Bob Mcdonnell

ExecutiveBiz recently had the pleasure of speaking with ex-Virginia Attorney General and current candidate for Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell.  In this ExecutiveBiz exclusive interview, McDonnell outlines his plans for ensuring Virginia’s energy independence and promoting the growth of Virginia’s small businesses, and highlights his political, military, and executive leadership experience.

ExecutiveBiz:  How do you plan to make Virginia a more business friendly state?

Bob McDonnell:  I think it starts with making sure we keep taxes and regulation and litigation low, strong right to work laws and great universities.  That’s the foundation of a business friendly environment.  Secondly I think it takes a lot of leadership.  I’ve got a Master’s degree in business.  I’ve worked for a Fortune 500 company, American Hospital Supply.  I’ve been a manager of a large state agency as Attorney General of Virginia and through that I’ve learned the importance of promoting small business entrepreneurship and bringing investment to Virginia.  I’ve laid out a number of specific plans that all start with promoting small business.  Virginia’s entrepreneurs generate about 75% of new jobs, so we’ve laid out a plan to cut down permitting time and planned great regulatory and tax incentives to help small businesses grow.  Secondly we’ve outlined plans to bring more tourism and film production to Virginia with some new incentives.  We also want to increase the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to create new tools to bring the larger corporations to Virginia, make us more competitive with our neighboring states and foreign countries.  I’ve outlined a significant proposal to generate a comprehensive energy plan for Virginia using all of our resources, coal and natural gas and nuclear, offshore drilling, alternative energy which I think will make Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast.  That’s what I’ve said that I think we can do.  We want to promote the agriculture industry a lot more.  It is still the largest industry in Virginia, nearly $80 billion.  I want to find foreign markets.  I want new trade offices in places like India and China to tap into new markets.  There are a number of things that I would like to do but we need to find . . . particularly those new innovators, those entrepreneurs that are doing everything from bio-fuels to aquacultures, some of the emerging technology industries in Virginia and find ways to promote those industries even better.

“I’m a candidate that understands the military – I’m a retired Army officer. I’m a candidate who has managed a Fortune 500 company. I’m a candidate with statewide elected experience…I was just endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business for my long-standing support of small business, entrepreneurs and innovators, with a lifetime “A” rating.”  — Bob McDonnell

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ExecutiveBiz:  Do you support efforts to make George Mason University a state supported, world class research institution?

Bob McDonnell:  Absolutely.  I’ve been there many times.  I’ve talked to Dr. Martin on several occasions.  I have been around the campus quite a bit and it has been an amazing success story over the forty years to go from a couple thousand students to over 30,000 students.  The new Prince William campus is an outstanding resource and has the potential to do what Virginia Tech has done with their Corporate Research Center down in Blacksburg with 150 start up companies.  There is a lot of intellectual horsepower at George Mason as well that can be transformed into great technology and biotech industry and I want to do everything we can to support that.  There is just tremendous opportunity there in northern Virginia.

ExecutiveBiz:  Virginia’s last Secretary of Technology, Aneesh Chopra is currently the Federal CTO.  What qualities will you look for in the next Secretary of Technology?

Bob McDonnell:  I want somebody who is a world-class innovator, who doesn’t get tied up with bureaucratic reasons why things can’t get done, somebody who understands small business development because that’s the way virtually all of those high tech companies in northern Virginia started and really began to grow.  I want somebody who is going to be an aggressive marketer and promoter of Virginia’s high tech industry to find new markets around the country and around the world for our technology industry.

ExecutiveBiz:  How do you plan to secure Virginia’s IT infrastructure from cyber attacks?

Bob McDonnell:  Well I’ve done some of that as Attorney General in order to find new laws against computer trespass and to cut down on all of the new 21^st century criminals; sexual predators, identity thieves, phishers, farmers and hackers.  We’ve passed a number of new laws over the last four or five years mostly at my request that really help to protect the industry.  We’ve spent a lot of time creating a task force with some of the large IT companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, MySpace and AOL to look at ways to reduce the opportunity for both cyber crime and also for sexual predators to use the internet to harm young children.  It’s vitally important to Virginia.  We are the home of the internet in America and I want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep the information revolution that’s really headquartered in Virginia – keep it strong.

