The legwork on Guam may be done but many prime contractors for the Guam Navy Base Operations Services Support bid were still wary of disclosing details that might aid competitors. That was despite a deadline of June 22 to submit bids — six days before this article appeared.
A number of primes though maintaining cordial communication with the Journal declined to comment at length for this story or even confirm a bid. Contractors had 358 questions about the bid; there were six amendments as of June 10 but no extension was given.
• Kellogg Brown & Root has finished its Base Operating Support services proposal (See Related Story.). KBR was submitting as part of Pacific American Support Services a joint venture with CH2M Hill. KBR rented the former Raytheon office in the Bank of Guam building in Tumon for its bid preparation team.
KBR was viewed by BOS-watchers as a serious contender for the largest contract Guam has to offer millions worth of facilities management for the U.S. Navy. Aside from historical links to the island KBR is the Navy’s construction capability contractor and is due to complete in September post-Supertyphoon Ponsonga work begun on Dec. 20 2002. KBR has maintained solid relations with the business community joining the Guam Chamber of Commerce and the Guam Contractors’ Association and appearing at Rotary functions. Its executives have given regular interviews to the Journal and employees and the company have supported a variety of community endeavors. The company has had a working relationship with a number of local contractors through its construction capability project at the Naval base not least of all AmOrient Contracting managed by John M. Robertson two-term president of the contractors’ association. During the phase-in the incoming contractor is expected to occupy the offices KBR is using for construction capability management which can hold about 30 to 40 people. KBR previously expressed interest to the Journal in the Guam Waterworks Authority privatization contract and privatization of the Port of Guam.
• Journal sources said DynCorp operating as DynPacific Services LLC should be viewed as another frontrunner for the contract. CSC DynCorp Technical Services BAE Systems and Trend Western Services formed DynPacific for the contract. Mark White senior director of communications for DynCorp declined to comment on the proposal. He said on June 16 “Even though the proposal is due June 22 the information is still sensitive until the award is made which is much later. Our marketing plans and strategy are also sensitive and it is not our policy to advertise such information.” White said DynCorp would answer questions after the contract was awarded.
Kay S. Diekemper senior contracts manager for DynCorp in Fort Worth Texas visited the island for the mandatory BOS conference and site visits between May 4 and 6. She told the Journal on May 17 “I was extremely impressed by the caliber of the small businesses on Guam. The site visit conducted by NAVFAC was informative and certainly helped me appreciate the magnitude of the work under the planned BOS contract. However I am concerned over the condition of many of the facilities.”
Other prime contractors considered in the running are AECOM-Shaw Associates Day & Zimmerman and Jacobs Sverdrup.
• AECOM-Shaw maintains an office in the GCIC building retaining as consultant Jerry Rhoads former registrar for five years of the Guam Contractors Licensing Board. It has formed partnerships with Cabras Marine MTO Maintenance Able Industries and Fleet Services as well as the University of Guam. Projects the company is interested in it told the Journal in February include “any and all upcoming privatization RFPs or invitations to bid.” The company would be expected to joint venture as appropriate on such projects.
• Day & Zimmerman originally discussed forming a joint venture with KBR and were then said to be in discussion with Parsons. Neither Day & Zimmerman nor Parsons commented for this article. Day & Zimmerman contacted local companies as close to the date of the bid as June 11. and Griffin Technology was also said to be joining the filed late. Day & Zimmerman like DynCorp and KBR were among about 20 attendees at the Jan. 17 Guam Defense Logistics Agency pre-bid conference for that one-year contract with two annual options.
Raytheon Technical Services (Guam) holder of the BOS contract is not bidding.
Following the Journal’s breaking that news (See “BOS competitors given rules; Raytheon will not bid ” in the May 17 edition of the Journal.) Daniel F. Nussberger program manager at Raytheon e-mailed all employees on May 21. He said “It has yet to be determined if Raytheon will compete for the contract. The company is carefully considering its options and plans to make a decision in the near future.” On June 8 Nussberger officially informed employees by e-mail that the company would not be submitting a proposal.
Raytheon employees have begun networking with other bidders in many cases responding to calls for resumés in the Journal’s pages or meeting in casual settings such as the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa’s Tree Bar. Nussberger said in his May 21 e-mail “ … although there are no guarantees it has been my experience through a number of contract transitions that 85% to 95% of the incumbent employees typically continue with the contract.”
