 |
|
|
 |
 |
Matchmaker, matchmaker: Attorney weaves strategic alliances between small firms,
industry giants
by Jerry Shottenkirk
The Journal Record
2/16/2005
It took Phil Busey a couple of decades to find his true calling.
Busey, an attorney who heads The Busey Group in northwest Oklahoma City, is a
Native American whose success came when he found a blend of pride in heritage
and the drive to help the little guy - the small businessman who doesn't always
have someone in his corner.
The Busey Group umbrella covers Busey Resource Group, Delaware Resource Group
and First Eagle Enterprises. And the five-year-old enterprise is booming.
Simply put, Busey is a matchmaker.
"My goal is to line up small companies with large corporations to form strategic
alliances because they are very important in the government contracting world,"
said Busey, a graduate of Classen High School, Oklahoma City University and
OCU's law school.
The former adjunct
faculty member at OCU Law School took his big chance in 2000
and formed The Busey Group. He had designs on helping small businesses and
Native American businesses realize that they are in demand by huge corporations.
Busey helps small business, tribal governments, Native American and
veteran-owned companies find a path to success through receiving services for
minority contracting alliances.
Busey's companies began with $59,000 in annual revenue. Today, the gross revenue
has reached $7.5 million.
"I've practiced law in Oklahoma for almost 28 years, and for the first 20 I was
with very large firms, representing primarily large financial institutions," he
said. "I grew up as a member of the Cherokee Nation, and by blood I'm Delaware.
I got interested in working with small minority businesses in the early 1990s
and felt like they weren't getting the opportunity to have some of the
representation and opportunities that large corporations have."
His interest in government programs began in 1993.
"I started working with Society Asset Management Corp. as outside counsel on a
project," he said. "It's based in Cleveland, Ohio, and a subsidiary of Society
Bank. I was hired to put together a Native American partnership for them to make
investments with tribal governments. That was one of the first experiences I had
with tribes. In that case, I wasn't representing a tribe or a Native American
company, I was representing a bank. I began to see the passion I had to work
with small business and Native American companies, and started doing more in
that area."
Busey took his shot in 2000.
"On a leap of faith, I started my own company," he said. "I'd been encouraged to
do that for some time but I never really took the step. With a family I was
always concerned about long-term success. But we did it anyway. We started with
very little capital and I really wouldn't have done it any other way.
"I started with myself, one office and one telephone," he said. "My first focus
of Busey Resource Group, the first company I founded, was to provide business
consulting support for small businesses."
Tribes have been tied mostly to the gaming industry. That's fine, Busey said,
but added there's much more. That goes for businesses as well as tribes.
Since many government contracts require a contractor to spend 20 cents of every
dollar on a minority small business as a subcontractor, the door is wide open.
"Prime contractors like Boeing and Lockheed need to have those minority
relationships to actually be able to win the contracts they're seeking," Busey
said. "The goal is, of course, under those federal regulations, is that those
dollars get pushed down to those private sector small businesses. The
opportunities are huge."
Busey played a winning hand from the start.
In 2000, he met Boeing Aerospace's Patrick Moore at the Oklahoma Minority
Supplier Development Conference, and Moore showed an interest in the service
Busey's company provided.
"The concept was that by creating a long-term relationship with Boeing, we could
transfer Boeing employees to our payroll, doing virtually the same thing they
were doing at Boeing, but then contract them back to Boeing."
It has worked for other companies as well.
Under the Department of Defense Indian Incentive Program, prime contractors
using a Native American subcontractor are eligible for a 5 percent cash rebate
from the Department of Defense, equal to the amount of the subcontract.
"Our first target contract was the AWAC-E3 mission crew training contract at
Tinker Air Force Base," he said. "We had to match Boeing's benefits seamlessly
because it was a collective bargaining agreement. That was everything - 401(k),
health care plan, long-term and short-term disability. In return, Boeing
received its 5 percent minority preference and reduced its internal cost."
The same strategy has helped other companies as well, not just Busey's Delaware
Resource Group, which has 117 employees. Consulting has become big business for
Busey.
"I found the E3 contract to be a useful model to go out to other small
businesses and encourage them to reach out and offer solutions to large prime
contractors," he said. "There are many good companies in Oklahoma that have much
to offer. The problem is that large corporations and small businesses are like
two ships passing in the night. You have a company in Clinton and a large prime
contractor, and they just don't get together."
Now is a good time for small businesses - minority or otherwise - to see what
the government contracts can bring.
"There's a lot of downward pressure from the (Bush) administration to
outsource," Busey said. "With the war in Iraq, the focus of the budget is
material and equipment for troops. Budgets are reduced and that causes
consolidation."
Busey's companies have helped several companies line up government jobs.
"There's a real need for that in rural Oklahoma," he said. "And it would
surprise you to see how many companies here can help and improve themselves. We
did it for ourselves, now we want to do it for others."
Jerry Shottenkirk reports on energy, health care, city government and social
issues. You may reach him by phone at 278-2838 or by e-mail at
jerry.shottenkirk@journalrecord.com.
|
|
|
5721 NW 132nd Street
OKC, OK 73142
Ph: 405.721.7776
Fax: 405.721.7779 |
|
|
|
 |
