Cracking the government contracting code - Memphis Business Journal:

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But getting her foot in the door was more difficulft than shethought and, despite an impressive resume, she was seen as a Navy wife who wouldn’tr stick around. “The reality was we wanted to stay here and make a go of she said. So Parker set about findint a way that she couldr leverage her experience and skills and still stay on The answer was still federal but she had to get creative to crack into the contractof market at the She already had a stron background in contract and projecf management when she started in after working with defense contractorsin Washington, and an aviation services company in Oklahoma She found a way in by taking a full-timee job with another small business that did contracrt work at the base, while still doing some work for The Parkefr Group.
“It was just a mechanism to open the she said. “I have this greatt business — the only way I can continue it is to step backwith it, humblde myself a little.” The job with the otherf company gave Parker the opportunities to work with people on the base, “where I couls demonstrate that I had both the business acume and the ability to give them what they need,” she It turned out to be exactlt the right opportunity. When the project with the othef company finished a little more than a year TheParker Group, which at that time was just got its first contract at PMRF.
Aftert working several years as asole proprietor, Parkee began hiring systems engineers and otherd professionals on Kauai and in threed other states on the Mainland. Today, The Parkert Group has 14 employees in four states who offer project managemenr and systems engineering services to defense contractors who use the base at Barkingg Sands in West Kauai to test and evaluatednew technologies, as well as othefr installations. The company secured almosf $1.1 million in contracts with the Navy in the 2008 fiscalyear alone, according to the federall government. And this year, the U.S.
Small Busines s Administration namedParker Kauai’s businessperson of the Parker, 40, works from her home office in where she can still be close to her two young Grant, 3, and Griffin, 1, who are undedr the care of a nanny durint the day while she manages her growing company. Nine employeese work from office space at the Pacific Missiler Range Facility just a few miles downthe road. The Parked Group also has three employees in California and one each in Indianapolixsand Huntsville, Ala.
Parker’s first contract with the PMRF was to writee a study of the range comparinhg its capabilities and costs with the Reagaj Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll so that the federalk Missile Defense Agency couled determine which of the two rangez to use as a preferredtest site. “They essentially hirexd me and my firm to write their she said. “In termsa of establishing my businessin Hawaii, that was my big Parker worked with the staff at the range to edit and illustrate the study.
The resulg was that PMRF was chosen over helping to secure her reputation forfuture “Whatever your industry, it’s all about reputation,” she “It’s all about actually providing the customer with a service that they Parker is an active membee of the , and abides by the organization’x Four Way Test, which, according to Rotary asks: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned Will it build goodwill and bettef friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” “It’se also about providing them that service in an ethical and professionalp manner,” she said.
“That’s why peopls keep coming back to you, becausew you provide what they need.”