ExecutiveBiz:  The federal government has plans to insource government contracting jobs, moving them from Virginia to DC and elsewhere.  How do you plan to protect these Virginia jobs?

Bob McDonnell:  The federal government is doing a lot of things that I don’t think are good for Virginia, namely introducing bills like Card Check, Cap and Trade, healthcare reform and unfunded mandates on business.  I think there are a lot of things that are destructive to the competitiveness of Virginia business that are coming out of Washington right now.  Overall I think we have the first or second highest per-capita investment of federal government dollars in Virginia, in large part because of the defense industry.  I think it really starts with tremendous political pressure or communication with our legislatures from Virginia in making sure that they are doing everything that they can in order to help Virginia stay strong and competitive and to keep these Virginia jobs here.  Overall we’ve done pretty well in the defense department realignment and we’ve done a lot, I think, to make sure we protect Virginia businesses without being overly against free and fair trade internationally.  The biggest thing is using the bully pulpit of the Governor’s office to fight to keep all of these Virginia jobs here.

ExecutiveBiz:  Leaders of the government contracting community have criticized the federal government for “poaching” government contracting jobs.  What do you think of the federal government taking high paying and high skilled jobs out of the private sector and moving them to Washington?

Bob McDonnell:  It is my belief that for most proprietary or commercial functions, the private sector can do much better than the government at any level.  This is because you’ve got the motive of profit, you’ve got private sector creativity, and you don’t have a lot of government regulations and bureaucracy that often hamstring the federal government.  I think it really comes down to where can the service best be performed and where can it be performed that gives the best value and the lowest cost to the taxpayer.  Sometimes there are reasons to do that for an interest of either national security or command and control that I think are understandable, but if you can get a better value at a lower cost in the private sector, I don’t think we ought to have the government competing with the private sector on things that are proprietary or commercial functions.

ExecutiveBiz:  Do you have any plans for driving the adoption of green technology in Virginia?

Bob McDonnell:  Absolutely.  I’ve got a comprehensive energy plan that among other things calls for the implementation of offshore drilling.  Virginia is supposed to be the first state in the nation to drill off of the Atlantic Seaboard in 2011.  We have a lease prepared for approval by the federal government.  Part of what I’ve done is to recommend that the proceeds of offshore drilling be sent 80% to transportation and the other 20% of that go to green energy research and tax credits for wind and solar and biomass.  I want to be able to create the incentives for those industries to create commercially viable technology.  Right now many of those technologies are not cost effective but I think that there is tremendous potential.  I just visited one of the most unique bio-fuel generation facilities in the country down in Southside Virginia that’s got a patented distillation process to turn switch grass and hearty sugarcane into a bio-fuel that can be turned into gasoline at an incredibly low cost.  That’s exactly the kind of industry we want to promote.  It’s carbon neutral.  It creates agricultural opportunities for Southside Virginia and it does a tremendous amount towards helping us more energy independent.

ExecutiveBiz:  You’ll be speaking to the Potomac Officer’s Club on September 10^th.  What do you want to tell Virginia’s contracting community?

Bob McDonnell:  I think I want them to know a couple of things; one is that they can count on me to be a business friendly Governor.  I’m a candidate that first of all understands the military – I’m a retired Army officer.  I’m a candidate who has managed a Fortune 500 company.  I’m a candidate with statewide elected experience.  I’ve been the Attorney General of Virginia for the last four years.  On a broader level I think it is important for them to know that have a long record of being friendly to business.  I was just endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business for my long standing support of small business and entrepreneurs and innovators, with a lifetime “A” rating.  When it comes to business issues I’ve got a long-standing record of supporting business and will continue that as Governor.  That’s important when it comes to this economy and these jobs.  I think it is very important to have a Governor that understands that we need to promote free enterprise.  We need to promote private-sector growth and we need to keep taxes, regulation and litigation to a minimum so that jobs can grow in Virginia.

Bill Ballhaus

Not only does DynCorp provide critical military infrastructure, they provide the human fuel.  An army marches on its stomach, and Bill Ballhaus and DynCorp will take on the Taliban by feeding and clothing a swelling number of U.S. troops in volatile Southern Afghanistan. This week saw the deadliest combat in the region since the Taliban was toppled in 2001, and the increased violence will bring more troops to the region, and more troops mean more business for DynCorp. How will DynCorp leverage these massive new contract awards into continued growth? Bill told ExecutiveBiz last month “Over the last year, we’ve doubled our liquidity. As a result, while our growth performance historically has largely been organic, we’ll be looking over the next year or two to add acquisitions to our future growth profile. We’ll specifically be looking at acquisitions as a way to address the strategic challenge of diversification.” What gets a patriot like Bill out of bed in the morning? “Never before have I worked at a company that had such a dramatic impact as DynCorp International does serving shoulder to shoulder with our partners. That’s why I come to work every day.” 

How do you Solve a Problem Like FISMA?

A recent GAO report cites 24 government agencies that have reported “numerous” pieces of lost or stolen sensitive information, including personally identifiable information like social security numbers and addresses, which has exposed millions of Americans to a loss of privacy, identity theft, and other financial crimes,” which is especially shocking when you consider that many of these agencies are Federal Information Security Management Act-compliant. Federal CIO Vivek Kundra has called FISMA “outdated” and “compliance-driven” as opposed to “outcome-driven,” a fundamental philosophy problem that causes government agencies to focus on administrative minutiae rather than real improvements to security. Will Kundra’s plan to shift the government’s focus from compliance to results? Time will tell.

Suzan Zimmerman of Qinetiq: Advice for Wartime Contractors:

1. Be the Government’s go-to source for your services.
2. Back up your presentation with results.
3. Lead with cutting-edge technology
4. Put the government’s needs first

With Qinetiq’s recent acquisition of cybersecurity firm Cyveillance, Qinetiq practices what Suzan preaches when it comes to staying on the cutting edge.

Was General Patton Assassinated?

A new book says he may have been.  Check out the story here and judge for yourself.

Gerry Connolly

Gerry Connolly (D) is the freshman Congressman from Virginia’s 11th District, including parts of Fairfax and Prince William Counties.  He replaced Tom Davis (R) after Tom’s retirement last year, and has some big shoes to fill as an advocate for the GovCon community.  Here are some highlights from our interview:

• I think there’s a looming personnel crisis, both in the demographic bulge of baby boomers getting ready to retire, and in the failure of the federal government to properly staff up for large procurement contracts.
• It’s easy to demonize a whole industry, but I don’t think it’s productive and I don’t think it’s fair.
• I don’t see federal contractors as anything but a resource for the federal government.
• Streamlining regulations is something Congress wants to do to level the playing field and rationalize the current process.

Check out the full interview here.

AT&T to Test Einstein 3 Cyber Initiative

Michael Chertoff

AT&T’s pilot program will test whether Einstein 3 can safely and effectively monitor only government agency networks and sidestep privacy concerns.

What’s the difference between Einstein 3 and earlier models? Michael Chertoff puts it in layman’s terms: “Intrusion detection is like a cop with a radar gun on a highway who catches you speeding or drunk and phones ahead to somebody at the other end.  Einstein 3 is a cop who actually arrests you and pulls you off the road when he sees you driving drunk.”

Michael Chertoff will address the Potomac Officers’ Club on July 16.  Click here to register.

GovCon Goes Green

There’s plenty of government green in green technology:

• SAIC and General Atomics are splitting $35 million in DARPA biofuel contracts, breeding algae that produce a substitute for jet fuel.
• Raytheon has saved $11 million in energy costs by increasing energy efficiency by 38% since 2002.
• Lockheed Martin is building a major solar power plant in Arizona that will power 73,000 homes and generate an estimated $1 billion in revenue

Tony Zinni

Tony Zinni on Smart Power

Tony Zinni, BAE’s CEO, is interested in “smart power,” the U.S. government’s nonmilitary efforts to improve economic and political stability in war-torn or dangerously dysfunctional countries.  Zinni said BAE’s smart power strategy will focus on “stabilization and reconstruction, and more balanced approaches to international and national security issues,” Zinni said.  As funding for large, costly weapons systems is cut from the DoD budget, “smart power” will become an increasingly important market to large defense firms.

