Gustav: When A Storm Means Business

Disaster Response Contracting Tips

Hurricane Gustav is poised to create a serious natural disaster that will generate huge urgent needs for supplies and services, both immediately and in the weeks and months that follow.

Who is going to win that business to help, where, and how?

I'm in business to to help qualified vendors, even those without experience, connect faster with suppliers who need you. So here are THREE FREE RESOURCES to help you do that right now:

1. 2008 Disaster Response Tips: Ready for Hurricane Gustav -- New White Paper
   
2. Be A Top DisasterResponse Contractor -- Competitive Intelligence from Hurricane Katrina
   
3. Success Stories: Supplying Emergency Shelter and Meals

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Here are the details:

1. Save hours of time!Get tips on Hurricane Gustav disaster response contracting by downloading this five-page summary from http://www.summitinsight.com/blogviewd.asp?id=96. Includes:
   

• Links to Disaster Response Action/Status reports
• Where disaster relief centers are being set up
• Which government agencies are doing what
  
• Supplier Registration sites
• Success Tips
  
  

2. "Be A Top Disaster Response Contractor: Version 3.0" , updated from 2005, is jammed with competitive information you want to know. You'll find out:

• Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina Response in 2005. Emergency supply needs and major prime contractors will be similar this time!
• Top disaster response contractors in 2005 -- those winners may become big suppliers now.
• Vendor keys to success from the Hurricane Katrina response in 2005
• What products and services buyers needed after Hurricane Katrina, and how much

3. Success Stories: Supplying Emergency Shelter and Meals: Keys to success from interviews with two companies , first-time suppliers, who won disaster response contracts worth millions in 2005.

In short, you have a good chance to meet these urgent needs if you already have:

A current government contract vehicle that someone can buy from RIGHT NOW,

Contacts within federal, state, local and NGO agencies with responsibility for disaster response,

Recent communication with people making supplier decisions to meet disaster response needs,

Current information about the emergency management and buying process in the disaster area;

If not...find out what you need to know HERE.

Lockheed Martin Tips For Small Business

Lockheed Martin is looking for good small business partners, too.

Here's 90 seconds of wisdom from Ken Hildebrand, Supplier Diversity Manager at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia.

You'll find out:

• What kind of "homework" small businesses need to do when approaching Lockheed Martin
• How to improve your marketing materials and why
• And a final key to success!
  

Teaming Tips: Diane Marsden, BoozAllenHamilton

Here's what Booz Allen Hamilton does want to see from small businesses proposing partnership.

HINT: Being a veteran-owned small business, or a small disadvantaged business, or any kind of small business, isn't a capability. It's a differentiator...and not a particularly strong one at that.

To sum up: Come with

• Your Unique Value Proposition
• The Government Clients You Fit Best
• Your Capability
  

Is SBA looking for a few good women?

In response to recent criticism from the Senate's Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee concerning inadequate achievement of awards to small business, Washington Technology reported the Small Business Administration's plans to launch an Electronic Procurement Center Representative (EPCR) system.

The system, set for October launch, will be among $500,000 worth of SBA's FY2008 initiatives to help government buyers more easily find capable small businesses that can meet their needs.

How much focus will this system or related initiatives have on identifying woman-owned businesses? The federal government achieved only 3.3% of its 5% goal last year. America -- government, citizens, and women business owners -- deserve better.

women business

Contacts for Disaster Response Business

Turn Today's Calls into Tomorrow's Call-ups
Brenda Thomas and Tiffany Butler, Small Business Specialists at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), counsel a prospective supplier at the 19th Annual OSDBU Conference, presented by the Federal Business Council.

• Get in the Game Now! FEMA officials encourage vendors to review agency contacts to identify those with responsibilities related to your solutions. Still need help connecting? The Small Business Specialists at DHS are there to help you.
  
  
• FEMA’s role in disaster response is increasing, and Red Cross will carry less of the burden of immediate response. Read more…
  
  
• Hurricane Contracting Information Center (HCIC -- Link Here)
  HCIC does not award contracts, but outlines the buying process (find out NOW, not later!) and offer points of contact for subcontracting.
  

What Partners Seek -- Tips From Ludmilla Parnell, GDIT

BUSTED! Apologies and Overdue Credit for Her Unacknowledged Wisdom

I prepared a presentation this spring that included info on "What Partners Want". I discovered recently, to my horror, that while I had borrowed with permission from a colleague's presentation, I had failed to give her credit!

That's not right, and so I'm using this blog entry to set the record straight as well as to laud the sterling advice that Ludmilla Parnell, Marketing Director for Small Business Partnerships at General Dynamics IT (GDIT), shares with her clientele and the contracting community.

Here's what Ludmilla says GDIT examines when they consider teaming partners:

• Core capabilities & differentiation
• Past performance & reputation
• Price
• Personnel experience & low turnover
• Location
• Financial strength
• Dependable, responsive team player

I'll be reporting more tips from other primes and what they say they want you to do...AND taking the time and care I should have done here to provide full public credit to those who share their advice, too.

Thanks, Ludmilla.
PS: Watch for GDIT to launch a new partnerships registration site later this spring!