Local businesses find government contracts profitable

Program officials were in Springfield Nov. 17 to assist area businesses – including small, disadvantaged and women-owned firms – in obtaining federal, state and local government contracts. Representatives from about 16 businesses attended the government contracting seminar.

“Probably more than anything, we learned about the availability of money set aside for certain

individuals and businesses,” said Vicki Mayo, controller for

Allen’s Mechanical, who was at the seminar. “Whether they’re veteran-owned or minority, the government sets aside particular projects and certain percentages for that.”

Springfield-based Allen Mech-anical is well aware of the benefits of government contracts. Since 1999, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing company has scored more than $41 million in government contracts for projects such as Fort Leonard Wood’s reception barracks and Southwest Missouri State University’s Public Affairs building.

Betty Lorton, seminar co-host and University of Missouri Outreach and Extension’s business and industry specialist in Springfield, hopes to get that word out to other area businesses.

“The government buys everything,” she said. “The main thing is to make sure the business has the capacity to complete the contract.”

That’s where the assistance program comes in, said Jim Martin, head of the Rolla office of the University of Missouri Outreach and Extension Procurement Technical Assistance Program, who with Lorton co-hosted the seminar. Counselors are available for one-on-one work with businesses throughout the state looking to get government contracts. The program has an online bidding service and a service that sends a company daily e-mails, highlighting new contract opportunities published in newspapers and journals. It also offers assistance on how to determine a fair asking price for products and how to complete a bid application.

“The government will be concerned about the (company’s) reputation, and the quality of the product, the service, the price and the continuity – they want to make sure that the product will be there five years down the road if they need it,” Lorton added.

The problem, Lorton said, is that most businesses are put off by all the regulations that come with dealing with the government.

Learning curve

“I think there’s quite a large learning curve, because it can be pretty technical to understand all the regulations involved,” Lorton said.

“Once they get through making one bid proposal and understand their pricing, then it’s just pretty much a rote issue, deciding whether or not it’s a project that they want to pursue.”

Lorton also said she recommends that businesses try getting work as subcontractors, so they can still get the work without having to deal with all of the stipulations and paperwork.

Database Home.com Inc., a home inventory company, sent inventory specialist Julie Ashurst to the seminar. Ashurst said the program pointed out the opportunities available to her company.

“It helped us learn all the different requirements,” she said. “We’re a woman-owned business, and (government contracts) have to have a certain number of woman-owned businesses. They helped guide us on how to get the paperwork done to get certified. With governments, there’s so much red tape, and (Martin) really helped get us a lot of good resources on getting that completed.”

Lorton said, aside from knowing which government hoops to jump through, scoring government contracts depends on how well-known a business is.

“The best way to connect is to put together a portfolio where they have their brochure, their Web site, their business cards and any other information that would be handy, and a good reference for prospective clients,” she said.

Ashurst said the fact that Database Home.com is new makes getting new business all the more important.

“We’re just a year old, so there’s not a lot of past to us,” she said. “But it’s definitely an area that I want to pursue. This program can help us avoid missing out on opportunities.”

Current opportunities seized by Allen Mechanical include $3.8 million of infrastructure upgrades at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, $5.6 million in contracts with Springfield Public Schools and a $3.2 million project for Willard High School.

'Government buys everything'

Federal, state and local governments are the largest purchasers of products in the United States. Government also is the largest contractor in the country, which can produce a windfall for local businesses.

The numbers show that state and local governments outspend the federal government when it comes to contracts. According to Public Purchaser magazine, in 2001 federal contracts were $150 billion short of those awarded by state and local governments. The federal government awarded $280 billion in contracts in 2001, the most recent year available, while state and local governments issued $430 billion in contracts covering a wide variety of products and services, including construction, engineering and training services.

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