Builders turn to defense

Architects, engineers and general contractors across the state are increasingly turning to the military to protect their pocketbooks.

They're reinforcing their pipelines with bids on military construction projects -- a possible savior for some as demand for privately financed construction sags.

Take SFL+a Architects. For more than a decade, the Raleigh firm has focused on public-school construction bids. Now it is taking aim at the military market, which currently accounts for 1 percent of the firm's business.

The government is expected to add at least 20,000 military personnel in the state in the next few years, according to the N.C. Military Business Center, a state-funded group that assists Tar Heel businesses win defense contracts.

The growth is expected to spawn up to $7 billion in military construction projects -- from armories to offices to warehouses to schools, housing and chapels -- at installations including Fort Bragg, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and Camp Lejeune.

SFL+a expects that in the next two years, defense deals will account for 15 percent of its work.

The shift comes as architects who focused on private-development projects in recent years drift into the public realm, adding to competition for bids.

"We're really trying to do something we should have done five years ago," says Robbie Ferris, SFL+a's president.

His hindsight comes with foresight: "I think we're going into a fairly long and deep recession," he adds. "If that in fact happens, our market will ultimately be affected."

That may be why companies such as Barnhill Contracting of Tarboro, John S. Clark Co. of Mount Airy and Crowder Construction of Charlotte are fortifying their businesses by bidding for defense deals, says Scott Dorney, executive director of the N.C. Military Business Center. "Companies who previously weren't excited about getting in the federal market now have some economic incentive."

With six major military installations, North Carolina has the fourth-biggest military population in the country, he says. And while the military has an estimated $18 billion impact on the state's economy, the state is only 26th in defense contracting jobs. "We've got a big disconnect," Dorney says.

But that's changing. "In 2005 and 2006, we worked very hard to get people to even look at this market," he adds. "Now we have companies that are actively engaged."

The 20 percent of LS3P Associates' work that comes from military jobs is expected to grow to 30 percent in the next two years, says Chris Ions, a principal in the architecture firm's Charlotte office.

"The private sector is in a bit of a pause at the moment," he says. "And one could only believe that things are going to get worse.

"Having diversity -- other legs on our stool -- can be helpful."