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Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Burpee, right, listens as Phil Busey, chairman and CEO
of the Busey Group of Companies, talks during a question-and-answer session of a
business summit Tuesday (APRIL 3rd, 2007) at Oklahoma City University. Photo by
Jennifer Pitts of the Journal Record. Photo provided by the Journal Record.
Officials offer keys for healthy military-business partnership
By Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record
April 4, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY – The days of $300 hammers are gone.
For Oklahoma businesses and military bases to work together and thrive, one key
will be avoiding the staggering price tags of the past for items supplied to the
military, the former commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center said Tuesday.
Retired Lt. Gen. Richard Burpee said when he came to Tinker Air Force Base in 1983,
the base was paying contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing $1,500 for coffeepots
and more than $900 one time for a plastic cap for the bottom of a navigator’s stool
in an airplane. He said the cap cost 35 cents to make.
“The persons who were really responsible were those of us who worked at Tinker,”
he said. “In those days everything was sole-sourced. We only competed 10 percent
of our products.”
But Burpee said the large original equipment manufacturers are often criticized
because of high overhead although they must write those costs into the price of
every product supplied to the military.
Burpee said the solution to helping small businesses while keeping the costs to
the military down is for a small business to partner with an original equipment
manufacturer.
“The large companies, or OEM’s, would do the engineering and quality control and
the small business would manufacture and ship direct to Tinker and save huge overhead
costs,” he said. The OEM’s would maintain the quality of the product while also
giving small businesses access to big contracts. “Most OEM’s subcontract anyway.”
Burpee said, however, that it can be a long bumpy road for small businesses hoping
to supply their wares to the military. He said he is often asked by small business
owners how to do business with Tinker.
“My short quick smart answer is you’ve got to be lucky,” he said. “You’ve got to
be lucky because the buyers out at Tinker are very conservative people, they believe
in their country and in the weapons systems they’re maintaining, and so when they
put their name on the line to purchase a part or a piece of equipment they want
to make sure that equipment is going to do what it’s designed to do.”
But businesses are not alone when hoping to move through the proper channels to
offer their wares and services to the military.
Tinker has a Small Business Office, in operation since 1971, devoted to helping
those businesses gain access.
The goal of the office is to place a fair share of procurement money with small
businesses as well as those owned by women and minorities.
“Our office is the go-to point or the first stop for any company, large or small,
seeking to do business with Tinker Air Force Base,” said Denise Stice, Small Business
Office director. “We offer advice, council, and guidance to companies wanting to
pitch their core capabilities or marketing strategies to us.”
Stice said the office offers its services free of charge to any company seeking
business opportunities with Tinker.
In 2005, Tinker estimated it spent $5 billion between large and small businesses
for goods and services. Large businesses accounted for about $4.2 billion while
small businesses took in more than $500 million between sales to Tinker’s Air Logistics
Center and the 72nd Contracting Squadron.
Phil Busey, chairman and CEO of the Busey Group, which works in several areas, including
advising small businesses, said the key to helping Tinker and small businesses is
to keep as much of Tinker’s business in the state as possible while also supporting
the OEMs.
He said one problem is that 70 to 75 percent of Tinker’s budget goes out of state
because of the companies’ contracts.
Busey said another key issue is supporting large companies to spur local growth
– and keeping those companies here and the base open.
Tinker has so far been spared from recent base closures nationwide.
“It is important to focus on the large OEMs,” Busey said. “But they’re here because
of Tinker. If Tinker moves or that operation is consolidated, I guarantee you that
in a heartbeat they will be there and not here. It’s important for us to focus on
the businesses in Oklahoma that can do business with Tinker and the aerospace community.”
Burpee said OEMs would likely welcome companies shipping their products directly
to the base. He said companies large and small should be credited for their contributions
and helping to avoid huge markups for their products.
The discussion about Tinker was part of a panel discussion during the Expanding
Oklahoma’s Economy conference at Oklahoma City University hosted by the university
and the Busey Group of Companies.
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OKC, OK 73142
Ph: 405.721.7776
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