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Montana firms compete for war-related business
A few weeks ago, the government suggested duct tape and plastic as a low-tech answer to chemical and biological attacks.
That solution struck Billings engineer Ron Peery as downright dangerous.
By JAN FALSTAD
Of The Gazette Staff
"We were just dumbfounded by that," said Peery. "You might as well put your head in a plastic bag. It will take a bit longer, but it’s the same principle."
Peery is president of TJ Specialties & Environmental Inc., which has been selling large, three-chambered decontamination tents for mass casualties of a bio-chemical attack. After the national run on duct tape and plastic, Peery decided to make a smaller family-sized decontamination tent with a forced air and filter system that can be set up inside a home.
TJ Specialties is one of many regional companies seeing a boost in business as the war on terrorism escalates along with the war in Iraq.
President George W. Bush has asked Congress for a $75 billion down payment on the war. Add to that the estimated $20 billion per year it will take to rebuild Iraq and U.S. companies are competing for a huge federal jackpot.
Montana and regional companies would like a piece of that business.
Tents and banners
Peery’s big decontamination tents, being manufactured by Reliable Tent & Awning of Billings, sell for $2,500 each.
"You should be able to stay in there for days," he said. His six-person company doesn’t sell directly to the military yet, although it has obtained a hard-to-get purchase number from the General Services Administration. That regulatory approval makes landing federal contracts easier.
Another Billings company, Red Oxx Manufacturing., makes big red banners for the larger TJ Specialties tents.
Red Oxx manufactures high-quality gear bags and sells the "Haliburton," one of the most exclusive suitcases in the world. Call the company and you’ll hear the message, "Even James Bond carries a Haliburton."
Jim Markel, the owner of Red Oxx and a former military parachutist rigger, hasn’t seen his military orders jump in the build-up or continuation of war. He’s just happy that many travelers aren’t scared off by the war.
"We’ve pre-sold most of the spring line already after the sporting goods shows in Reno and Dallas," he said. "So, there’s no effect on us right now."
Law enforcement agents, including the FBI, are ordering a lot of specialty bags as they gear up for the Homeland Security push.
"They’re buying machine gun cases and shotgun cases and duffel bags for SWAT gear," Markel said.
Tribal business booms
Military orders have already beefed up work at one of the longest-running Indian businesses in Montana.
A&S Tribal Industries in Poplar employs 87 workers who manufacture metal storage and transportation chests.
Chief executive officer Leonard Smith said A&S received a $5 million contract over three years to ship the containers to federal agencies and the military.
The company already has produced half of all the orders over the full three-year contract in just six months.
"If it continues like this, we’ll have to get another contract," Smith said. The company may have to hire 45 more people and add a third shift.
The company also is in long-term negotiations with defense contractor Northrop Grumman. If that contract comes through, A&S will upgrade its equipment and train workers so their skills can be certified at an international quality standard.
If that goal is achieved by May, the plant in Poplar could start building high-end technology products for the defense industry.
Other business interests
In the state’s capital, Helena Industries has been shipping its wooden containers to federal agencies in the United States and to military posts in Germany and Afghanistan.
Another regional company that stands a good chance of landing some work from the war effort is Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho.
Missoula industrialist Dennis Washington is chief executive officer of the company, which specializes in cleaning up chemical contamination.
Jack Herrmann, vice president of corporate communications, said his corporation is among as many as seven applying for war-related work in Iraq.
The Washington Group already has a backlog of $4.2 billion in contracts spanning a decade, he said, so the work in Iraq work would be nice, but it’s not essential, Herrmann said.
He said his company, with 30,000 employees, is the largest contractor in the world working to demilitarize chemical weapons.
The company is destroying missiles in the former Soviet Union and decontaminating chemical depots or plants in Oregon, Arkansas and Alabama. The company just completed cleaning up the entire weapons stockpile on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
"We’ve got an interesting thing to offer and we want to play," he said about the Iraq contracts.
If Montana industries haven’t seen work from the military so far, they may not, according to David Gibson, the governor’s chief business officer.
Because Montana doesn’t have many manufacturing companies, the state doesn’t get much defense work, Gibson said.
The real economic effects of war on this state will be in the transportation sector, he said.
Gibson’s biggest concern is that the airline industry is getting hammered and is cutting staff and flights.
"If you live in Chicago, you’ve got options," he said. "We’re pretty much, I hate to say it, a captive state. If you do away with Northwest or Delta flights, that’s where we get hurt."
If overseas air travel drops off, however, Montana may benefit from tourists staying closer to home and taking car trips.
That depends on fuel prices.
"If, as a result of this war, gas prices spike to $2 a gallon or so, that will cut down on the amount of distance people travel," he said.
Jan Falstad can be contacted at (406) 657-1306 or at [email protected].
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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