VANCOUVER - Not so long ago, 2010 Olympic organizers were struggling to cope with the huge task of staging a Winter Games in the teeth of a world-wide recession.

Today, in a stunningly quick reversal of fortune, the recession has been all but vanquished at VANOC headquarters, and the money is flowing once again.

With just two months to go before the Games opening ceremonies, phone lines to VANOC have been humming with calls from companies scrambling to get on board the Olympic express at the last minute.

The late interest has resulted in organizers going "well past" their original revenue target of $760-million in domestic sponsorship dollars, with more on the way, VANOC deputy chief executive officer Dave Cobb said Monday.

The organizing committee is now in the unexpected position of having to say no to corporate wannabes, who left their decision to seek Olympic involvement too late.

"We got a call last week from a very large international company, wanting to be part of the Games. But it would simply have taken too long for them to mobilize," Mr. Cobb said. "We are getting calls like that every day. Absolutely. People are finally realizing how big the Games are going to be."

Latest to sign on is the prominent engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Inc., whose status as an official supplier of the Olympics was announced earlier in the day.

Mr. Cobb said talks with the company had stalled about a year ago, when the recession hit. As the Games neared and the economic climate improved, however, negotiations resumed, he said.

"For sure, they wanted to be associated with the Games. The company realized they have done well in this part of the world, and they wanted to be part of what we're doing."

For an undisclosed financial contribution to VANOC, SNC-Lavalin will receive marketing and promotion rights during the 2010 Olympics, and forge an association with Canada's Olympic athletes.

The company built and will operate the recently opened Canada Line transit link between downtown Vancouver and Richmond, including the airport.

Mr. Cobb said he expects to announce at least one other corporate sponsorship in the days ahead. "But we don't intend to shut our door until Feb. 12 [when the Games open]."

A year ago, VANOC was forced to launch a frantic round of cost-cutting and scaling down plans to cope with the sudden economic downturn. There were major worries that sponsors already signed up would have to renege on their commitments. At that time, finding new sponsors was the least of VANOC's concerns.

Compared to those days, when VANOC chief John Furlong confessed to spending almost every waking moment thinking about finances, this is Easy Street.

Mr. Cobb said there are two reasons for the abrupt change.

"There is now light at the end of the tunnel for the economy, and, as the Games get closer, they become more real. Companies start to wonder: ‘Is there an opportunity for us to get involved?' "

He said he noticed a big change in attitude once the torch relay started at the end of October. "It's been fantastic for us."

Sales of $285,000 Olympic luxury packages - which stalled as soon as the recession hit - have also taken off.

"We've now sold 40. We've got 10 left, and we expect to be able to sell them," Mr. Cobb said. "People are phoning. ‘What can I get? What's left?' "

Not only do the packages contain tickets to every Olympic event, they are good tickets and purchasers get limousine service to every competition, he said. "They want VIP treatment, and it's their last chance. So we are getting the latecomers. People realize it's now or never."

The only financial cloud for VANOC is its ongoing difficulty selling $40-million worth of billboard advertising space bought last year.

"We still have about $4-million of inventory left, and we don't expect to sell it all," Mr. Cobb said.