Interview with Dennis Padilla

June 30 2009

Dennis Padilla is SMI's Senior Business Advisor and has over 30 years of government contracting experience.

Tell us a little about your background? How did you get started in your career?

I actually got started in Government contracting when I was in school. My college had a work-study program for business administration students with a nearby NASA research center. When not in class, I worked part-time as a contracts specialist in their procurement office. Later, I converted to a full-time position upon graduation. In those days, I had vague aspirations about owning my own enterprise and viewed federal employment as a temporary adventure. Thirty-two years later I was still a fed.

How has your transition been from the public to the private sector?

I'm situated much closer to my customers now, and that's a pleasant change. I spent much of my time in Government as a manager which naturally distanced me from the firms with which we were dealing. Now I work directly with clients who provide almost instant feedback as to the effectiveness of the strategies we apply to their federal projects. It’s a much more focused environment that I find suits me well.

What issues have you worked on for SMI clients?

I've worked on all the types of things you might expect such as preserving data rights, preparing for an audit, constructing indirect rates, clause interpretation, etc. But the area I deal with the most is simply explaining how government business processes work. Many of our clients are doing business with the government for the first time and the process can seem bewildering at times. I never thought government procurement looked so confusing when I was a part of it, but standing on the outside, as I do now, I can see how some government procurement practices appear to be rather mysterious. I spend considerable time trying to "de-mystify" those processes for our customers.

What is the key to writing a successful proposal to the federal government?

I always thought the best proposals I reviewed were the ones that seemed to understand what the strains and challenges were for the Government program manager. If you know what problems the other guy is facing and can put those concerns to rest in your proposal you usually come out a winner. Of course, knowing all that is the real trick and requires genuine insight into the given program.

How do you see the future of doing business with the federal government in terms of challenges and opportunities? What advice would you give a company hoping to do business with the government?

The biggest immediate challenge I see is the need to work with the relatively lean contracting staffs in federal government. The federal acquisition workforce has been reduced by over 50% from what it was in 1990. In addition to the reduced numbers, the folks that were not hired 15-20 years ago would today form the "varsity team" in most procurement organizations - but they're not there. That level of experience can't be re-acquired overnight and, in the meantime, the existing procurement professionals are greatly over burdened. This is universally true across government. Consequently, we are going to have to help our clients be more knowledgeable going into new contracts because the government simply doesn't have the staff to properly guide new contractors along.

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