Yesterday Dr. Daniel M. Gerstein, Under Secretary for Science & Technology (Acting), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) , provided the Coalition with a thoughtful, engaging and very informative presentation on Science & Technology’s (S&T) cross-cutting mission. S&T supports a broad customer base, including the DHS components, federal departments and agencies, and first responder emergency management. The S&T value proposition focuses on operations, innovation and building partnerships to provide the Homeland Security Enterprise with technologies, solutions and capabilities to better protect the Homeland. Dr. Gerstein’s discussion with the Coalition and its membership reflected the best in the Myth-Busters tradition of positive, informative dialogue between government and industry. The Coalition for Government sincerely thanks Dr. Gerstein for his engagement and we look forward to continuing the dialogue!
On April 10th the Coalition will be hosting our 2014 Spring Training Conference, Opportunities for Success in the Federal Market, in Fall Church, Virginia. The Training Conference provides a wonderful opportunity for members to hear directly from senior procurement leaders and program managers from across the Federal enterprise. Speakers include:
- Harry Hallock, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Procurement) U.S. Army
- Dr. Angela Billups, Senior Procurement Executive, Department of Health and Human Services
- Mr. Randall Culpepper, Program Executive Officer for Combat and Mission Support, U.S. Air Force
- David Grant, FEMA Chief Procurement Officer
- Tiffany Hixon, Regional Commissioner for FAS
- Richard Ginman, Director of DPAP
The conference also will include a presentation from Cameron Leuthy, Senior Budget Analyst for Bloomberg Government on the current federal fiscal profile, winners and losers under the current budget, and who is buying.
Oversight, contract compliance and risk assessment are all keys to success in the federal market. To that end, the Training Conference will include a session “Oversight and Enforcement – The OIG Perspective with Richard Levi, Counsel to the GSA Inspector General and Maureen Regan, Counsel to the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General. We will also have our annual Legal Panel—Maximizing the Benefits Avoiding the Risks with Jason Workmaster, Partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, Jonathan Aronie, Partner at Sheppard Mullin LLP and David Dowd, Partner at Mayer Brown LLP.
We are very excited to have Steve Schooner, Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program, George Washington University Law School as our Keynote speaker. It is fitting that Steve will be addressing the Conference on the key procurement trends, challenges and opportunities in the federal marketplace as the Spring Training Conference will mark the beginning a new initiative working with The George Washington University Law School to celebrate and honor the Coalition’s 35th Anniversary!
So not only will the Spring Conference provide an opportunity to hear and learn from procurement leaders from across the federal enterprise, it will also provide an opportunity to be the first to hear about the Coalition’s new initiative to honor our 35th year, promote common sense in government procurement, and support our veterans! I am confident our members will be pleased and proud of this new initiative.
We look forward to providing our members with an exciting and engaging Training Conference. See you all April 10th!
Roger Waldron
President