Richard Kent
Principal
Based in Washington, DC, Rich focuses exclusively on our Government Practice. His extensive experience in government sales and his deep network of federal contacts provides our clients in the government market with significant value, most specifically in the key areas of strategy, candidate identification and assessment, team building, and customer access. Rich is not a recruiter; he works closely with our government recruiting staff to ensure that our clients meet their corporate objectives in their efforts to grow their government business.
Rich’s expertise in federal sales was developed and honed over the past two decades in both sales and executive positions of increasing importance, where he was able to learn firsthand the ins and outs of selling to the federal market. In the early 1990s, as a senior account executive and sales manager for Network Systems, Rich was responsible for both commercial and federal sales for the company’s largest customers. Rich then became a regional director for FORE Systems Federal, where he managed sales, systems engineering, and business development for a number of federal agencies. After the acquisition of FORE by Marconi, Rich was named president of FORE/Marconi Federal Operations, responsible for their $200 million business. Promoted once again, Rich was appointed executive vice president of Marconi Communications in 2000, and was responsible for a $600 million operation that included the federal government as well as Fortune 500 enterprise customers.
In 2002, Rich founded Fedforce, a consulting firm that specializes in helping businesses establish a presence in the enterprise and federal marketplaces. Rich’s clients include Sycamore Networks, ADC Telecom, and Ciena Corp.
Rich is a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds an MBA from Loyola College’s Sellinger School of Business and Management.
