New Government Contractor Survey Shows Unsurprising Results

The accounting firm of Grant Thornton just published the results of its 16th annual government contractor industry survey. This survey is intended "...to measure the impact of new requirements in Government contracting regulations, as well as the effects of changing priorities in the enforcement of procurement regulations by Government personnel involved in the procurement process". We didn't find a reference in the study as to the number of contractors surveyed but one news article reported there were more than 100 companies. The study did say that these companies came from 26 States plus the District of Columbia. Here are some of the highlights from the executive summary section.

• 55% of the companies experienced increased revenues from Government sources.
• Only 28% foresee modest growth as a result of Government stimulus programs. The other 72% expect no significant impact.
• Of the companies surveyed, 32 filed bid protests with GAO. Eleven were sustained.
• 47% of the companies lost employees as a result of Government "insourcing" activities.
• Here's something to use as a benchmark. Average labor multipliers are 2.3 for work in company facilities and 1.9 for work at customer (e.g. Government facilities) site. The difference represents "facility costs".
• These companies reported a 35% win rate on proposals submitted to the Government.
• EVMS seems like a waste of resources. Only 37% believe that EVMS is a cost-effective management tool and 75% of them would discontinue the system if they had a choice.
• 14% of companies reported deteriorating relationships with DCAA while 12% reported improvement.
• 74% of companies consider the Government to be slow and inefficient in addressing issues. 56% of those believe that the inefficiencies are caused by DCAA auditors.

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