JPI
2270 Kraft Dr., Suite 1850
Blacksburg, VA 24060
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Kirsten Slagle, and I am the Business Development and Security Operations Manager at Java
Productions, Inc. (JPI), a Government Consulting firm located at Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research
Center (CRC) in Blacksburg, VA. This letter is to provide you a reference for one of our past employees, Ms.
Leigh Anne Coble.
Leigh Anne worked under my direct supervision for two years as a Contracts Administrator and Assistant
Facility Security Officer (AFSO) at JPI. I personally interviewed and offered Leigh Anne the position in
July 2012 – shortly after she graduated from Virginia Tech – and she began work at JPI on August 1,
2012. From day one, Leigh Anne demonstrated herself as an exemplary employee, a great role model and
team leader to her peers, and a dependable point of contact for all of JPI’s clients.
As a Contracts Administrator and AFSO, Leigh Anne was responsible for all matters relating to contracts
management, business development, proposal management, and security clearance administration for an
approximated 120-person company. JPI is a small business and as a member of JPI’s operations team,
Leigh Anne was expected to wear multiple hats, take responsibility for tasks that often did not fall under
her normal job description, and work under high-stress situations and tight deadlines critical to JPI’s
corporate success. For contracts, she managed the documentation and storage of JPI’s current and past
contracts and subcontracts, and administered them wherever appropriate. Her business development and
proposal responsibilities included tracking, writing, compiling, finalizing, and submitting winning
proposals on behalf of the company. Additionally, her security tasks included running JPI’s security
program to ensure that everything met Federal requirements and the appropriate personnel maintained the
security clearances necessary for their requisite contracts. In her day-to-day work, Leigh Anne effectively
managed four large components of a consulting firm that would otherwise be done by more sizeable
teams than what a small business like JPI can afford.
Leigh Anne interfaced daily with JPI’s upper management – including the president, directors, and senior
managers – as well as high-ranking officials and clients in both other companies and Federal agencies
with ease and proficiency. She is held in high regard by these officials and is considered a subject matter
expert in all items pertaining to her field of administrative duties. The nature of our work is not intuitive,
and Leigh Anne was often faced with new challenges pertaining to our everyday tasks. She employed
excellent problem-solving skills to ensure that new tasks were handled appropriately and compliant to
Government regulations. Her astute research and analysis capabilities benefitted our team as a whole, as
she was able to handle all tasks – regardless of scope, complexity, or difficulty – with minimal instruction
and careful consideration.
The most prominent example of Leigh Anne’s leadership and teamwork abilities was her success as a
Business Development Lead on JPI’s proposals. Proposals are received and submitted to the Federal
Government, typically within a short turnaround of 1-2 weeks. In this role, Leigh Anne assumed the
responsibility of the proposal from tracking the procurement’s release; planning and preparing proposal
templates and materials; overseeing the proposal writing, editing, and pricing process; making revisions
before and after formal team reviews; and finalizing and submitting the proposals to the Government
client. Within her two years at JPI, Leigh Anne worked on 15 proposals with our team, all submitted
before the deadlines and prepared to the best of her ability. Many of these proposals were eventually awarded to JPI and resulted in the company’s exponential growth and secured JPI’s future in the years to
come.
On a personal level, Leigh Anne always expresses interest and devotion toward helping others. She is an
active participant in her church and volunteerism activities. Her constant selflessness is a source of
inspiration to all those who meet her. I believe that her ambitions to work in the educational field,
preferably within the realms of ESL, English, or Spanish education, will complement her interests and
personality well. Leigh Anne often speaks of her experience studying abroad in Ecuador and her
internship in Costa Rica. Both of those experiences solidified her interests in the Spanish written and
spoken language, as well as her love of teaching and instructing students. She has hands-on experience
teaching ESL to children of all ages while in these programs, and speaks of those experiences in high
regard. She double majored in both English and Spanish while in college, and the lessons learned from
that educational background will prepare her well for being a teacher.
In summary, I highly recommend Leigh Anne for the opportunity to teach and pursue her dreams of
becoming a teacher. Please accept my sincere endorsement of her educational skills, work ethic,
leadership abilities, and professionalism. Leigh Anne was a valued and integral member of our operations
team at JPI, and it has been an honor to watch her grow and serve our company for two years. It is with
upmost certainty that I confirm she will become just as important of a member to you.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Slagle, JPI
Business Development and Security Operations Manager
2270 Kraft Drive, Suite 1850
Blacksburg, VA 24060