Post-FEMA Career
After leaving the government, Allbaugh capitalized on his ties with the Bush administration by going into private business ventures connected with Bush's policy objectives. He became one of several partners involved in New Bridge Strategies, a consulting firm to help clients "evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the US-led war in Iraq", and Diligence-Iraq, a security company providing protection for companies doing business there. Diligence, a company founded by former CIA and FBI chief William Webster and 40 percent owned by a wealthy Kuwaiti politician. Allbaugh is the co-chair of Diligence.
Allbaugh also started his own firm, which he merged in 2004 with that of his wife Diane, who had worked as a lobbyist at the Republican firm of Barbour Griffith & Rogers during his government service. The Allbaugh Company is commonly described as a lobbying and consulting firm, although Joe Allbaugh himself says he only consults with clients on presenting their services to government agencies, and does not lobby the government directly for contracts. The Wall Street Journal compared his work to that of his predecessor at FEMA, James Lee Witt, who also went into the private sector and used the same distinction in working for clients. Major Allbaugh Company clients include The Shaw Group and Halliburton subsidiary KBR.
Though no longer affiliated with FEMA, Allbaugh traveled to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina to help coordinate private-sector support, according to his spokeswoman. His clients were among the first to win federal contracts to help with hurricane recovery: Shaw won a bid potentially worth $100 million to refurbish buildings and provide emergency housing, and KBR received $29.8 million from the Pentagon to rebuild Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi.
On July 12, 2006, Emergent Biosolutions, maker of the Anthrax Vaccine under its former name BioPort, announced that Allbaugh joined the Board of Directors. During the years before Allbaugh's appointment, BioPort had a troubled relationship with the US Food and Drug Administration. In September 2006, Allbaugh was elected president of Ecosphere Systems, Inc.
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