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