Capital Region Business Journal

Think it's tough to figure out your taxes every year? Most businesses find the bidding process for government work just as dizzying.

Although it isn't easy, there are opportunities for Wisconsin businesses to sell to Uncle Sam.

The federal government spends $42 million an hour and buys myriad goods ranging from livestock to replacement parts to playground equipment, said Denise Kornetzke, director of the Business Procurement Assistance Center at Madison Area Technical College.

"It's a vast market. There's very few businesses that we can't find a market for," she said.

Last year, the center helped nearly 1,000 Wisconsin companies net about $200 million in contracts. The U.S. Department of Defense estimated a total of 6,575 jobs were created and/or retained with BPAC assistance.

The center, which first opened in 1988, offers training classes, customized bid matching via e-mail and other services to help private business owners sort through the confusion of dealing with the government.

"They break it down into English, step-by-step and show what the different clauses mean and how we're supposed to respond," said Rob Wangard, who has operated Cartridge Savers Inc. in Middleton since 1994. "If you do it incorrectly, your bid is either thrown out or you could be liable for the wrong pricing."

BPAC researched Wangard's products and helped connect him with opportunities to sell to the government.

Wangard's company now has three federal contracts to provide new and remanufactured toner cartridges to government agencies, including a multimillion-dollar agreement with the Department of Agriculture.

When the White House sends a press release, it comes from a printer using Wangard's toner cartridges.

"We've grown threefold in the last three years," said Wangard, who is of Hispanic origin and qualifies as a minority business owner in the bidding process.

Kornetzke, who joined BPAC in 1997 after working as an industrial engineer for an aerospace contractor, contends the government is a solid market that can help manufacturers who have lost some commercial sales to overseas competitors.

"The government, who has mandated to buy American products, is a good customer to have when your commercial sales are down," she said. "It creates a diverse cash flow for that business."

Kornetzke also said there is a growing market for services such as environmental cleanup that were once done in-house as the government seeks experts from outside firms.

The center gets a $348,000 annual grant from the federal Defense Logistics Agency, whose primary role is to provide supplies and services to America's military forces worldwide; MATC makes up the rest of its funding.

Kornetzke said the Defense Department wanted suppliers outside of the East and West coasts and set up the grant program after realizing many business people didn't know how to sell to the government. The Wisconsin Procurement Institute in Milwaukee, which offers similar services, gets money from the same program.

A study released in March by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance found that between 1993 and 2003, Wisconsin was among the bottom three states in per-capita federal spending. The alliance cited fewer government contracts to buy goods and services here, including defense spending, as one of the major reasons the state lags.

"The Midwest has historically been one that's been underutilized as a market for the federal government," Kornetzke said.

In some ways, selling to the government has never been easier. Both federal agencies and the state of Wisconsin make information available online about the goods and services they want to buy.

"It used to be you would have to go to the library and get a microfiche reader," Kornetzke said.

But while aspects of bidding have been simplified, businesses still need help with the language of government contracts, she said.

"The government buys animal cages but you know what they're called? Vented animal racks," she said. "Who would use those words?"

Bidding on government contracts complicated, but may be worth it

By Jenny Price

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