You just never know where a networking or business development conversation is going to lead. Like to the White House, for example.

That’s where Enterprise Vice President Kelli B. found herself in early February—in the Roosevelt Room, attending a White House Roundtable on “Technology Jobs in Rural America.” Her hosts for the session: US Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

“It was really exciting, to say the least,” Kelli says. “And quite an honor for Enterprise to be recognized for the work we’ve been doing to develop creative sourcing strategies for some of our IT needs.”

The high-profile event brought about 15 business leaders from across the country together with federal officials, to discuss how the government and private sector can take steps to promote job growth in rural communities. “We have a great story to tell,” Kelli says. “Enterprise has been working for several years to develop contractor resources who can take on some of our high-tech outsourcing assignments.”

Today, there are about 40 people working for Enterprise through this arrangement. The rural workers handle a variety of tasks, including quality assurance testing for new software applications, Java code development, test automation and production support.

“There are a lot of advantages to this approach,” Kelli says. “Our rural contractors typically on-board very quickly, there are fewer time zone or language barriers, and they really understand our business needs.”

The impact of the networking conversations went beyond policy initiatives, too. “From the connections we made there, we’re already reaching out to discuss potential assignments with another rural outsource provider,” she notes. “It was definitely a win-win opportunity.”