Cheap and efficient subcontractors like yourself are a dime a dozen. Therefore the need to hire someone like Michele's "Ivy League" classmate as the non-compete prime contractor. She is much better at assembling a team capable of creative cost increase justification and knowledgeable about distributing excessive profits, beyond a common business professional's imagination, "appropriately".
Have they even exceeded a 1B dollar cost yet? Mild by the comparision of other government IT projects - go check it out...
Errrr.... not so much.... being as that is the segment I serve right now. LOL!
It's not about how much you can SAVE, it's about how much you can SPEND... ;-)
'Cores' -- a term for a contract manager -- get bonuses for saving money. :)