Project 38: The Future Of Federal Contracting

Government contractors struggle with exit and succession planning for multiple reasons, while the majority of transaction activity in the market these days has some level of private equity involvement on either side.But companies that want to remain independent, the employee stock ownership plan can be an alternative transaction that creates liquidity and incentives for the shareholders.David Blauzvern, a managing director at CSG Partners and a specialist in these transactions, joins for this episode to explore all it takes to go down the ESOP path after a company decides on it.Blauzvern also tells our Ross Wilkers about certain instances where ESOP companies can stand out to the government customer. Of course, they also go over which companies the ESOP model can be right for and those it is not.

For technology startups, the closure of an external investment round should be considered only the beginning of a new cycle in their strategies to grow the business and accelerate adoption of their products.Michael Hauser, managing partner for Science Applications International Corp.’s venture capital arm, joins for this episode to explain how SAIC Ventures works with startups after investing in them to bring their technologies into government missions.As Hauser explains to our Ross Wilkers, the SAIC Ventures team acts as a business model scout in addition to playing its role in the parent company’s overall tech scouting function.Hauser also walks through the decision process of when a tech is ready for the customer to use, plus how Dairy Queen’s famous Blizzard blend helps explain the art and science of technology integration.SAIC backs satellite bus design startupSAIC joins zero trust startup's network of investorsInfleqtion closes $100M Series C roundUndersea drone startup fetches $16M to aid hiring, manuf

Every founder of a company faces this quandary: What does our next phase look like? How do we get there? Who can help us get there?Sophia Harris and her leadership team at ODRG, which she founded in 2013, faced those questions head-on as they plotted out the company’s next steps and that led them to partnering with Advantage Capital.This episode begins with Harris telling our Ross Wilkers the full story of ODRG’s hard pivot to being a national security and geospatial technology specialist. She also describes how that positioned ODRG to eventually be ready for an external investor, something that has always been in the front of her mind.Keeping employees and customers onside was no easy feat, and one Harris speaks in-depth about in the conversation. Harris also describes how she faced the other common founder’s quandary: Am I ready to give up full control of the company I started?

Reindustrialization is a catch-all description of moves by government and industry to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing amid other countries’ investments on that front, especially China.Lauren Williams, our Defense One colleague and a senior editor there, joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to explore how the industry they cover is a part of that larger push to build more systems in America and use new advanced technology to do it.Much of their discussion is informed by Lauren’s attendance of a mid-July conference in Detroit called the Reindustrialize Summit, which sought to bring together tech companies and investors with a keen interest in manufacturing.Flying boats and AI-run factories pitched at 'Reindustrialize' eventZapping drone swarms into submissionMeet the ‘cobots’ that could lower the cost of building submarinesSECNAV: Robots won’t replace shipbuilders, but they could make jobs ‘easier’Hadrian secures $260M in Series C capital

Uber is the newest example of a consumer technology company entering into a government-wide arrangement with the General Services Administration, which negotiated the pact on behalf of every federal agency.Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for all GovExec publications including WT, joins for this episode to break down the finer details of that agreement and how contractors are a part of it too. Then there is the bigger picture theme for Frank and Ross to talk about: how GSA views it as fitting into the agency’s OneGov strategy for more consolidated buys of common tech goods and services.Which also was the subject of Frank’s interview with GSA’s deputy administrator Stephen Ehikian at GovExec’s Government Efficiency Summit on July 17. Frank and Ross share their takeaways from that conversation with each other.Click here to watch the Summit, which was recorded by C-SPAN.WT 360: All roads lead back to GSA in this ‘Editor’s Summit’ episodeGSA, Uber partner to cut travel costs for feds, military and select contractors

Government contractors are under a different sort of microscope for not just how they do their work supporting agencies’ missions, but also how they talk about themselves out in the public.The direct connections between external messaging and communications with government customers are the focal point of this episode featuring Dustin Siggins, founder of Proven Media Solutions, and Mild Red CEO Katie Helwig.Compliance remains core to the business of GovCon in an environment where Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives are on the way out. But core values and communicating those remain very much in, as Dustin and Katie explain to Ross.Small businesses should especially take heed. The conversation includes tips and words of wisdom just for them.

Companies in the government market have to make big “Sliding Doors”-type decisions all the time on which paths to choose for themselves and those to turn away from.Aaron Myers works with contractors in those situations as a partner for aerospace, defense and government advisory at Aprio. He joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to provide key questions for them to answer when it is time to make important choices.Delivery models, strategic priorities and customer sets all feature in the conversation between Aaron and Ross, which takes place against a market backdrop where the codes to crack are changing rapidly.Aaron and his partners at Nextfed have first-hand experience in asking those questions of themselves, which has led the team to become a part of Aprio. That features in the chat too.