War 2.0

Mossad reports that Israel would be allowed to fly through Saudi airspace it decides to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.  But will it have to?  An Israeli drill in the late ’90s established that military facilities could be literally destroyed through cyber infiltration, and an Air Force study has confirmed U.S. offensive cyber capabilities. Obama was right when he said “The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground,” because if a cyberattack is successful, it immediately becomes infinately scalable ammunition.

Recently we reported that Federal CIO Vivek Kundra planned on leveraging dashboards to further government transparency and accountability. In particular, Kundra envisioned a dashboard as a way to gauge the productivity of the US government’s $74 billion investment in federal technology projects. That vision has now become reality. Just yesterday, Kundra unveiled the US Federal IT Dashboard at the Personal Democracy Forum 2009 in New York City.

“This administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government and the IT Dashboard exemplifies that goal,” said Kundra in a statement. “Through the dashboard, we are putting critical information about IT spending at people’s fingertips. We are putting ourselves on the line for better management of taxpayers’ dollars and better results from technology initiatives.”

The most critical part of the IT Dashboard is its Investments page. There you’ll find reports on the overall performance of every major investment in the government’s IT portfolio. Performance is measured in terms of cost performance, schedule performance, and evaluation by agency CIO, with the overall score computed from those factors. For more details on the dashboard and how to navigate it, check out this 8-minute tutorial:

What do you think of the IT dashboard? Share your comments here.

Is she or isn’t she? In the weeks leading up to the release of the 60-day cyber security review, the question has been circulating: Is Melissa Hathaway, the Obama administration’s acting director of cyber security and chief author of the report, in the running for cyber czar? Some reports suggested yes, others no. Now Melissa Hathaway confirms she is indeed in the running. And she’s interested. “How could you do a 60-day review and not be interested in following through on what you recommended,” said Hathaway on Friday following a speech
before the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C., think tank.

How would Hathaway take on the role? She provided a few clues in her Friday talk. Strengthening cyber security, she stated, will take “improved dialogue” between the public and private sectors. “We need to start to build toward trust … in this area where I think there’s not enough trust,”  said Hathaway, as quoted by Computer World.

So, when will final word come? The president would announce his choice within “weeks,” said Hathaway.

Mary Beth Long

The recent release of the defense budget for 2010 makes one thing clear: With $61 billion requested for Iraq (versus $65 billion for Afghanistan), a shift in US priorities is underway. As the Obama administration looks to new challenges in Afghanistan and secondly, Pakistan, ExecutiveBiz recently caught up with Mary Beth Long, former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under the Bush administration. Long now has her own company, Mary Beth Long & Associates, PLLC, which provides legal and policy advice to defense and security companies. Here Long offers a snapshot on shifting priorities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and what they may mean for you.

Iraq: What’s next

When it comes to Iraq, this will be an interesting year for defense contractors for three reasons, says Long:

• Shifting political situation. Iraq’s political situation is in constant flux as different political parties, factions, and power centers assert — and align — themselves in preparation for the national elections coming up this fall. The elections will either see Malaki and his government reelected or the coalition that rules Iraq realigned.

• Disruption of power. The withdrawal and change of focus for US troops will cause a certain amount of disruption and power shifting, says Long. That, in turn, will have an impact on the security situation as well.
• Greater voice by Iraqis. The Iraqi government is increasingly looking to its own citizens and companies to take the lead in areas now undertaken by outside entities. Long calls this the “biggest change” afoot. “Private contractors in Washington who have aligned themselves with the US government or the coalition are going to be in for a rude awakening as Iraqis start insisting they take on these responsibilities,” says Long.  At the same time, Iraqis aren’t yet prepared for the task. “In the short term, the muddy security and political situation, combined with the lack of mature institutions, is going to make for a difficult road over the next year or two — maybe more,” says Long. That opens the door for a “nimble company” to help fill in the gaps, adds Long.

Afghanistan: What’s next

The situation in Afghanistan portends increasing reliance on US and foreign contractors, particularly as the US expands its role, says Long.

