Businesses get scoop on security

Alicia Robinson

Local technology businesses are taking advantage of federal dollars

for homeland security projects, but getting through all the hoops of

landing and fulfilling government contracts can be daunting,local

business leaders said Wednesday as an official from the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security visited the university.

Efforts to bolster national security and what the government wants

from the private sector for such purposes were among the topics

discussed by Homeland Security Undersecretary for Science and

Technology Charles McQueary with Orange County business and

technology leaders.

The discussion, sponsored by House Homeland Security Committee

chairman and Newport Beach Rep. Chris Cox, drew about 100 people to

UC Irvine. Cox did not attend.

As federal authorities continue to expand and define their

anti-terrorism efforts, businesses are finding plenty of

opportunities to sell government security-related products and

services, McQueary said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will spend $1 billion

this year, and about 70% of that will go to the private sector, he

said.

But landing a contract with the federal government can be highly

competitive, and doing the work can be fraught with bureaucratic

snags.

“It could be daunting for a new company, but we’re very familiar

with the process,” said Bert Hornback, director of business

development for Costa Mesa-based Irvine Sensors Corp.

His business was among 66 companies this year that earned small

business research grants, for which McQueary said several thousand

applied. Hornback said Irvine Sensors already is working on

developing a system to monitor cargo containers, which have been

cited as a major security risk. Because so many containers enter the

U.S. each day, they can’t all be checked.

Lou Hanson, chief executive of Renscape Technologies Group Inc. in

Laguna Hills, said bagging a government contract was the easy part.

His software company created technology to transmit large data files,

such as video, anywhere instantly.

“This is one of the smaller projects we’re working on, but it’s a

nightmare process,” he said. “It’s a positive thing, but it’s taking

a long time for a small company like ours.”

Arranging meetings with federal officials can take weeks, and

Hanson has to hammer out details with them before he can hire the

engineers he needs to fulfill the contract, he said.

The goal Wednesday was mainly to explain what the Homeland

Security department is doing and to solicit feedback from people,

McQueary said.

“California is a place that is rife with technology from north to

south, east to west, so this is a logical place for us to come as we

talk about what kind of technological needs we have an interest in,”

he said.

Among the department’s recent initiatives is the regional

technology integration program, which will include Anaheim as one of

four cities nationwide where local and state security agencies will

test new technologies.

The department also is developing voluntary national standards for

security equipment and completing a five-year plan for the agency,

McQueary said. He stressed that the government and emergency

responders will get better at protecting America from terrorism, but

their work will never be done.

“We’re going to have additional attacks in this country. I think

that’s a foregone conclusion,” he said. “What we have to do in this

country is recover.”

Some of those at Wednesday’s briefing, like Newport Beach

developer Paul Cate, were looking for information rather than

business deals with the federal government.

“I just thought it was a very timely topic,” Cate said. “We’ve had

recent [terrorist] warnings published, and this agency is the agency

that collects and disperses information.

“We live in the U.S., and our buildings are in the United States,

so both from the business and personal standpoint, we’re impacted.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].