Pearl Interactive mentioned in Dayton Business Journal
There is a joke defense contractors tell when asked about breaking into the field.
It goes: “What’s the quickest way to end up with $500,000? Invest $1 million to become a defense contractor.”
The point is not to ward off potential competition, but serves to crystallize how tough a road getting government work can be, especially for a life-long civilian not plugged into the pipeline.
But it can be done, as evident by Larry Dosser’s success at Mound Laser & Photonics Center Inc., which he founded in Miamisburg in 2002.
At age 58, he gathered up his life savings, mortgaged his possessions and borrowed every last cent he could to get the company started. Now his company has more than 20 employees and does a great deal of its business with the U.S. Air Force.
Dosser’s advice?
“Patience, patience, patience,” he said.
There are two major steps for a small business becoming certified to work with the military — and many resources are available online.
Defense contracting, though arduous to enter, is often seen as a steady alternative to the private sector because defense funding remains one of the largest expenditures of the U.S. government.
There is a lot of money at stake too. The Air Force Research Laboratory alone awarded $5 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2007, which is only a sliver of the total Department of Defense funds spent that year.
Step One
The first step for a small business looking to crack into the defense sector is obtaining identification numbers, which tells the government about the business.
There are two numbers — both free to obtain — companies need: a Data Universal Numbering System, or DUNS, number and a Commercial and Government Entity, or CAGE code.
A CAGE Code identifies companies already working or hoping to work for the federal sector and can be obtained at www.dlis.dla.mil/cage_welcome.asp.
Obtaining a DUNS number is not difficult and can be obtained, over the phone, in less than 15 minutes.
The number is a unique identification issued by the government, which small companies have if they ever applied for federal grants.
The government provides a hot line, — (866) 705-5711 — that owners can call to verify they have a number.
If they do not, then the owner should pick the federal grant applicant/prospective applicant option.
Step Two
Every organization, big or small, seeking federal customers must enter the Central Contractor Registration, commonly called CCR.
The registry compiles all the companies in a central storage location, instead of having to supply information to each federal agency separately.
Registering in the CCR is a mandated prerequisite before bidding on a contract.
It does not provide or guarantee any work, but is like a ticket to the dance, minus a date.
At the Web site, ccr.gov, applicants must provide:
• General information such as the DUNS number, company name, Federal Tax Identification Number, location, employee numbers, Web site and more;
• Corporate information such as business type and characteristics;
• Goods and services information, including the North American Industry Classification System Codes — found at census.gov/epcd/naics07 — Standard Industrial Classification Codes — found at osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html — Product Service Codes — found at fpds-ng.com/downloads/psc_data_10242006.xls — and Federal Supply Classification Codes — found at www.dlis.dla.mil/h2;
• Financial information, which includes bank routing number, account number, credit card information and more; and finally
• Point of contact information, meaning phone, e-mail, name and title.
Once finished with the CCR, everyone must also registers an Online Representations and Certifications Application, called ORCA, at orca.bpn.gov.
A company can only register with ORCA after it has completed the CCR registration.
Step Three (optional)
If a potential contractor hopes to sell light bulbs to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as compared to helping them research and develop technology, the contractor should also be listed with the U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA.
The GSA has a “schedule” of vendors, who are licensed to sell goods, such a light bulbs, and services, such as IT support from to government installations and organizations.
The schedule is like a Yellow Pages, said Bill McCabe, a senior associate at Aerospace Business Development Associates, a defense business development and consultation company in Fairborn.
However, like looking in the Yellow Pages under “lights” there are a lot of companies selling products — more than 11 million vendors on the GSA schedule in all.
Competition is fierce and no contractor should assume business will flow to them, just for being certified, said Merry Korn, president of Pearl Interactive Network in Columbus.