Iran is known to be one of the world’s major nation-state actors in cyberspace and that fact has returned to the forefront since its war with Israel started on June 13.David DiMolfetta, who covers cyber for our partner publication Nextgov/FCW, joins for this episode to break down how Iran typically operates in cyber and what U.S. government agencies are watching out for as the conflict continues.The defense industrial base is also on notice for potential intrusions on their systems, as David explains to our Ross Wilkers.David also provides an update on what we are learning about the breach into U.S. telecommunications networks, which was carried out by the Chinese hacking group known as Salt Typhoon but discovered two years after it started.Iran-backed hackers may target US defense companies tied to Israel, agencies warnDHS expects Iran’s cyber forces will target US networks after strikes on nuclear sitesUS charges Iranian operatives with hacking Trump campaignTrump campaign allegedly hacked, blames Iran for

The Veterans Affairs Department is coming under heightened scrutiny after it emerged that artificial intelligence likely played a role in VA’s decisions on which contracts to cut as part of the Trump administration’s purported efficiency push.Edward Graham, who covers VA for our partner publication Nextgov/FCW, joins for this episode to break down what is known so far about VA’s use of AI in that process and efforts to get more transparency into what unfolded.ProPublica broke the story first on June 6 and published a follow-up June 10.VA is far from alone in making DOGE-related contract cuts since President Trump took office in January, but this storyline at that agency is drawing ire from some lawmakers and contractors who lost work there.Ed takes our Ross Wilkers through the many moving pieces inside VA, so buckle up to gain many insights into this much-sought after customer for many companies in the market.Lawmakers demand review of VA’s AI-driven contract cutsDemocrats raise alarm over AI-driven contract

Each annual release of the Top 100 also provides a jumping-off point to start pondering what the next year’s rankings could look like and how today’s macrotrends shape it.For this second part of their 2025 Top 100 conversation, Nick and Ross pick up where they left off by looking at the Trump administration’s spotlight and scrutiny of GovCon five months after moving in.The government customer collective wants all the latest and greatest tech tools, but also sounds picky about where they want to get them from. Nick and Ross highlight the different kinds of roles companies across the market play in providing that tech and how those could change in future years.The 2025 Washington Technology Top 100 RankingsWT 360: Our first takeaways from the 2025 Top 100 with more to follow2025's Top 100 rankings reveal a market in major upheavalTOP 100: CGI Federal’s Stephanie Mango on navigating Trump’s ‘dynamic environment’TOP 100: How Serco Inc. uses its pivot to position for Trump prioritiesGSA expands review of ‘consulti

Edition number 32 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use in researching the federal market's largest technology and services contractors, and mapping the numbers to the industry’s macrotrends.For this first in a two-part episode (the second goes out next week), Nick and Ross go over the companies and numbers that feature up and down the rankings’ 2025 edition.Here is *some* of what was on their agenda for part one:What keeps companies in the upper half and what takes them outBooz Allen Hamilton and Lockheed Martin swapping places 2 and 3Nick’s conversation with CGI Federal’s president at our 2025 Top 100 launch event2025’s biggest risers and fallersNonprofits and their roles in the public sector ecosystemThe 2025 Washington Technology Top 100 Rankings2025's Top 100 rankings reveal a market in major upheavalTOP 100: CGI Federal’s Stephanie Mango on navigating Trump’s ‘dynamic environment’TOP 100: How Serco Inc. uses its pivot to position for Trump prioritiesStrategic disciplin

The U.S. defense landscape has a few mainstays whose corporate headquarters are in another country and the reverse is very much true as well regardless of geopolitical and economic conditions.But the ongoing tariff turbulence stemming from the Trump administration does pose questions about why international companies are still looking at the U.S. as a key market to grow their defense businesses.Lauren Williams, a senior editor focused on technology and business at our partner publication Defense One, joins for this episode to lay out some of the answers she has found so far and how receptive the Pentagon customer is to this trend.Lauren also tells our Ross Wilkers where, again with what she has found so far, tariffs fit into the equation of the global defense industrial landscape. Agenda item number two for their discussion is the future of the Defense Information Systems Agency as it prepares to lose as much as 10% of its workforce.Made in the USA: foreign defense companies eye bigger slice of the American p

As Trump’s White House sees things, the General Services Administration should take on substantially all of the responsibility for managing the federal government’s acquisitions of goods and services.Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for GovExec’s publications including us, and WT’s editor Nick Wakeman broke the story on May 21 of how GSA is planning to absorb major IT contracts run by the National Institutes of Health and NASA.That and GSA’s other moves down the consolidation path are the starting and ending points for this episode featuring Frank, Nick and Ross Wilkers that covers the wide spectrum of changes across the entire GovCon ecosystem happening as they recorded.The Federal Acquisition Regulation overhaul effort and what today’s world of government-industry engagement looks like were also on their discussion agenda, among other items.WT 360: Clear themes to note from the emerging structural changes to acquisitionWT 360: Our EIC Frank Konkel on GSA, Google and the government as a single whole customerInd

