Published: May 28, 2009 12:03 am      

Showcase companies show ability to expand into new areas

Developing a system to help track disease outbreaks may not seem like a defense contractor’s specialty, but it is an example of how local businesses are diversifying.

Concurrent Technologies Corp. was awarded a $90,000 software-development contract to implement Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s disease tracking required under World Health Organization regulations.

“CTC is very pleased to have been awarded this important and timely contract,” company President and Chief Executive Officer Edward J. Sheehan said Tuesday to kick off Johnstown’s annual Showcase for Commerce.

“The health-care industry is of great interest to our organization, and this contract will help us enter the market and diversify our client base,” Sheehan said.

Although primarily a defense contracting event, Showcase helps companies such as CTC use their expertise and find new customers and markets for existing technology and products, Sheehan said.

“Government has always been a big proponent of transitioning technology across the board,” Sheehan said. “Government contractors are looking to diversify in commercial industry, and the same is true for companies on the commercial side. They are looking at how to expand into government contracting.”

Business leaders readily admit Showcase champion U.S. Rep. John Murtha has been instrumental in helping companies become equipped for government contracting work.

But the Johnstown congressman’s support only goes so far.

Business is business, Sheehan said. Expanding business means finding new markets and then finding ways to tap those markets.

“That’s the thing some of the folks don’t understand about business,” Sheehan said. “Corporations don’t build infrastructure and then go out try to find work. You don’t hire a bunch of people and go out and look for work. You build your business over time.”

Once a new market is identified, the next step is to bring in the experts, said David Fyock, president and chief executive officer of MountainTop Technologies.

“You get new work by hiring skilled workers and going after work in those areas,” Fyock said.

Showcase is a good place to start the process, he added.

“It gives us an opportunity to interface with folks in different areas and decide if it is an opportunity for us to go after or not,” Fyock said.

The company’s diversity has moved it into health care, aviation and emergency services.

Despite its background in emergency services built through its work developing the former Integrated Emergency Operations Center, some have criticized Murtha for putting MountainTop in charge of distributing about $10 million in Justice Department grants to police agencies for communication equipment. A story in Monday’s Washington Post said authorities are looking into the arrangement because MountainTop has “little experience in law enforcement.”

Although Fyock would not discuss the investigation, he said companies move into new areas by bringing in employees or contracting with consultants who have experience.

“The company only has the skills that its people have,” Fyock said.

Or as JWF Industries President Bill Polacek said, “Experience only comes with getting your first opportunity. In the business world, the corporate experience comes from hiring people to do the job.”

While companies such as MountainTop and CTC are looking for commercial markets, JWF has been expanding its commercial welding and manufacturing business into government contracting.

Murtha showed the way, Polacek said.

“When I wanted to move into government contracting, I asked the congressman what I needed to do,” Polacek said.

“He introduced me to people in defense.”

As a networking opportunity, Showcase illustrates connections local contractors have been building for years, Polacek said. Collaboration helps meet the demands of government contracting, with local companies forming partnerships to compete for larger jobs.

“We have to be a low-cost provider that delivers quality on time,” Polacek said. “We are earning the business every day. What we’ve done behind the scenes, all the defense contractors are working together. We are a consortium, we all do different things.”

Even as much of the attention will focus on Murtha’s announcements Friday of millions in new government contracts, local employers will be working toward next year, said Linda Thomson, president of Showcase co-sponsor Johnstown Area Regional Industries.

“What happens is: Companies have an opportunity to show the type of capabilities they have and look for ways to step in and to help somebody else and create new opportunities,” Thomson said.