Newly emerging federal programs, which seem to be materializing with increasing frequency, include:

• The War on Terrorism (primarily located within the US Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense)
• The Reconstruction of Iraq
• NASA's Return to the Moon and Beyond

Emerging programs, such as those listed above, are favorite topics for the national and the government-contracting press. Readers throughout the nation, and not just those located within the Washington Beltway, will find numerous articles devoted to the new programs and the dollars dedicated to these initiatives. Such programs appear, on the surface at least, to be ideal targets for new federal contracting business. Don't be lured into jumping into these markets without first doing your homework.

There are inherent drawbacks to chasing business within the new agencies. The management found within the new programs and their respective agencies is often sparse and overtaxed. Many members of the management team do not have experience in their new area of employment.

Competition is incredibly intense. Businesses flock to new programs in the hope of getting their hands on the new money. For example, the US Department of Homeland Security received over 12,000 proposals from companies located throughout the country - most or all of which professed to be the solution to the fight against terrorism. Many of these proposals have gone unread. Conferences held by prime contractors doing business in Iraq and looking for subcontractors to assist on their projects draw attendees in the thousands.

Large prime contractors are winning most of the work handed out under the new programs. The work is awarded to these companies because, among other reasons, the prime contractors often have the special qualifications needed to perform the work. For example, a company hoping to win business in Iraq must provide its employees with death/injury insurance coverage, its employees must have the necessary security clearances, and the employees selected to work on the project must be multilingual.

New program business is highly visible and exciting. However, it is not as attainable as you would think or as the new agency or the federal government would like you to believe. Ask yourself the following questions before jumping into the new program fray:

• Are we already doing business with the agency responsible for the new program?
• Does our company have a strong relationship with anyone in the new agency?
• Do we have a strong relationship with a prime contractor doing business with a new program agency?
• Do we have a way of getting through the intense flak surrounding a new program?
• Do we offer truly unique capabilities to assist in implementing the new program or are we deluding ourselves into thinking our company does?

If your responses to the questions above are in the affirmative, focus your efforts on selling to people at the operating level in the new programs. If you cannot meet all of the prongs of the above-mentioned test, focus your federal sales dollars on the more established agencies.