HX5 occupies an unusual position in the defense contracting world. The company is service-disabled veteran and women-owned, and Margarita Howard serves as its sole owner, CEO, and president. Headquartered in Florida, it operates across 34 states and 90 government locations

Continue ReadingInside HX5: Margarita Howard’s Women-Led Defense Contractor

Technical skill rarely determines whether a transitioning service member finds steady civilian work. More often, the gap shows up in areas the military does not emphasize, corporate communication, project management, and navigating authority without a rank structure to lean on.

Continue ReadingHX5 Fellowship Targets Gaps Between Military and Business Life

Since 2004, HX5 has built its business around a single mission: supporting the people who carry out the work of the Department of Defense and NASA. Founder Margarita Howard describes that role in personal terms rather than purely commercial ones.

Continue ReadingMargarita Howard Leads HX5 in Serving NASA and Defense

Margarita Howard did not build HX5 by chasing the appearance of success. She built it by solving the operational problems that keep small government contractors from winning bigger work, starting with a decision most new business owners would skip. When

Continue ReadingMargarita Howard On Building HX5 The Hard Way

A bigger paycheck is often the easiest way to win over a job candidate, but Margarita Howard has built HX5’s recruiting pitch around something else entirely. As sole owner, CEO, and president of the company, she tells prospective hires that

Continue ReadingMargarita Howard Sells Mission Over Money at HX5

Government contractors have a reputation for slow-moving bureaucracy, and Margarita Howard knows that reputation can cost her company talent. Howard, sole owner, CEO and president of HX5, has spent recent years updating internal systems to feel less like a relic

Continue ReadingMargarita Howard Modernizes HX5 for Digital Natives

HX5 handles a wide range of Department of Defense and NASA work, from advanced weapons research to production readiness reviews for sensor systems and modeling and simulation for space programs. That scope of work sits behind CEO Margarita Howard‘s approach

Continue ReadingInside HX5’s Defense and Aerospace Contract Work

Artificial intelligence is changing the mechanics of government contracting faster than many industry observers anticipated. Margarita Howard, sole owner, CEO, and president of HX5, has been tracking that shift and positioning her company to operate effectively in the environment she

Continue ReadingHX5 Invests in AI as Margarita Howard Prepares for Future Contracts

The federal defense contracting sector has historically skewed heavily toward large, established firms with deep government relationships. Breaking into that environment as a small, women-owned business requires more than ambition. Margarita Howard, sole owner and CEO/president of HX5, has done

Continue ReadingWomen in Federal Defense Contracting The HX5 Story

Government contracting rewards firms that take compliance seriously from the start. Margarita Howard built HX5 around that principle in 2004, and the company’s growth over the following two decades reflects just how powerful early infrastructure investment can be. The Accounting

Continue ReadingMargarita Howard’s HX5 Shows the Value of Early Compliance Investment