Article by Aaron Aupperlee | Kalamazoo Gazette
Monday September 14, 2009, 8:06 AM
SOUTH HAVEN -
 Toward the end of August, Greg Fones met with a general at the Pentagon. Fones wants to sell wash racks to the military.
A few days later, Fones sat down to lunch with federal prison officials.
"We're trying to sell them soup," he said.
Fones is the sole force behind Grand Strategy LLC, a one-man firm that marries his consulting, contract-brokering and administering skills with businesses that would like to grow by working with governments and partnering with a disabled veteran.
Fones scours government Web sites for contracts that are up for bid. He then partners with companies to fill those contracts and compete for the business.
"Our mission is to find good companies in Southwest Michigan that we can help grow," Fones said.
Fones is a service-disabled veteran of the Vietnam War, and his injuries make him an attractive choice to state and federal governments looking to partner with diverse business partners.
"Being an Army Ranger, you're always pretty confident," Fones said. "You believe you can do anything."
And he has been doing well.
In his first eight months of business, from May to December 2008, Fones landed one major contract, to sell bulldozers and excavation equipment to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The contract was worth about $450,000. During the second eight months of business, from January to now, he has been able to sign two $1 million-plus contracts. Business, he said, is starting to take off.
"We're at the point right now where we need a full-time secretary," he said, speaking of him and the companies he partners with. "We're pretty optimistic. The future is bright."
Doug Spade, a consultant for the Department of Management and Budget's Supplier Diversity Program said there are about 20 service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses in southwestern Michigan. Most contract with the state to sell the products they manufacture. Fones takes a different approach.
He finds government contracts and then finds companies that can fill them. He acts as a manufacturers' representative for the company and pitches the government on the work they do. The government signs a contract with Grand Strategy, then Grand Strategy works with companies to fill the contract.
Fones handles all the government paperwork, makes sure products and services are delivered on-time and pursues other avenues for the company to find business. He is the company's sales force and develops his own marketing materials.
Fones puts a small mark-up on the bid he makes to the government to cover his work and expenses. Depending on the size of the contract, he said, the mark-up varies between 4 percent and 10 percent.
Vietnam service
In 1972, the day after he graduated from Washington State University, Fones received a letter from the government asking him to report for induction into the military. Later that year, he found himself trudging through Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Army Ranger's 75th Infantry.
After the war, Fones went to work building nuclear power plants in the Pacific Northwest. He used GI Bill money to take nuclear engineering classes and worked as a consultant in the nuclear power industry for 15 years.
During the war, Fones lost 30 percent of his hearing in both ears. He also walks with a slight limp because of the strain on his knee. His injuries qualify him for service-disabled veteran status, and after learning of special provisions made by the state and federal government to help businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, Fones decided on a career change.
"It was a slow haul, but the state of Michigan has been unbelievably great," he said.
And the state's efforts to help service-disabled veterans has gained national recognition.
Michigan honored
In August, the National Veteran-Owned Business Association and Vetrepreneur magazine recognized Michigan as one of the best states for service-disabled veterans to do business.
In 2008, the Michigan Legislature increased the goal of state contracts awarded to service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses from 3 percent to 5 percent. Businesses owned by service-disabled veterans also receive a 10 percent price preference in bidding on state contracts, meaning their bids can be up to 10 percent higher than others and still be considered the low bid.
During the first nine months of fiscal year 2009, the state awarded $31.4 million in contracts to service-disabled- or disabled-veteran-owned businesses, according to the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. In contrast, in 2006, the state awarded $1.8 million in contracts to disabled vets.
About 95 percent of the contract awards stayed in the state, according to DLEG.
This year, Fones has partnered with a Michigan-based aggregate company and a dehydrated soup company from Grand Rapids.
Grand Strategy started doing business in May 2008. When the Legislature increased the goal for the amount of contracts awarded to service-disabled veterans, Fones said he saw a dramatic increase.
When the time comes to hire, he said he will first look to fellow disabled and service-disabled veterans. |
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