Tuesday, April 24, 2007

KBR - Getting in the Door

How to Get Started with Logistics Giant

Quintin Robinson, Manager, Small Business Program Office in Arlington VA spoke with me at the 19th Annual OSDBU conference on April 19th in Maryland. This logistics giant does business all over the world -- including but not limited to large projects like Iraq reconstruction and Gulf Coast disaster recovery.

What advice does he offer companies who want to become suppliers to KBR?

  • "Make sure your capability is something we can use." Such as? "Logistics, security solutions, construction, operations and maintenance, engineering." (What do they NOT need? "IT or human resource management.")

  • "Register as a supplier,"online before contacting officials. Use specific keywords to describe your unique qualifications. Even so, there is no guarantee that anyone from KBR will call you; you simply must be in the database in order to be considered.

  • "Look up our projects." Search online and through your contacts for projects -- especially ones that might be coming open for competition -- where KBR could use you.
  • "Tell us where you fit." Armed with a completed profile and specific project ideas, you've got something to talk about when you arrange an introductory meeting with Quintin in Virginia, or his colleagues Jody Kernaghan and Beth Gardner at KBR's offices in Houston.

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