Lockheed revamps office for federal customers

Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense contractor, will greet the new session of Congress this week with a revamped Washington operation that aims to be more effective in selling the company's programs to federal government customers, Bloomberg News reported.

The reorganized 180-person office already has won a victory by helping convince the Clinton administration to request about $325 million for four more C-130J transports as part of the president's fiscal 2001 defense budget. That will give Lockheed enough work to keep its Marietta, Ga., assembly line open.

The new head of Lockheed's Washington operation is Brian Dailey, who already is getting points for his approach.

"I'm impressed that Dailey is the kind of guy who is saying, 'Look, we had some problems, we're not blaming anybody, but how do we fix them?' That's how it should be," said House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member John Murtha, D-Pa.

Lockheed Martin depends on congressional appropriations for about 70 percent of its $26 billion in sales. Working effectively with Capitol Hill and federal government customers is seen as crucial to turning around last year's 47 percent decline in share prices.

Lockheed began revamping its Washington office in September after company-commissioned surveys of Capitol Hill staff, legislators and senior Pentagon officials found Lockheed was perceived as frequently arrogant and often disorganized. The Washington office's reputation was badly tarred in mid-July when Lockheed was blindsided by the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee's decision to cut $1.8 billion in production funds for the F-22 fighter jet-its flagship program. Dailey replaced David Osterhout, a retired Air Force colonel and fighter pilot who headed the office for about four years. Senior management asked him to retire in August, four months earlier than he had announced and before the overall company-wide reorganization began. Osterhout remains a Lockheed Martin consultant on domestic and international issues.

Lockheed Martin's 2000 legislative agenda is a busy one. The company wants final congressional approval of three major items: the C-130J funding, $2 billion for the next batch of 10 F-22 fighter jets, and Lockheed's purchase of Comsat Corp. It also wants the Pentagon and State Department to continue to push the United Arab Emirates to sign a pending contract for $8 billion worth of F-16 jets, engines and radar. The fate of much of that agenda depends on Dailey, who handled space and military intelligence issues on the Senate Armed Services Committee and was executive secretary on the National Space Council under President Bush. More recently, he directed Lockheed Martin's strategic planning and was chief operating officer of its global telecommunications unit. "I think we have done a lot to ameliorate relationships on Capitol Hill," said Dailey. "We have a lot to show our Capitol Hill customers, but, nonetheless, I think we're on the right footing; we're postured right to begin this year on a positive note."