Do You Speak Davis Bacon?

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (March 16 Page 4) published an article titled Labor-Backed Contract Rules Advance, warning the contracting community that the Obama administration is going to strengthen, or more stringently enforce, the Davis Bacon and Buy America Acts. I know this doesn’t affect many of you now but part way through the second column we get a glimpse of the frightening prospect that “the rules could surface in a variety of bills involving federal funding…”

I know that this is primarily aimed at construction contracts, for now, but this administration has shown a willingness to alter the procurement regulations in ways hostile to the contractor community. In the not too distant future OMB will work with DOD, NASA, GSA, OPM to strengthen contract oversight, end sole source and cost-plus contracts and maximize competition in general.

A-76 justifications will return as a way of life. Agencies will have to consider whether new contracts can be performed by governments at a lower cost. Obama recently stated that contractors may be performing governmental functions. John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said "We hope this is the end of the era of privatization …” Current contracts will be reviewed to determine if they can be performed by government personnel.

There is no doubt that there will be nothing usual with business as usual. Now is the time to protect your customer base. I suggest you consider the following:

1. Routinely meet with key customers (technical and contracts) to understand their point of view and develop a friendly relationship; all customers are key, if they’re not quite wasting your time and money on them.

2. Never pass up an opportunity to demonstrate your value to the customer; develop your owned earned value system and use an independent source to verify that you customer recognizes you performance and benefit.

3. Squeeze every non-value added cent and second from your internal processes and procedures.

4. Make it someone’s responsibility to formally or informally lobby congress on issues affecting your business, your markets and your ability to compete. Keep employees informed of issues that may jeopardize their job and ask that they contact their representatives.

5. If your business depends on hard goods determine the non-US content at every indenture level and develop a second or third source list.

I’m sure you’ll think of additional items. The point is that you need to take a more active role in your future.