Walter F. Johnson III
Owner, Eagle Group International Inc.
3848 Northwest Drive
Atlanta , GA 30337-4111

Military Retiree Forms Small Business to Help Improve U.S. Army Health System; With Sales of $30 million, Company Founder calls SBA a “Key” to His Success

ATLANTA , GA - When Walter F. Johnson III retired from the military in 1988, he had attained the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps and was serving as director of the Army's Worldwide Health Care Operations.

After his military retirement, Johnson rose to senior vice president of the American Hospital Association (AHA), where he was responsible for relations with 50 state associations along with AHA regional office operations and other membership groups.

While with the AHA, General Johnson was asked about forming his own company to help the U.S. Army health system modernize its operations and provide consulting services on a variety of health service issues.

Soon after discussing a possible business startup, Johnson made the decision to form Eagle Group International Inc., using his own cadre of talented, experienced former military officers as well as seasoned civilian health care specialists. Many of his employees are people Johnson had worked with previously in modernizing military health care systems both in the U.S. and abroad.

Johnson calls the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program “the backbone” of his company's success in getting its foot into the door initially for major government contracts dealing with health care operating systems, logistics, and information technology. His Eagle Group International was certified as an 8(a) company in March 1997. A company can stay in the 8(a) program for nine years.

In order to be certified for the 8(a) program, a company must be owned and operated by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals. Once approved, a company is assigned an SBA Business Opportunity Specialist (BOS) to help guide the business through the federal contracting process, along with other technical and management assistance.

“Performance marketing was also very important to us in the early stages of our company,” said Johnson. “The key is doing such a good job for your customer that your reputation starts to expand and you get additional work…the rest is history.”

Since entering the 8(a) program, Eagle Group has obtained 26 government contracts for approximately $28.6 million in revenues. The company has grown over the past five years to over 400 employees and annual revenues that will total approximately $30 million this year.

“For three years, we were about 97 percent government contracts,” explained Johnson who is a graduate of West Virginia State College and earned a Master's Degree from the University of Missouri . “Now our revenues are divided between 60 percent government work and about 40 percent private, or non-U.S. government contracts.”

The company's first work under 8(a) was a logistical contract for the U.S. Army that was soon followed by other Army health services contracts. Johnson says other prime customers include the U.S. Department of Labor, Baptist Health Care Systems in Florida , the Bon Secour Health Care System of Virginia, the Veterans Administration, and Grady Health Systems in Atlanta .

Looking ahead, Johnson says the future of his company looks very good. “We have proposals to other non-government entities, that if approved, could double the size of Eagle Group over the next couple of years.”

The company has acquired a newly constructed building on Camp Creek Parkway to house its Atlanta headquarters office. The interior of the building was recently completed and the staff moved into their new quarters in mid June. The company has other offices in the Middle East , Germany , Korea , and Puerto Rico .

The company started using college interns two years ago including students at Georgia State University and Georgia Tech who were working on degrees in information technology. Several of the interns were hired full time after they graduated and others have been hired for the current summer, Johnson noted.

he family of Eagle Group goes full circle. Joe Hall, the company's Chief Operating Officer, also attended West Virginia State College with Johnson. Two of the general's sons, A. J. and Fitz, hold key positions with the company. Fitz, an attorney, heads up human resources at Eagle Group, while A.J., also an attorney with a MBA degree in finance, is the company's chief financial officer. Al Frasier, Johnson's son-in-law, is an engineer and former civilian employee with the Navy. He heads up the company's Information Technology Division.