Clear Growth

Crystal Culbertson's life has been a bit of a blur the past few years. It's no wonder, considering her business, Crystal Clear Technologies Inc., saw more than 16,000% growth in sales from 2007 to 2010.

The St. Petersburg-based firm recorded just more than $100,000 in revenues in 2007, but reached more than $16 million three years later. But the uncertainty about the government deficit threatens this growth trend.

Culbertson worked at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City for several years before becoming a small business owner. She spent that time learning how vendors in the private sector procure and handle government contracts.

In 2002 the entrepreneur decided to use that knowledge and moved to Orlando to launch Crystal Clear. “I knew how the business worked and vendors knew who I was,” Culbertson says.

For the first three years Crystal Clear was a conduit between government entities and private companies looking to score contracts. She was essentially a guide that firms would use to weave through the tangled bureaucracy of the defense contracting business.

Relationships she developed with vendors as well as government officials ensured both sides of the transaction trusted her.

But she says that little profit was made the way her business functioned. So she took a year off in 2006 to rethink her firm's strategy and restructure the company. Her plan was to move from consulting to contracting. “We decided to bring the services in house rather than farm them out,” Culbertson says.

As 2007 approached, Culbertson brought in Scott Sehon as vice president of finance. Sehon, a graduate of the University of Florida, previously worked for Berkshire Hathaway.

Sehon and Culbertson's husband, Joe, Crystal Clear's president, started picking up smaller contracts while Crystal Culbertson began networking for long-term contracts. Sehon says that the short-term contracts were ubiquitous yet provided thin margins. “We barely made any profit in the beginning,” he says.

When big contracts rolled in, the company amped up hiring. “There's a big difference in providing a spool of fiber and three days of work and an 18-month contract,” Culbertson says.

Over the next three years, Crystal Clear developed three distinct services — IT enterprise, professional services and matching vendors with buyers. The latter makes up a majority of the firm's revenues. This includes everything from providing a few HP servers to completely reworking an IT department.

Shrinking budgets have become bothersome for Crystal Clear, but not enough to change its business model and look for business in the private sector as other government contractors are doing. “We have a very loyal client base,” Sehon says, “and what little money they have they're spending with us.”

That “little money” led to stagnant growth this year. Sehon says Crystal Clear's revenues will hover around $16 million.

Culbertson plans to expand the firm's role working as a direct contractor, which currently accounts for 15% of the company's revenues. “I would like to see that number increase to 40%,” she says.

Sehon explains that he wants to grow the employee base in the cheapest way possible: for free. In the IT services part of its business, Crystal Clear essentially acts as a staffing agency for IT employees. Crystal Clear hires IT staff, putting them to work at government jobs. The company then nets the difference between the government's rate of pay and the employees' wages. This portion of the business accounts for roughly 2% of the firm's revenues. “We want to add the jobs that the government pays for,” Sehon says.

The process provides a profitable opportunity for Crystal Clear and helps military veterans retain work following discharge. “Someone could be honorably discharged on a Friday,” Sehon says, “and go right back to work for us the next Monday.”

Despite the static year, Crystal Clear continues to pursue its work providing services for the government. This may not be an easy task given the federal government's fiscal situation.

“We help our customers stay within their budget,” Culbertson says. “It's mayhem around here because the government doesn't know how to spend money.”