083: Anthony Closson - How A USAF veteran built a massive contracting company from the ground up

Anthony Closson is a USAF Veteran and the Founder and CEO of Colossal Contracting- an SDVOSB Value-Added Reseller and IT Solutions Provider that has broken away from the pack bringing them to the forefront of the Defense and Civilian Industries by embodying their foundation as a company built upon military core values.  Anthony brings to the table more than a decade of executive leadership experience and over 15 years of managing IT integrations. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a Master’s of Business Administration with a Specialization in Project Management.  While deployed in Iraq and when working stateside at Joint Base Andrews, Closson learned first hand about the value of the relationship between government employees and civilian contractors. Taking that knowledge, experience, work ethic and sense of responsibility for the success of any of their customer’s missions, Anthony established Colossal as a dynamic force within a crowded and challenging industry. A decade later, Colossal now supports mission-critical systems and services across dozens of government agencies on a global scale, growing the company every year since its inception in 2009. Colossal now holds five GWAC’s and an array of agency specific BPAs and IDIQs.  Anthony’s intensity and motivation are equal in business and philanthropy as Colossal is an avid sponsor for nonprofit organizations. Last year Colossal was selected as the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Small Employer of the Year  for their efforts in hiring and supporting the members of our armed services. The company is proud to claim that more than 1 in 4 employees are veterans, reservists or members of the national guard. Anthony led Colossal’s first ever “22 For You Day” partnering with Mission22, a non-profit dedicated to veteran suicide prevention and raised over $30,000 for the cause. As his company continues to expand, Closson has not lost sight of the importance of taking care of your customers personally and specifically embodying the role of a servant leader by guiding the entire company to operate with intentionality and integrity. He is humbled by this opportunity to share his journey, his successes, his mistakes and the lessons he has learned with other small business owners and industry professionals so they can too can succeed.