Translation services contracts enjoy growth spurt

Contractors that offer translation services are seeing sales soar as the federal government puts more resources into ensuring information doesn't get lost in translation.

Demand for the General Services Administration's language schedule, which offers translation and interpretation services, has skyrocketed in recent years. In fiscal 2005, federal agencies bought $104 million worth of services through the schedule, an increase of almost 23,000 percent from fiscal 2000.

While translation for intelligence services has gotten the most media attention, and the Defense Department is the top consumer of language services offered on the schedule, much of the growth in sales is the result of civilian agencies' desire to reach out to a diverse citizen base, according to GSA and companies providing the services. The Social Security Administration, Energy Department and Justice Department are among the top five buyers.

"The government is becoming increasingly more aware that it's important to reach out to constituents that are not necessarily native English speakers," said Perry Konstas, director of language services for Arlington-based Comprehensive Language Center Inc. His company has worked for the Census Bureau, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Liz Elting, president and chief executive of New York City-based TransPerfect Translations, also attributed much of the growth to the government's desire to reach out to U.S. citizens. TransPerfect translated information on food stamps into Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mong and Chinese to help reach people living in the United States.

Much of the increased demand for translation can be traced to President Clinton's 2000 executive order requiring agencies to make their programs accessible to people who are not fluent in English. An interagency working group helps agencies meet that mandate.

The emphasis on outreach is leading to serious revenue growth for translation companies. According to Konstas, Comprehensive Language Center's government business grew by 75 percent between 2003 and 2004, and similar growth is expected for 2005. Konstas said he expects professional language services to be one of the most rapidly expanding procurement areas for all agencies.

TransPerfect Translations, which recently won a GSA contract for language services, has doubled its direct sales to the government in the past five years, Elting said.

The demand for services is so high right now that it sometimes exceeds what companies are capable of providing, particularly when work is classified and involves lesser-known Middle Eastern languages.

"If you're looking to translate documents that are written in Arabic dialects, there are few people who can do that, and if they have to be cleared to handle classified work, it makes the pot even smaller," said Kathleen Diamond, president of Language Learning Enterprises Inc., a Washington-based company. "There is a bottleneck -- a lot of work that needs to be translated that hasn't."

Diamond said LLE doesn't respond to requests from agencies that involve classified work because the company doesn't have the resources. LLE's clients include the Agriculture Department, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Coast Guard.

Diamond's solution to the shortfall: teach American children to speak more languages. "Now we're relying on people who have been schooled overseas… We need to be building our own linguists," she said.