By Stacey McCoy, Senior Editor
Monday April 2, 2007

Most of us have heard the story of David and Goliath, well that is sometimes how it seems when we look at the federal contracting scene today. In a time where large no-bid contracts are abundant, entrepreneurs and small businesses like Ecompex must use their innovation and ambition to overpower the giants and win the big contracts.

For Ecompex, our business began with a vision, of bringing the most cutting edge document imaging solutions to the government. Since then, we have grown to a company of nearly 200 with many innovative technology solutions and services. We have used our innovation, our outstanding quality backed by certifications like ISO 9001:2000, and the flexibility of our small size to win many federal contracts.

Contracting has become ever more trendy over the past several years, especially in IT, which allows for a healthy inflow of new and innovative technologies. Yet federal contracting today favors the Goliaths, with a noticeable increase in big no-bid contracts, which promotes wasteful spending through a lack of competition. Competition is necessary for curbing abuse, a hot topic among ethics reformers in Congress today, because it will allow for organizations to adopt the most innovative and cost effective technologies. Competition will also benefit everyone involved by driving contractors to continually improve their products and services.

Certainly there are times when non-competitive or limited competition contracts can be necessary, but if we want to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit our country was founded on, they cannot be the norm. To promote competition among contractors and curb wasteful spending by agencies, reforms have been proposed that will change the way business is done (See following article). The goal of these reforms is that agencies will use their money more effectively to make their systems more efficient, which will benefit the American public who receives their services.

At Ecompex our goals have always been innovative and quality technology solutions and services. We work to offer what others cannot, to be the best provider of information solutions for the government. Ethics reforms in government contracting will give smaller companies like Ecompex a better chance to win big contracts based on the merit of their quality services and innovative solutions.

For further information, contact Ecompex’s Communications Manager, Jesse Lake at jesse.lake@ecompex.com

Citations

“Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2006-7, Contractor Code of Ethics and Business Conduct”. Federal Register. Vol. 72., No. 32 (February, 16, 2007).

Waxman, Henry A. Accountability In Contracting Act. H.R. 1362 (March 6, 2007).

U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform. (June 2006) Dollars Not Sense: Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration.