We have always been fertile ground for original minds. Visionaries whose ideas and passion changed the world.
Reed-Joseph International, a Greenville-based company which specializes in bird and wildlife control, has been around since 1953. But don't tell J. Barthell Joseph III, Vice President of Reed-Joseph, that you can't teach an older, established company new tricks.
Joseph wanted to grow his business, and he had goals of securing additional contracts in larger amounts. So, he sought help from the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA). MDA introduced Joseph to Lee Woodyard, director of the Delta Contract Procurement Center, one of five centers in the state operated by the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Program, which is administered by MDA.
The procurements centers are not-for-profit organizations funded by the federal government, MDA, local governments, economic development organizations and private corporations. The centers offer an array of services to help businesses find, bid, win and carry out contracts at the local, state and federal government levels. "We deal with anything that deals with tax dollars," Woodyard said.
"[Woodyard] helped us get on the General Services Administration [GSA] Schedule," said Joseph. "Anyone can tell you how complicated that process is. I don't think we could have done it without [the Delta Contract Procurement Center] and MDA."
The GSA Schedule is a collection of pre-negotiated contracts between the U.S. General Services Administration and commercial firms. GSA compiles the GSA Schedule to assist other government agencies with their procurement needs, and these other agencies can make purchases from the GSA Schedule knowing that the contracts are already in place and are legally compliant.
Reed-Joseph has an array of customers ranging from grain and fruit farmers to landfills and neighborhoods, but being on the GSA Schedule has allowed Reed-Joseph, like all GSA vendors, to reach even more customers beyond its normal client base. "It makes it a lot easier to market our products," Joseph said.
One of Reed-Joseph's key products is called "Scare Wars," a remote-controlled bird and wildlife removal system. This system uses gas-powered cannons and bird distress cries to safely remove birds from airfields. The cannons are fired only when birds are spotted near the airfield. By offering this service, and by becoming a GSA Schedule contractor, Reed-Joseph has been able to find a large market in the aviation industry. The company now serves customers such as the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and NASA. Becoming a GSA contractor has been a boon for Reed-Joseph, and since that time, the company's sales have increased significantly.
Joseph realizes that utilizing the services of the contract procurement center have been really helpful to the company. He said, "Lee [Woodyard] took a personal interest in us and made it happen." And Joseph is certainly thankful for that. In fact, he would recommend the procurement centers to any business looking for additional contracting opportunities.
