Federal IT contractors expect change under the Obama administration, but they’re divided on whether it will be good or bad for them.

In a survey of about 230 contractor executives, Market Connections Inc. of Chantilly, VA, found 40% said there would be more obstacles over the next year, while 46% believed there would be more opportunities.

Market Connections President Lisa Dezzutti said many smaller companies are optimistic that they will benefit from the new administration’s policies of increasing competition and reducing the use of sole-source contracts. “There is a sense that there is going to be a leveling of the playing field,” she said. “Smaller firms who couldn’t compete for large contracts in the past now feel more optimistic about the future chances for success.”

As the government pushes to speed up processing of security clearances, at least six investigators have been convicted of falsifying reports on applicants for clearances, the Washington Post reported.

Three of the investigators were contractors and three were employees of the Office of Personnel Management, the report said. At least one of the contractors was being paid on a piecework basis and could earn more money by handling more cases.

Law enforcement officials said the investigators filed reports on background interviews they never conducted or invented information from other sources.

Federal officials said they did not believe any applicants paid for the phony investigations or that anyone wrongfully received a clearance as a result.

The Transportation Security Administration has opened additional enrollment centers for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The new centers are near the ports of Baton Rouge, Houston, Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York/New Jersey.

TSA urges contractors to pre-enroll their employees at www.tsa.gov/twic or the Coast Guard’s Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil.