LAYTON — The military usually finds the communities surrounding its bases "friendly," not just out of patriotism, but for the economic opportunity they provide, the commander of Hill Air Force Base said Thursday.

"We do pay our bills," Maj. Gen. Andrew Busch told the large crowd — think overflow parking and packed sessions — at the Davis Conference Center for the fourth annual Utah Procurement Symposium.

They came from both in-state and out-of-state because of government contracts: The lure of getting one in this or any economy; the joy of teaching others how to land state, local and federal contracts; and the chance to talk to others who might be good partners for contract projects.

In Busch's words, "For small businesses, there are tremendous opportunities" in government contracting.

The conference, sponsored by the Governor's Office of Economic Development and its Procurement Technical Assistance Center, was particularly popular this year, with 500 people signed up when they closed online preregistration Wednesday and others just showing up in hopes of getting in.

"I think it's maybe because of the economy," said Myrna Hill, who was handing out name badges to those who signed up early.

The daylong conference featured Busch, Gov. Gary Herbert and breakout sessions on everything from meeting federal rules about verifying employee citizenship status to creating marketing plans and getting early funding.

There were nearly as many reasons to be there as there were attendees. John White of Sienna Corp. in Atlanta flew in hoping to make connections that will help his company drum up enough business to eventually build a facility in Utah. The company builds products for original equipment manufacturers, among other things.

Ted Garcia's a disabled veteran from Kaysville who has a small business called BeXar Advanced Solutions. He served in the military for more than 20 years and his company builds runways, barracks, airports and other structures. It has many contracts, making him a good mentor to businesses just learning how to bid for contracts.

Networking was a big draw, according to Richard Swank of SoBran Inc. and Mary Jorgensen of Industrial Supply. They both have government contracts, but said they hoped to find partnering opportunities.

Matt Landheim of Object Systems International already has contracts, too, but said the quest to understand as much as possible about doing business in a government setting with large contractors is ongoing.

"Government is spending record levels (of money), all through contracts" as part of economic stimulus, Landheim said. He would like to see easier ways for big and small businesses to team up to get contracts. That's sometimes hard for really small businesses.

At the U.S. Forest Service booth, Bryce Eddy and Janice Whitehouse were fielding questions and handing out a guide to winning contracts with their agency. U.S. Small Business Administration's Mary Rael was talking to people about her agency's monthly procurement workshops. And nearby, Mary Cardon was explaining how Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) can help tech businesses figure out the missing pieces that keep them from being ready to contract with Hill or ATK or others.

e-mail: lois@desnews.com