast Region, Region IV, includes South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Colonel Todd Dombroski, Doctor of Osteopathy, Surgeon and Medical Science Advisor for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) in Arlington, VA., nominated Mr. Leask. In his nomination letter, Colonel Dombroski stated,

I am struck by Noah’s commitment to excellence, focus on reaching into the veteran population and bringing the expertise of prior and retired military personnel to bear on some of the most difficult challenges my office and the United States Armed Forces are facing today.

Mr. Leask is a wartime veteran, having served over a decade in the U.S. Navy as a cryptologist. He is also a successful business owner, having founded ISHPI, in 2006. ISHPI is an American Indian- and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned certified 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business specializing in Information and Cyber Dominance with core capabilities in Information Operations (IO), Information Warfare (IW), Information Assurance (IA), Cybersecurity (CS), System Engineering and Integration (SE&I), Enterprise Architecture (EA), Acquisition Management (AM), and Logistics Support Services (LSS) for the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.

Mr. Leask founded ISHPI on three simple but profound principles: Integrity, Excellence, and Devotion. Those principles coupled with ISHPI’s passion for its clients and their missions have led to continued substantial growth and rapidly expanding operations in the National Capital Region (Washington, DC), Charleston, SC, Shaw AFB, SC, and MacDill AFB, FL, as well as personnel traveling in theater supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF) as mission requires. The firm is a service-disable veteran-owned small business leader in the defense industry and highly regarded for its professionalism, customer mission focus, and excellent work.

ISHPI has proved to be a valuable platform for Mr. Leask to promote awareness of service-disabled veteran issues and provide employment opportunities for veterans and wounded warriors. ISHPI is a member of the “Warrior to Work Program”. Sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project, the program focuses on helping individuals recover from severe injuries received in the line of duty and successfully transition from military to civilian careers. ISHPI is dedicated to helping make that transition easier and ease some of the anxiety by offering to review resumes and provide employment coaching to wounded warriors. In a short amount of time, ISHPI has grown to nearly 30 employees, 95% of which are veterans. ISHPI has and will continue to create high-value mission-focused jobs for military veterans.

The economy is tough right now. My management team and I are working very hard to create opportunities to put veterans to work. I am passionately committed to hiring veterans because I know they have immeasurable skills and strong work ethics sought out by employers in today’s competitive business market. Veterans have been on the front lines and “on watch” and possess a unique perspective and camaraderie unfound elsewhere in the civilian workforce. – Noah Leask

Mr. Leask is committed to helping veteran-owned business start-ups succeed as he recognizes he is building a best-of-breed “Veteran” brand of companies that bring capabilities unmatched in the world. His commitment to his cause could not be more evident as ISHPI’s first three subcontractors are veteran-owned small businesses. Mr. Leask sees great strength in teaming with other veteran-owned businesses because they share the same values, ethics, and enthusiasm he does. He actively seeks out other veteran-owned partners to team with on business opportunities.

Mr. Leask is very active in his community. He serves on the Lowcountry Special Olympics and Unified Athletics Committees and is a Town of Mt. Pleasant Unified and Special Olympics coach. The South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association awarded him the 2008 Volunteer Coach of the Year and 2007 South Carolina Parent of The Year for his work with the Unified Athletic and Special Olympics. He is a member of the Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA), Advanced Security Technology Research Alliance (ASTRA), and Lowcountry CYBER Security Campaign where he is actively working with other Veteran-Owned businesses working toward developing a Cyber Security Center of Excellence to help provide jobs in the Charleston, SC, area. He is also a Board of Advisor for EPCI College of Technology where he focuses on the high-tech educational requirements required for veterans and students in the global market place.

Noah Leask and other small business owners & champions will be honored at the Annual Small Business Week Awards Luncheon on April 29, 2009, at the Columbia, SC, Metropolitan Convention Center. For more information, please contact Noah Leask at 843-881-8428 or noah.leask@ishpi.net.