EPA Small Business Contractor Success Story

1. EPA Small Business Contractor Success Story Prepared for: Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc. July 12, 2010

2. Agenda • Presenter • Fritz Meyer, P.E., Senior Vice President, Director of Federal Programs (410/527-2412; fmeyer@eaest.com) • EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc. (EA) Overview • Checklist for Success on Proposals

3. Company Overview • Environmental service firm founded in 1973 • Headquartered in Hunt Valley, MD • $90M annual gross revenue • Employee-owned • 460 multi-disciplinary staff • Full-service environmental capabilities • Water and Natural Resources • Compliance • Hazardous and Toxic Waste Remediation • Munitions Response

4. Nationwide Offices Syracuse, NY Fairbanks, AK Oswego, NY Deerfield, IL Newburgh, NY Lincoln, NE Seattle, WA Warwick, RI York, PA Hunt Valley, MD(Headquarters) Sparks, MD Yigo, Guam Edgewood, MD Baltimore, MD Albuquerque, NM Ocean Pines, MD Dallas, TX Honolulu, HI Washington, DC Houston, TX San Antonio, TX

5. Navy Air Force Coast Guard Air Force Installations EPA Air National Guard Department of Interior Army (NPS, USFWS, BLM) ORAP, HTRW, FUDS, BRAC, NOAA MMRP, Civil Works and Other DLA Army National Guard/NDNODS Federal Experience

6. Multidisciplinary Staff • 460 employees • 110 with advanced degrees • 80 with professional registrations—PEs, PGs, CIHs, CSPs, CHMMs • High staff retention rate—senior and mid-level professional staff average 10 years with EA

7. Revenues by Market Area 16%State 13%Private/Commercial 15%Municipal 30%Department of Defense 26%Federal Civilian

8. EA as an EPA Contractor • Won our first contract with EPA in 2005 • Region 6 Remedial Action Contract • Prime, NAICS 562910 • 5-year base ($150M) with 5-year option ($150M) • Won our second and third contracts in 2007 • Region 3 Remedial Action Contract • Prime, NAICS 562910 • 5-year base with 5-year option ($60M) • Nationwide Targeted Brownfields • Sub to a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

9. EA as an EPA Contractor • Selected for the “Fiscal Year 2006 Administrator’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishment by a Small Business”

10. Checklist for Success on Proposals • Prior to Solicitation Issuance: • Identify the opportunity • Look through the EPA Forecast Database for targets • Attend the EPA Contractors Forum and other conferences • Do your homework on the specific opportunity • Find the previous solicitation package • Talk to incumbents • Look at the types of work being performed under the existing contract • Get the answer to “What are they worried about?”

11. Checklist for Success on Proposals • Prior to Solicitation Issuance (continued): • Give capabilities presentations tailored to the needs addressed in the specific solicitation • Just showing up isn’t good enough—you’d better have the goods to support EPA’s program • Form a Team, Joint Venture, Mentor-Protégé to fill the “holes” you discover

12. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Prior to Solicitation Issuance (continued): • Develop a Capture Strategy • Start at least a year before you believe the solicitation will be released • Remember—with Federal, always a little patience • Identify: • Procurement information • Client requirements • Client’s environment • Develop your theme and discriminators • Your holes and fill them with a • Team, Joint Venture, Mentor-Protégé

13. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Proposal Preparation: • Proposals: Always include information that is: • Relevant—tailored to what the government wants, eliminate marketing “fluff” • Compelling—ask yourself the question “So what!?” • Solutions-based—don’t just tell them what you did • Tailored to the outline of the solicitation and responsive to what it asks—don’t make the evaluators have to search for your answers • Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the appropriate government official—you will probably find inconsistencies within the solicitation • Remember the answer to “What are they worried about?” and provide solutions to their worries

14. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Proposal Preparation (continued): • Organize! You only have so much time. • Read the entire solicitation and outline your response to answer everything that is required—you can’t have any holes • Have a kickoff meeting: • Identify your response team organization • Ensure that they have the authority to get it done • Prepare a schedule for the response, reviews, production and delivery • Have a backup delivery system—there are no excuses for being late

15. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Proposal Preparation (continued): • Kick off meeting (continued): • Storyboard your response • Title, page allowance, theme/discriminators with validations, graphics, font/size restrictions, lead paragraph, author • Identify “holes” and “fill” them • Independent review (Red Team) of 90% draft response • Allow time for Red Team recovery • Final production • Compliance review • Pick someone that is very detail-oriented

16. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Proposal Preparation (continued): • Deliver the proposal • Understand the delivery requirements at the facility—they may be a lot more difficult than you think • Celebrate your win • Win or lose, ask for a debrief immediately • You get more information from a Post-Award debrief than from a Pre-Award

17. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Setup for a Successful Recompete: • You won! Now deliver: • a quality product • on time • at a fair and reasonable price • while keeping everyone safe • within the contract terms and conditions • to the ethical standards of EPA and your company

18. Checklist for Success on Proposals(continued) • Ask for interim performance evaluations • Beg to get them on a regular basis so you can implement timely corrective actions • Yearly NIH Performance Evaluation • Your evaluation is critical to your success on future proposals • Past Performance evaluations typically count as 25% of your score on Federal solicitations

19. Why You Should Want to Proposeto EPA • It’s a level playing field; you’ll be evaluated on what you put between the covers of your response and your past performance evaluations • You’re dealing with professionals—their contract administration and technical staff know what they’re doing • The rules of engagement are clearly defined; you won’t be surprised if you read the solicitation

20. Why You Should Want to Proposeto EPA • They’ll let you know how to improve your proposal response for the next time • And if you should be so lucky as to win a contract with them, all of the above bullets apply to your contract execution; plus, they pay on time!