Page 72 - Security Today, March 2020

This is Big Business
How security and safety companies can grow through government procurement
By Ben Vaught
When it comes to government contracting, security spending is big business—and small business too. Billions of dollars are at stake for all companies—big and small—tasked with supplying goods and services, preventing cyberattacks, providing counterintelligence and keeping the public safe.
Just think, of the Pentagon’s $718 billion 2020 budget request, about $143 billion was marked for procurement. Meanwhile, de- fense department contracts skyrocketed to about $373 during fis- cal year 2018, eating up a huge portion of the $559 billion in
overall federal contracting spending.
Although a significant amount of allocated contracting dol-
lars are consumed by security behemoths such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Co., there are plenty of opportunities for smaller businesses too.
Here is how to determine whether your safety and security company is a good fit, and how it could ultimately profit:
What’s Out There?
On the federal level, security contracts are allotted for a variety of assignments, ranging from the construction of fighter jets
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PROCUREMENT
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