The federal stimulus package has a lot of people in the mainstream media talking about upcoming federal projects, but experts will tell you there’s a lot of work involved in just getting on the list for U.S. General Services Administration contracts.
The federal stimulus package has a lot of people in the mainstream media talking about upcoming federal projects, but experts will tell you there’s a lot of work involved in just getting on the list for U.S. General Services Administration contracts.
Eileen Kent is the National Manager of Federal Contracts for Tecta America Corp., headquartered in Skokie, Ill. She sells directly to the federal government, looking for projects that might be a good fit and working with the Tecta operating unit handling the job. There are a lot of technicalities to the GSA process, noted Kent, and it takes a considerable effort to register and comply, but it can bring great rewards.
One of the keys to making headway in federal work is patience, said Kent. “It takes a large investment in time, materials, resources and knowledge base,” she said. “You can’t just walk in and land a deal. It takes patience, perseverance, money and resources.”
Another key issue is security, as working in federal buildings can mean extensive background checks and lots of paperwork.
Green initiatives are a key focus of government initiatives, said Kent, and that could help give visibility to LEED projects. “The Buzzwords are green, LEED, etc., and the government is committed to that, and committed to the companies that have done great work in the past,” she said. “The focus is to capture that business and build it and support it and help the government’s efforts, help with LEED certification, and help Tecta lead the way.”
