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Spectra wins contract for Games

Spectra Power Sports is going to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Spectra Power Sports is going to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Spectra won a federal government contract to provide rental services of 28 snow machines and 26 of its side-by-side utility ATVs for integrated security services associated with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Scott Clay with Spectra says the machines will be used for policing and security at Olympic Games venues such as Metro Vancouver, Cyprus, and the Whistler-Permberton-Squamish areas.

Clay says the government hasn’t yet notified Spectra where all of the units are going, but they all will be used in the Olympic areas.

About two months ago Spectra made the initial bid when the federal government put out the call for proposals.

It was then short-listed and was able to work with the government to complete the package and win the bid.

Spectra is now working with the government to make sure the machines are delivered on deadline and set up the way the government wants and needs them.

He says the government has asked the machines arrive by Jan. 15, but Clay hopes to get them out sooner.

“It’s a lot of stuff to move in a very short period of time,” he says, adding that he still needs to figure out how many units go where before working out the transportation logistics.

Clay says Spectra expects the project to have considerable benefits.

“It’s a rental contract with them, so obviously there is the business spin off of that,” he says. “On top of that, it shows that even though a lot of the Olympic hype has been centred around the Lower Mainland and the Whister/Pemberton Valley there, it shows that the opportunities were there for other businesses and small businesses … small businesses to be able to compete and actively access some of the money set aside for the Olympics.”

It’s also great advertising for Spectra, he says, since it will have 54 of its machines with Spectra and Polaris decals, on the world stage, benefiting not only Spectra but Polaris Industries as well.

“It’s informally a lot of publicity for us there,” Clay says. “It puts more of my tracks on the snow, more of my ATVs on the trail, and people see what the ATVs are, where they came from, what they can do. We will have that plug there, and that will be some of the best advertising that a guy can hope for.”

Spectra will provide a variety of Dragons and RMKs. The sleds are all 800 cc and range in track length from 155 inches to 163 inches.

While Clay doesn’t know how many other businesses applied for the contract, he says there were about half a dozen shortlisted, including Spectra.

He says renting the machines out for the Olympics won’t mean there will be a shortage of sleds or ATVs at the Williams Lake Spectra.

“If someone walks in tomorrow and says, Scott, I need to buy four snow machines, I’ll pick up the phone and call Polaris and say I need four snow machines if I don’t have them here,” he says.

Spectra is now getting the sleds ready. Most of them are at Spectra now, and the ATVs are expected to arrive at Spectra this week.

Spectra needs to make a few adjustments to the machines, such as putting in specific types of windshields and mirrors so the federal government gets what it needs.

“At this point now, it’s a full team effort,” Clay says. “Everybody has a role to play in making sure these machines are going to be done, ready to go, so that we can get them lowered on trailers and start getting them moved down to the depot down there.”

Once the Olympics are over, the machines will come back to Spectra where they will be placed into regular inventory for sale.

Since they will still be brand new machines, they will likely have low milage and be up for grabs at a great price, Clay adds.