• Greater US role. “A certain amount of that will be undertaken by the US military,” says Long. That brings up the issue of military preparedness. “I don’t think that people have anticipated that the equipment, the personnel, and assets currently in Iraq are not going to be immediately transferable to Afghanistan; there is going to be a lag time,” says Long.
• Increasing reliance on contractors. “I don’t think that our government — either the State Department or the NGO communities — is sufficiently prepared institutionally to man and support a civilian surge,” says Long. “A lot of logistics, communications, transportation, and security issues will probably have to be undertaken by contractors,” she adds.

Pakistan: What’s next

It’s too early to assess the Obama administration’s approach to Pakistan, says Long. Still, a few areas are becoming clear:

• Dual Afghan-Pakistan policy. The Obama administration has been publicly talking about the previous administration’s dual Afghan-Pakistan policy. “The trick will be for this administration to find a way to implement their programs in a reasonable timeframe — and have the effects of that implementation felt by the Pakistani people,” says Long. “I think so far we haven’t seen those parts of Obama’s Pakistan plan,” she adds.
• Greater role by contractors. Like Afghanistan, Pakistan will require a greater role by contractors in nation-building. “There is no ability to implement and to actually operationalize the monies that the US government is contemplating providing to the Pakistanis,” says Long. Either the US military or government, or perhaps the United Nations, is going to have to provide that apparatus, she adds. “In any event there will be an increasing call on contractors for basic infrastructure types of services … transportation, communication, institution building, everything from A to Z in nation building,” says Long.

How can contractors help address shifting priorities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? Share your comments here.

Responding to recent budget changes from the new administration, government contractors like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are increasingly diversifying their national defense strategy to include civillian and business assets. The new administration’s defense budget includes major cuts to Missile Defense, Future Combat Systems and Navy shipbuilding operations, as well as killing controversial programs to build a new presidential helicopter and a new communications satellite system, delaying the development of a new bomber and includes only four more of the advanced F-22 fighter jets.

So how do traditional contracting giants like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman survive the cuts and continue growing? By branching out into at least three sectors in which the government has pledged to boost spending: Cybersecurity, Health IT, and Green Technology.

First, Lockheed is amping up their cybersecurity efforts with the creation of the Center for Cyber Security Innovation headed by Lee Holcomb. Northrop Grumman is offering a Cyber Warrior training course, that teaches techniques that hackers use and how to defeat them, how to combat spyware, and how to set up a secure wireless network, among other skills.

Second, Northrop Grumman has been in the business of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Health Information Networks (HINs) since before President Bush called for interoperable health databases back in 2004. Notable projects include the Defense Operational Environmental Health Readiness System (DOEHRS), designed to enhance occupational health care services and reduce health threats to military and civilian personnel.

Third, Lockheed has already begun cornforming to the rigorous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which it says will cut costs long-term through reduced energy and water bills, as well as act as effective recruiting tools, as employees are increasingly conscious of their office’s carbon footprint.

Bottom line: GovCon players in the DoD space will begin to shift focus toward  broad, non-military markets.

Larry Prior: Beltway Game Changer Moves to ManTech

Larry Prior

We called him a Beltway Game Changer in March, and now he’s President and COO of ManTech. A former Marine Corps Intelligence officer, he told us in ‘07 that Intel was “in [his] genes.” He takes a hands-on, team-first approach to management that paid big dividends at SAIC during his tenure as COO: increasing revenue to over $8 billion in the ‘08 fiscal year, up 11% from ‘07.

What does he attribute his success to? “People, people, people! …Our whole business is bringing talent to our customers to take on really tough challenges.” In his estimation, “aggressively marrying the best of science and technology with…deep domain expertise” can solve the toughest problems. This jives well with Chopra’s comments at HIMSS’s DC Conference last Friday, when he called for innovative IT solutions to the healthcare crisis.

His advice to small contractors: “First, think about your offering to the customer. What distinguishes you in terms of your understanding of that customer’s problem? How you are going to solve it with a service or technology? Then call me.” If his performance at SAIC is any indicator, that culture of platform-independence should give ManTech a leg up in earnings in the coming fiscal year.