Ask HN: Recommendations for New Zealand company to get U.S.-based contracts?

I'm a director at Brush Technology, a small software+hardware design company HQ'd in Christchurch, New Zealand. Recently there's been a lull in the amount of work we've been getting in (partly earthquake-related, but mostly not), so we've been putting feelers out further afield. Any suggestions for getting software or hardware contracting work here in the U.S.? The exchange rate may make pricing slightly beneficial for U.S. clients, but basically we have very few contacts in the U.S. for this sort of thing. Are (good) recruiters worth going to, or would one only use them for getting a full-time job rather than contracting?