In his May 21 e-mail Nussberger also corrected an error in the Journal’s story as did other contractors directly to the newspaper. The BOS contract will be awarded in December phase in on Jan. 1 2005 with implementation by April 1 2005. Other information was given in the Journal of May 17.
Coleen San Nicolas-Perez public affairs manager for Raytheon Guam said in a June 16 statement to the Journal “Raytheon will not be submitting a proposal for the U.S. Navy’s Guam Base Operation Support solicitation. Raytheon remains completely focused on providing superior performance under our existing contract. We are committed to our ongoing partnership efforts with the Navy and will continue to be focused on supporting the Navy in delivering quality services to our war fighters.
“Raytheon remains interested in potential business opportunities on Guam.” San Nicolas-Perez did not elaborate what those opportunities were or respond to an additional request for that information. Journal sources said Nussberger will cooperate fully with any incoming contractor and will have a list of assets he would like to sell.
Bruce C. Dunn vice president for Raytheon’s special programs visited Guam in mid-August 2003 to present to the Guam Waterworks Authority and a variety of civic bodies its solution for the agency’s woes. John F. Canney managing director of Municipal Advisors Group of Boston visited Guam lawmakers and water officials in November 2003. Canney’s company was to provide finances for the Raytheon proposal for the waterwork’s recovery. Public Law 24-295 required Raytheon be offered that work but the Consolidated Commission on Utilities wanted the project competitively bid. Daniel D. Swavely former board chairman of the waterworks authority under the Guttierez administration was the on-island consultant to Raytheon.
Raytheon Guam has had a mixed reception in the community and battled with a perception that the company did not deliver on expectations of work on the BOS contract for Guam companies. All communication with media is approved out of headquarters in Virginia and the company requested its subcontractors not to communicate with local media without approval. Raytheon employed a D.C. lobbying firm to attempt to avoid re-solicitation of the bid.
It has had a number of project managers during the contract life. Jim Hammond longtime No. 2 at Raytheon and former employee at the Navy Shipyard Repair Facility [predecessor to the Guam Shipyard] recently left the company. Raytheon is a member of the chamber and the contractors’ association and Nussberger is reportedly cordial in social relations with the community including those he meets on the golf course. Raytheon Guam accepted an invitation to appear in the 2003 Guam Business/Deloitte & Touche Top 50 Companies in Micronesia as did KBR.
In bid preparation the primes met with a variety of companies including communications companies health-care companies and banks. Contracting companies on Guam were approached to form exclusive relationships with bidders for the BOS contract. Journal sources said AECOM-Shaw was particularly keen for contractual partnerships. Like other primes AECOM-Shaw also formed various non-exclusive contracts with contractors.
DynCorp and Teaming for Guam individually retained the services of Clifford A. Guzman former director in the Gutierrez administration as consultant. Teaming for Guam a group of eight local companies marketed to prime contractors as a group. Its members are Advance Management Inc. Black Construction Corp. Global Food Services and Facilities LLC Kloppenburg Enterprises Inc. PCR Environmental Inc. Sanford Technology Group LLC S.E.T.-Pacific Inc. and Triple J Enterprises Inc. Advance Management S.E.T.-Pacific and Black Construction are subcontracting to Raytheon.
Monty M. McDowell president of Advance said “Any individual company could elect to team or not to team with the contractors.” Teaming for Guam met with KBR Johnson Control Jacobs Sverdrup Griffin Services Day & Zimmerman DynCorp and AECOM. He said Teaming for Guam members had non-disclosure agreements on what they had agreed with various prime contractors which they had met with both in Guam and in the mainland U.S.
The BOS contract has preoccupied Guam’s contracting community for months fueled by delays in the issuance of the RFP and the regular appearance of prime contractors to meet with the business community. Initial discussions centered on what the RFP would contain and whether certain services would be unbundled. The Small Business Office of the Office in Charge of Construction hosted a Navy Vendor Fair for small businesses to meet with various Navy buyers on June 17. In making the announcement organizers specifically asked the Journal to clarify the fair was in no way related to the bid.
Rumors have circulated: that prime contractors were soliciting resumés as part of the information gathering process; that Raytheon was not bidding in the hope that the Navy would continue with its services upon reception of other bids; that the Navy would rather not have many bidders for the BOS contract. It is also speculated that the Navy’s Pacific division will name bidders as part of a short list. MBJ
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