The federal government’s growing concern
over the threat of a bio-terror attack
has led to a boom in business activity in and
around Fort Detrick, MD, one of the government’s
premier bio-medical research
campuses.
“Fort Detrick is growing by leaps by and
bounds,” said John Gregg, business development
specialist for the recently launched
Fort Detrick Business Development Office
(FDBDO). “As Fort Detrick expands and
grows, there is a significant amount of biomedical
research going on. It’s growing.”
Much of that business increase is fueled
by the
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), which is planning to build a $121
million National Biodefense Analysis and
Countermeasures Center (NBACC) as part
of the Fort Detrick’s National Interagency
Biodefense Campus.
DHS expects construction on the project
to begin in 2006 and to be completed
by June 2008.
Fort Detrick, located in Frederick, MD,
already hosts biomedical research facilities
of the Departments of Agriculture, Defense,
and Health and Human Services.
DHS’s NABCC will consist of moderateto
high-security bio-containment laboratories
that will be used to conduct research
on dangerous bio-agents that U.S. officials
fear might be used in a future terror attack.
Last fall, DHS issued the first in what will likely
be a series of NABCC solicitations, this one
seeking proposals for the design and engineering
of the new biodefense research center.
Most recently, in late February, DHS
issued
a request for vendor information to help it
develop plans for the management and operations
of the NBACC, identify the level of vendor
interest in the project, and assess the
strengths and weaknesses of potential bidders.
But even without the impending DHS
research facility, Fort Detrick is an economic
powerhouse, generating more than half a
billion dollars in business activity each year,
according to the FDBDO.
So great is the complex’s growing need
for goods and services that the U.S. Army
Medical Research Acquisition Activity
(USAMRAA) recently contracted with
Lanham, MD-based Data Solutions &
Technology to open the business development
office specifically to assist companies
seeking business with Fort Detrick
management and its tenant agencies, as
well as to help those agencies find qualified
vendors.
“Our job is to connect people who are
seeking business with the people who are
buying,” said Gregg. “Our role is to serve as
a conduit for anyone who wants to do business
with anybody on the other side of the
fence. We facilitate the process. We’re the
bridge over the fence.”
Under a $2.2 million, one-year contract,
with an option to renew for four years, the
FDBDO aims to become what it calls a
“government/industry matchmaker” for
contracting at Fort Detrick.
FDBDO hopes to train government
officials in such areas as conducting
market research and writing performance-
based services acquisition statements,
as well as to educate private businesses
in such “how-to’s” as grant proposal
writing and obtaining security
clearances.
The FDBDO also plans to help businesses
of all sizes connect with the right
purchasing officials, issue advanced
procurement forecasts, and conduct a
multitude of other
endeavors.
“We will work with people who aren’t yet in
business to help them get started, and we will
work with those who have been in business
for years to help them get connected,” said
Gregg.
He said his office aims to eliminate the
confusion that exists when contractors and
contracting officials do not know who to call.
“If you wanted to do business with Fort
Detrick six months ago, you’d find all the
tenants and go on their Web site, and
you’d
call them one by one to find out if there’s
any opportunity or not,” he said. “The idea
[of FDBDO] is we are building that network
of contacts. You come in and talk to
us, and we will talk to the folks who can
make a difference.”
He also said that his office could save vendors
time and money if there are no contracting
opportunities for them at Fort
Detrick.
“Let’s be honest. If there’s no
business for
you, we will tell
you you’re barking up the
wrong tree,” he said.
And even if no immediate
opportunity exists for a contractor,
a phone call to the
FDBDO may pay dividends
later, Gregg said.
“What we’re going to end
up with is a database of people
who have contacted this
office who are interested in
doing business with Fort
Detrick and a database that
we will use of the points
of
contact within Fort Detrick,” he said,
adding that such contact information
would make it easier for contracting officers
to connect with qualified vendors.
Best of all, FDBDO offers its services at
no charge to the end user, a fact which could
make the office very popular very quickly.
In fact, Gregg said his office began receiving
phone calls even before its official ribbon-
cutting debut on March 22.
More information about the Fort
Detrick
Business Development Office can be found
