CHAMBERSBURG, PA – Third quarter 2009 U. S. Government Printing Office (GPO) numbers indicate that printers are continuing to offset work lost in the private commercial sector with work gained through the U. S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and other government markets.
The number of print suppliers obtaining GPO work during the third quarter of 2009 (July through September) was 1,198 compared to 1,182 during the second quarter of 2009 and 1,112 during the first quarter. The value of the work awarded during the third quarter was $105,869,763 compared to $106,830,667 for second quarter of 2009 and $77,771,624 for the first quarter. During the 4th quarter of 2008, the GPO awarded work valued at $105,293,322 to 1,263 private sector printers.
"We are finding increased interest among print suppliers in doing government work because commercial work is slowing as the private sector is printing less to trim budgets," said Deborah Snider, senior vice president of Government Print Management, a division of e-LYNXX Corporation. Established in 1975, Government Print Management has grown to become the largest government print management firm in the United States.
"We have participated in more than 2 million projects awarded by federal, state and local governments, and we have helped print suppliers win more than $5 billion in profitable government business. So, we do pay very careful attention to government markets," Snider added. "GPO work to private sector printers alone exceeds $420 million annually."
Snider said to be successful in government markets, print suppliers must view government work as a secondary market opportunity. This means, she said, that the printer continues to serve commercial clients but looks for production schedule openings when government work can be done. By filling gaps in the production schedule, the staff remains productive, equipment is fully utilized and revenue continues to flow.
"The major adjustment for most printers that begin government work is accepting the reality that the government typically looks for the lowest bid among qualified printers. That, however, is an opportunity because to produce a job for less is better than to not produce a job at all," Snider explained. "Our clients are improving their bottom line profitability from an industry average of 3% to an impressive 17% or more by filling their otherwise unused capacity, even when these additional fill projects are sold at prices reduced by 25% to 50% or more. It just makes good business sense to do work for a lower fee than to do no work at all."
The other challenge for printers entering the government market is understanding layers of procedures, rules and regulations. Of the 400 active GPO print suppliers, the most successful use a government print management firm that provides full representational services, accurate information, market intelligence, past price histories, and access to all available GPO solicitations. A government print management firm assists clients with paper work handling, specification interpretation, proposal preparation, bidding process management, assistance through the production process, change order negotiation, invoice preparation and collection, and cutting through the government red
