SMI JUGGLES THE WORLD.

• Author: Titus, Stephen
• Position: Brief Article

If SMI International's business model were a circus act, it would probably be a juggler. This Colorado Springs-based, minority-owned business has a lot of balls in the air -- from landscape maintenance and road building, to maintaining some of NASA's communications systems.

"We do roads and commodes, weeds and seeds, and we also do that," said Robert P. Bills, president and CEO, of the company's communications expertise.

Founded in the mid-1980s to advise companies seeking government contracts, SMI was purchased by The Aleut Corp. in 1990. Soon it wrangled some lucrative government service contracts of its own. The company went from sales of about $1 million in 1990 to 900 employees and nearly 570 million in 1996.

The company also helps the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard with housing maintenance, harbor services, power production and distribution, phone service and fuel operations.

Increased competition from larger companies is part of the reason for SMI's latest expansion move, Bills...