Va. Beach Executive An Ambassador For Small Business

By Michelle M. Falck

Doña Storey, president and CEO of Quality Technical Services Inc. (QTS), located in Virginia Beach, and a 1973 graduate of Old Dominion, was named Virginia’s 2007 Women in Business Champion of the Year by the Virginia Small Business Association.

Storey, who has become known as an ambassador for small business, has also been active for many years in promoting the role of girls and women, particularly in the business community. Her involvement with Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) has helped to increase business and financial opportunities for women.

At WIPP, Storey served as one of the original state leaders and the national co-chair for procurement issues – a role that gave her opportunities to influence legislation at the national level. As chair and member of several committees at NAWBO, she advocated increasing opportunities for women business owners to access capital and to contract with government and large corporations.

“Women entrepreneurs have a unique perspective on national issues because they are the only demographic with their finger on the pulse of both the business and the family wallets,” said Storey.

But it is not only her work on behalf of women that has garnered recognition. Earlier this year the Minority Enterprise Executive Council named Storey one of the 25 Powerful Minority Women in Business. Recipients of this award are selected based on their ongoing advocacy work for minority-owned businesses nationwide.

Storey credits her father, a Filipino immigrant and a successful entrepreneur, for teaching her valuable lessons about business ethics, professional courage and strategic vision.

Founded by Storey in 1980, QTS emphasizes quality, integrity and leadership, “our three-point brand,” she says. It is divided into a consulting group and facilities group, and has a satellite office in New York City.

Through QTS, Storey offers expertise in organization analysis, new business/product launch and mentoring to small businesses, focusing on 8(a) businesses, woman-owned small businesses, historically underutilized business zones and veteran/disabled veteran businesses. She provides small firms with the knowledge, proficiency, management and organizational skills necessary to perform with bigger businesses and government agencies. QTS works with large customers as well, including Time Inc., JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and the U.S. Army and Navy.

Storey, a member of the ODU Educational Foundation board and 2004 recipient of her alma mater’s Distinguished Alumni Award, received the Women in Business Achievement Award in 2005.