Heather Port joined the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) business development team in August 2021. Now serving as a Strategic Industry Professional focused on installation support, she currently specializes in helping interested parties to better navigate and compete in the federal market by building relationships between installation commands and NC small businesses as well as advising on best practices and methods in federal contracting and procurement. Heather holds over 15 years of marketing and business development experience including her previous roles as a Director of Marketing and Business Development and as a Regional Marketing Director for various Property Management firms. Heather later worked for an Architecture and Planning firm as a Marketing Specialist, where she was engaged in proposal development for government and private sector design-build projects. She also briefly worked as a contractor for the Transition Assistance Program on base before moving into Federal service as a Housing Manager at Fort Wainwright DPW, where she earned a Customer Service Award from the Garrison. The wife of a Field Artillery Warrant Officer, Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Fayetteville State University and a Master of Arts: Intelligence, Security Studies, and Analysis from Angelo State University. She is currently a member of the Order of the Sword and Shield (a professional honor society for intelligence and security-based disciplines), as well as the Public Relations Society of America and the American Marketing Association.