Two decades of service in the U.S. Air Force in facilities engineering taught Farris Engineering President and CEO Tom Svoboda the value of teamwork and experience. That is why he has built a solid relationship with the government contracting consultants at NBDC’s Omaha office.
“Farris Engineering has worked with the government for 40 years, but we needed to know more,” Svoboda says. “We wanted to find out how to broaden our reach, influence and knowledge.”
Over the past three years, Farris has collaborated with Mary Graff, Roger Johnson and several other Procurement Technical Assistance consultants.
“Mary helped us set up job searches and refine Federal Business Opportunity (FBO) searches in order to show us how to find design projects that were being contracted out by different government agencies,” Svoboda says. “She showed us how to see who else is doing government contracting and how to work as a team with them. Roger also has been helping us over the last year with recommendations on possible team partners and assisted us in updating our System for Award Management (SAM) registration.
“Overall, the consultants have been a great resource for us,” he says.
Farris Engineering is an employee-owned provider of mechanical, electrical and fire protection consulting engineering services. Established in 1967 in Omaha, the firm employs 65 people and has additional offices in Lincoln, Des Moines, and Colorado Springs.
Over the years, the firm has diversified to include technology, commissioning and lighting design. “We are often involved in engineering systems for buildings being built for the government that are expected to last 50 years or longer,” Svoboda says. “Energy efficiency and maintenance are key considerations for all our clients, and we like working on buildings that we know will be around for a very long time.”
In the federal government sector, Farris Engineering has teamed with architects to secure indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts at Minot (N.D.) Air Force Base, Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base, the Air Force Academy and the Omaha Corps of Engineers. Farris Engineering is also part of a team selected to provide designs for several U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
“Many of these federal opportunities have been identified through the FBO website and NBDC’s Bid Match program,” Svoboda says. “Additionally, we have done a number of projects for Nebraska state agencies, the Nebraska National Guard, the Nebraska Department of Corrections and the four University of Nebraska campuses.”
The company supports economically disadvantaged small businesses and has a vibrant internship program for area college students. “Farris Engineering provides a judge and mentor for the Society of American Military Engineer Student Mentoring Program and hosted students from two area high schools on visits to our office,” Svoboda says.
“Our employees are passionate about their designs and love to share their knowledge with students as we strive to encourage our next generation of engineers.”