Federal Government Beckons Firms To Star-Spangled Market
The famous government poster with Uncle Sam saying, "I Want YOU for U.S. Army," has defined military recruiting back to World War I and may have new meaning 87 years later. New and changing missions in the U.S. Defense Dept. and other key sectors of the federal government are pushing Uncle Sam and the engineering and construction community closer together. The Bush administrations plan for a more "outsourced" government and its tougher security priorities are generating new mutual interest. In turn, firms are revving up stakes in the federal market. The effort includes lots of high-profile ex-military and government hires.
"We dabbled in the federal market five years ago, but we were not a recognized name and it was a minuscule part of revenue," says Skip Homan, executive vice president of PBSJ, Miami. "Its now about 9%. That doesnt sound like much, but its been growing 15% per year. Its a market thats changing a lot."