Cleanup Cash Goes to Familiar Faces

"Where we have ideas that have merit, and should be raised [with the government], we will do that," Moody added.

Proximity to federal officials -- and past relationships -- may help.

Agencies are being flooded with calls from entrepreneurs offering "cure-all" technologies and services. By Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had received calls from 6,300 contractors offering help, said John S. Rickey, an agency spokesman. Companies have been calling in with proposals to provide additional pumps and steel, or to help with roofing and debris removal, he said.

The firms "range from large international companies to Joe Smith businessman with a bulldozer," Rickey said.

But it isn't easy to crack the federal contracting system cold. In the days after an emergency like this occurs, the government begins dealing with private companies in a number of ways, including brokering verbal deals with vendors it already knows, and calling on firms that have open-ended contracts already in place.

Like Core Engineered Solutions, GTSI received a call from federal officials asking for help after the storm's devastation became evident. The Chantilly company is a technology reseller with deep relationships with the government. FEMA contracting officers asked the company to quickly develop a list of offerings that might be useful in the recovery and restoration efforts, such as installing wireless networks and providing customized laptops.

"In a crisis situation, the customers call a trusted partner. They say, 'Hey, guys, we need help, tell us what you can provide,' " said GTSI chief executive M. Dendy Young. Much of the work will be done by construction and engineering firms, Young says, but he also thinks there will be a great demand for technology services.

"The thing we can do is anything related to information technology infrastructure -- and we'll see a lot of need for replacement networks," Young said.

Hydrogeologic already does 80 percent of its business with federal agencies like the Defense Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. Given the company's expertise in toxic waste cleanup, executives of the 250-person firm expect to be deeply involved in work along the Gulf Coast.

"We've been growing at 20 percent a year, but I think this event is going to accelerate our growth," chief executive Peter S. Huyakorn said.

FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers are first tapping companies with which they have longstanding relationships.

Fairfax-based Dewberry LLC, which FEMA listed as its largest contractor last year, has already begun sending dozens of people to the Gulf Coast to assess damage for the agency and will likely do a great deal of the engineering and construction work that will follow . The engineering and architecture firm generated $84.1 million in revenue from FEMA last year.

Fluor and CH2M Hill Companies of Colorado, both of which had existing contracts with FEMA, have been put in charge of contracts to find and manage temporary housing for homeless evacuees. Of the $51.8 billion in relief funds approved by Congress last week, $23.2 billion will go for housing projects -- making CH2M Hill and Fluor targets for sales pitches from other firms.

"We're inundated with subcontractors. We're getting more than 100 calls per day," said John Corsi, a spokesman for CH2M Hill.

But like their government customers, larger contractors are turning to their existing subcontractors, before turning to new ones -- and that can sometimes circle back to Washington.

Last week CH2M Hill, for instance, called Core in Herndon. Like the Coast Guard, CH2M was looking for fuel tanks or generators available for quick deployment to the South.

"My company isn't going to do a hundred million dollars of this or that," said Frank B. Evans Jr., Core's president. "But we're finding our little niche."