Yesterday I testified in a hearing titled “Putting the Strategy in Sourcing: Challenge and Opportunities for Small Business Contractors” before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce.  My oral statement to the subcommittee is provided below. The Coalition will continue to work on the strategic acquisition issues identified during the hearing on behalf [...]

The May 22nd GSA Business Roundtable is a Myth-Busters event bringing together procurement professionals and senior executives from GSA and its industry partners for a dialogue focusing on Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini’s new mission statement and six priorities.  The mission statement and priorities can be found here.  And as noted in last week’s blog post, the homework assignment [...]

This week’s blog post highlights Thought No. 8 of the Thirteen Thoughts for 2013:  “GSA’s 2012 waiver of the Price Reduction Clause—a statement in favor of competition!”  Last fall, the application of the Price Reduction Clause (PRC) was waived for the purposes of the Air Force’s Enterprise Sourcing Group’s open market solicitation, FA8057-12-R-0001, seeking to establish multiple award [...]

It is Spring Break this week and we are in Ohio to visit family.  It may not sound exotic or “Spring Break-like” but it has been lots of fun.  We visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton— where former GSA Administrator Steven Perry is the President.  We also visited Cleveland and the Rock [...]

Originally, this blog post was to focus on Thought No.7, “From Strategic Source to Strategic Acquisition,” of the Thirteen Thoughts for 2013.  The theme was to expand on my March 18th Federal Times editorial entitled “A New Framework for Acquiring Professional Services” which outlines the key elements of the strategic acquisition of complex services.  The elements outlined in the editorial are central [...]

March 1, 2013—Sequestration Day.  This morning our 13 year-old son was reading the Wall Street Journal article on sequestration and asked me a question only a kid could ask:  “So Dad, if I had a penny would I have more money than the government?”  His question led to a long conversation about the budget, how debt works, [...]

This week it is Thought No. 5 of the Thirteen Thoughts for 2013:  “Closing the door on the Demand Based Model in 2013!(?).”  In 2012 the General Services Administration issued a Federal Register notice regarding its intent to implement a Demand Based Model (DBM) for the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program. The DBM’s goal is reduce GSA’s [...]

This week “Thought No. 4” of the Thirteen Thoughts for 2013:  Contract duplication. . . .hitting the delete button.  The timing could not better for addressing this thought! Yesterday the Government Accountability Office (GAO) removed the High Risk Designation from “Management of Interagency Contracting.” GAO cited improvements in: (1) continued progress made by agencies in addressing identified deficiencies; [...]

Thirteen Thoughts for 2013 continues this week with Thought No. 3: ODCs in 2013!(?)   As you know, throughout the last year the Coalition for Common Sense in Government Procurement (the Coalition) has highlighted the fundamental value to customer agencies of the inclusion of ODCs and materials (at cost) in Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts.  The Coalition has [...]

Thought No. 2 of the “Thirteen Thoughts for 2013”: The GSA Expo: To be or not to be.   The GSA Expo is a Myth-Busters event that brings government and industry acquisition professionals together to “continue the dialogue” on key issues and challenges facing the procurement system.  The GSA Expo is the leading procurement training and professional development [...]