What a year we just left behind! After living through 2020, we all hoped that 2021 was the year to bring normalcy back to our lives. It did not happen so here we are again, entering a new year and hoping that 2022 will be the year we return to some degree of orderliness. We know it will happen … we are just not sure when.

Despite the virus and all its complications, the government marketplace continues to thrive more than could ever have been expected. Public officials throughout the country are launching new projects, upgrading technology, purchasing equipment, and investing in planning and design services. Upcoming opportunities for private-sector contractors are abundant.

Many jurisdictions have not yet spent all their Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) funding or the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the federal government. And, those same jurisdictions now are receiving Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill funding. The potential for even more state and local government funding looms large as legislators discuss the Build Back Better Act in Washington.

To say the government marketplace is ‘hot’ is a huge understatement. However, competition in the multimillion-dollar marketplace is keener than ever.

This market environment coupled with the fact that the SPI Team is robust, experienced, and savvy about government procurement has resulted in a frenzy of activity at the company. We’ve been bombarded with requests for new services of all types.

We were already in an expansion mode when the requests started escalating, so the timing was good to expand service offerings even more. That is the backstory for what I am about to explain.

The SPI Team now has consultants on the ground in 14 states and is offering an expanded service package that includes procurement consulting, customized research, C-level meetings, governmental relations, and numerous aspects of business development. Every client engagement is managed by experienced consultants in Texas who supervise local consultants in each state.

Over the next month, I will occasionally use this column to outline new service offerings. However, if you want to know about all of them now, drop me a note and we will book a call.

For starters … here are a few of the new service offerings – all designed to increase the competitive advantage of government contracting firms:

  • A Customized Research Package for Companies Contemplating Change. This effort provides a deep dive into data that analyzes revenue potential and the total assessable market (TAM). It offers a look at TAM comparisons of various offerings or expanded services. This engagement utilizes interviews with public officials, specialized analytic tools, and data modeling techniques. The research results are not only useful, the data and information delivered are critical for companies considering revenue optimization, divestiture valuation, mergers, acquisitions, investments, entrance into new territories and/or the introduction of new products or services.
  • A Customized Research Planning Package for Companies Seeking Revenue Enhancement for any region of the country. This service is designed to provide a deep dive into the currently served market with the objective of answering critical questions such as:

– Am I offering the right services in the right way, in the right jurisdictions, and the right regions of the country? What changes should be considered to increase revenue? The data will provide a look at what is currently available and provide revenue projection comparisons based on changes or tweaks that could be made.

– What are the expected costs that can be anticipated with the potential changes and/or tweaks that are being considered?

– What is the expected long-term financial return result for each change option?

This planning package includes data and information related to what a company should know about impacting and influencing demand, new sources of revenue, programs and mandates that will impact spending decisions, competitor intelligence, contracting requirements and associated costs, competitors, potential partners, current funding status, political landscape, regulatory issues, and the backgrounds of decision makers, influencers, and stakeholders.

  • Project Delivery Model Financial Comparison Guide. This new offering is designed specifically for public officials and public entities struggling with decisions about delivery models for large public projects. The SPI Business Intelligence Division provides research that compares costs and projected financial returns of alternate delivery approaches, including Design Build, Design Bid Build, Construction Manager at Risk, along with Public Private Partnerships and other private sector funded delivery methodologies. This planning service compares costs, including ongoing maintenance, the transfer of risk, and employee benefits of all delivery models and lays out the financial deltas of all options.

The SPI Team has received many calls from public officials interested in these types of initial research as large public projects are being considered. With new incentives now in place for private sector investment in public projects, the focus on sustainability, and the funding that can be accessed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, public officials often want to take an in-depth look at costs and long-term ramifications of every delivery model that should be considered. This engagement is not designed to provide long-term financial services but is instead designed for initial delivery model review and decision making. These new offerings are a result of numerous requests from public officials who are in the early stage of considering initiatives that hold large potential for new delivery models.

The SPI Team will announce more new services over the next few months. Stay tuned and call us to discuss any of the new offerings in more detail.

As President and CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., Mary Scott Nabers has decades of experience working in the public-private sector. A well-recognized expert in the P3 and government contracting fields, she is often asked to share her industry insights with top publications and through professional speaking engagements.