Golden Dome is the U.S.’ newest ambitious attempt to create a multi-layered defense system for protecting the mainland from incoming ballistic, hypersonic, cruise and other types of missiles.Audrey Decker, who covers the Air Force and Space Force for our partners at Defense One, has covered Golden Dome from multiple angles as ideas for it have emerged since President Trump’s January executive order to get working on it.Audrey joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to provide an update on how the Defense Department, especially Space Force, is working on the vision for Golden Dome and what it needs to become a reality.Software will be paramount in making Golden Dome happen, as Audrey explains from what government and industry officials have told her. How contractors are making their pitch to be part of the Golden Dome program is also on the agenda for Audrey and Ross.Industry eyes ‘wicked hard’ Golden Dome space interceptor challengeGolden Dome push sets stage for telecom battle over spectrum accessTrump to ge

Specifics of what the structural changes to how the federal government buys goods and services for industry remain under construction, but companies now have some clear themes from that push to work into their strategies.Tris Carpenter, general manager for strategic growth at Red Team Consulting, worked with his colleagues on an analysis of seven themes in particular that companies doing business with the government should look for.As Carpenter explains to our Ross Wilkers in this episode, the FAR overhaul effort introduces some risk into the system that contractors and their government customers have not historically had to navigate.But with some prep work, companies of all shapes and sizes can find success. Long-time players, aspiring new entrants and others in between have something to gain.Trump administration releases first wave of acquisition regulation changesTrump orders structural changes to rules covering $1T in federal spendingPlan for sweeping FAR changes nears releaseFAR overhaul: The challenges

The pace of change is accelerating in the market, which means we can always take a step back to understand where those changes have come from and how that drives business activities.Bill Wright, head of global government affairs at Elastic, joins for this episode to explain how the fundamentals of the Trump administration’s approach to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity line up with those from the Biden Administration.Yes many things are different, but several others are not as well. For Wright, this shows just how critical cyber and AI are to the federal government. As he tells Editor Nick Wakeman, the Trump administration is looking to expand the government's AI and cyber strategy with a greater emphasis on commercial technology.And of course, speed and efficiency are key points Wright addresses too. As he explains, understanding where customers have come from and where they want to go is step one in finding growth opportunities across today’s market.Here are the tech takeaways from Trump’s budget pr

In typical times, there is no going back after an agency tells a company their contract is being terminated for convenience of the government, which starts a settlement process cycle.But this episode featuring Jeff Shapiro, government contracting advisory and regulatory assurance partner at CohnReznick, serves as a reminder that these are not typical times in GovCon.As Shapiro explains to our Ross Wilkers, contractors have a Yes/No question of whether or not to go back to work after a termination reversal. If the answer is Yes, a new cycle begins that Shapiro talks through in detail.The General Services Administration’s push to centralize much of civilian procurement under its roof features in part two of their discussion.Trump orders structural changes to rules covering $1T in federal spendingGSA to ‘quadruple' in size to centralize procurement across the governmentProactive responses to termination for convenience or stop-work ordersYour contract termination has been reversed. Now what?

Google set off quite the reaction when the tech giant’s offer to discount its cloud-based productivity suite at 71% for all federal agencies was accepted by the General Services Administration, on behalf of those agencies.Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for all GovExec publications including WT, went under the hood of that agreement and joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to take listeners there as well.As Frank explains: this pact unique because it essentially treats the federal government as a single whole customer. The agreement also foreshadows more like it to make certain commercial technologies more accessible for federal agencies.Naturally, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency also feature in the conversation between Frank and Ross.

The nature of mergers and acquisitions in the government market is changing and our 2024 roundup of closed transactions further illustrates that evolution toward technology-enabled capabilities, which are largely driven by software.Jean Stack and John Song, co-managing directors of the defense and government practice at the investment bank Baird & Co., join for this episode to discuss what drove transactions over the past year and what they expect in the year ahead.A new administration in the White House means there is plenty of change and uncertainty in the market.But as Stack and Song told Editor Nick Wakeman, these fundamentals of M&A activity will not change:Artificial intelligence, cloud and software-defined solutions are in hot demandPrivate equity buyers will continue to drive volumeStrategic buyers, including the public companies, will remain pickyAlso listen out for their predictions on how the coming year will shake out.

Public company acquirers (unicorns) certainly get everyone’s attention, but our 2024 M&A Roundup shows how the private equity collective continues to be the majority buyer and builder of midsized GovCon businesses over the years.Greg Nossaman and Greg Woodford, co-founders and managing directors at their investment bank G Squared Capital Partners, join this episode to review PE’s past and present activity in the market.The Gregs’ conversation with our Ross Wilkers then shifts to the future of private equity in GovCon and the questions on many business leaders’ minds highlighted by these two:How do I go about searching for a PE firm to back my company? What does PE look for in its investments?