Blazing through the black hole of procurement.

• Author: Swagel, Will
• Position: Small Business Administration helps Alaskan businesses secure government contracts

SECURING GOVERNMENT BID CONTRACTS ISN'T AS DIFFICULT AS ONE MIGHT THINK.

When a $1.4 million federal project to remove pipe at Elmendorf Force Base came up for bid last year, Weldin Construction Inc. was poised to get the job-and they did. Likewise for an $860,000 contract digging a dozen 300-foot wells, which will be used to charge the ground with electricity to ward off electrolysis corrosion in steel pipelines that run through base grounds.

U.S. Department of Defense contracts like these have boosted the Eagle River-based firm from $2 million in revenues in 1997 to $5 million last year. Owner Dick Weldin is an 8(a) designated contractor - qualified to benefit from a federal business development program for firms owned by people who are socially or economically disadvantaged.

At the Small Business Administration in Anchorage, business development officer Ron Veltkamp says 75 Alaska-based firms participate in the 8(a) Program, one of the highest totals in the Pacific Northwest. Last year, $194 million in business flowed to these firms in federal contracts with the Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Army, the USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a host of other government departments and bureaus.

The 8(a) program is the most active SBA program in Alaska, but represents only a speck of the massive spending power of the U.S. government, the State of Alaska and various municipalities.

The U.S. government nationwide spends $200 billion annually for services and commodities from the private sector, says Mike Taylor, program director of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center in Anchorage. The Seventh Avenue PTAC office is one of about 100 centers nationwide charged with helping private firms negotiate often complex government bidding processes. Along with aid in writing proposals and other technical documents, PTAC offers an automated messaging system alerting firms that matching projects are being put out for bid. SBA's Small Business Development Center is also located at the Seventh Avenue facility.

"I'm really high on PTAC and the Small Business Development Center," says Weldin. "This whole government contracting arena was a big black hole for us - and that's where these organizations come in."

Accessing the Bucks

In 1997, the Alaska Air National Guard came up with a task order system, calling for long and detailed technical proposals that could net a company a coveted place in a pool of preferred contractors. The Guard would issue contracts primarily to members of this pool in order to streamline procurement. Weldin, who had good experience with PTAC in the past, again turned to the organization.

"Mike (Taylor) came to our office and sat with us for hours," Weldin...