A.C. Howard (center) and Harris Smith of Roof Management Services fix a roof leak at a government building in Augusta. The business is moving toward the private sector after two years of government assistance. JEFF JANOWSKI/AUGUSTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

Company seeking new sector

Web posted November 1, 1999

By Damon Cline
Staff Writer

Augusta-based Roof Management Services has enjoyed a monogamous relationship with the federal government, but now it's flirting with the private sector.

Eric Evans, the man who spent the last two years building the company almost exclusively on affirmative action-based federal contract programs, said his roofing company is ready to branch out.

``We don't want to rely on the government,'' Mr. Evans said. ``We're competent and credible enough to compete against any other contractor.''

Roof Management Services is looking to enter the private residential and commercial roofing market as a way to diversify.

More than 90 percent of the company's work comes through the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Disadvantaged Business program.

SDB businesses, which are almost exclusively minority-owned, are given preference over white-owned businesses in procuring most federal contracts.

Mr. Evans' company is working toward certification under SBA's Section 8(a) program, a more stringent classification given only to larger, established minority contractors.

The federal government each year guarantees a certain level of contracts will go to 8(a) firms. In this so-called ``set-aside'' program, 8(a) firms bid only against each other.

Mr. Evans' 20 employee-company has handled projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Westinghouse Savannah River Site, the latter where Mr. Evans spent two decades as a facilities management and maintenance supervisor.

His experience as a federal employee taught him how to negotiate bureaucracy and jump through hoops, as government contract work carries with it a certain amount of red tape.

Private-sector contract procurement is difficult in its own way, Mr. Evans said. Getting government work is an open, almost clinical process. But a contractor must possess strong sales prowess just to get a bid for most private jobs.

Realizing his company lacked marketing finesse, Mr. Evans hired Johnny Fuller, a former purchasing agent for Augusta's Procter & Gamble plant, as his business development chief.

``He brings to the table the kind of networking and interacting skills we need,'' Mr. Evans said.

Branching out is exactly what Roof Management Services should be doing, said Jeff Sanford, director of the University of Georgia's Small Business Outreach Center in Augusta.

Mr. Sanford, who is assisting Mr. Evans with his 8(a) certification, said the program is not meant to keep minority-businesses dependent on government contracts.

``It's kind of like a stepping stone,'' said Mr. Sanford, an SBA affiliate.

Besides, an SDB designation is good for only four years, an 8(a) for nine years. The theory being businesses should ``graduate'' out of the programs and compete against other companies on a level playing field.

A SBA study showed 42 percent of companies exiting the program between 1994-1996 were still operational, 40 percent did not respond to the survey and 16 percent said they went out of business. The remaining 2 percent either ``substantially'' curtailed operations or were acquired by other firms.

SBA in 1998 assisted 6,000 disadvantaged small businesses obtain $5.9 billion in federal contracts -- about 6 percent of all federal contract dollars.

The 30-year-old 8(a) program was created for groups deemed ``socially and economically disadvantaged'': blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and American Indians.

A small number of nonminority women and persons with disabilities, however, have entered the program after demonstrating they suffered some sort of prejudice.

SBA has expanded its minority-owned business incentives throughout the years. One of the newest programs is the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program, which gives businesses tax breaks for encouraging economic development in ``historically underutilized business zones.''

``Every day I learn about a new program we have,'' said Bobbi Gruner, SBA Atlanta office spokeswoman.

For information on SBA programs call (800) 827-5722 or visit www.sba.gov.

Reach Damon Cline at (706) 823-3486.