The Coalition is pleased to announce its upcoming Excellence in Partnership Awards Celebration – Dinner & Dialogue With GSA Leadership, which will be taking place on the evening of November 15th at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, VA. We are honored to have Chief of Staff for GSA, Jack St. John, and newly appointed Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner, Alan Thomas, join us for this important evening where we will honor organizations, individuals, and officials from across the procurement community who have made significant contributions in promoting common sense, as well as best value acquisition strategies and outcomes that support the evolving mission needs of government.
Mr. St. John, appointed by President Trump in mid-March, will be providing welcoming remarks focusing on the vital importance of government-industry partnership in delivering best value mission support for the American people. Prior to this appointment, from the beginning of the Administration, he served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the GSA. Mr. St. John came to GSA from the private sector, where he was a partner at St. John & St. John, LLC in Alabama. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia, the University of Alabama School of Law, and the University of Alabama Manderson Graduate School of Business (Roll Tide! Sorry, I know I’m insufferable at this point).
Mr. Thomas, who took on his new role as the Commissioner of the FAS in June, will outline his vision and goals for FAS, and he will hold an open Q&A session after his presentation. In his critical position within GSA, he leads the newly reorganized FAS as that organization and the agency as a whole work to build on past successes, including improved employee, customer, and supplier satisfaction; increasing efficiencies to yield savings, and ensuring GSA’s acquisition strategies are aligned with the Trump Administration’s business and technology initiatives. FAS plays a key role in facilitating GSA’s mission to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people. Mr. Thomas comes to this position with more than 20 years of experience in both industry and government. He previously led a small technology company in establishing access to the federal market through Schedule 70, managed profit and loss for a successful Alliant Small Business prime contract holder, and used GSA procurement vehicles to acquire professional services while serving as a government program manager. His experience also includes public sector service in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics at the U.S. Department of Defense, and he has served as a Management Analyst in the Department of the Army.
Nominations for the 2017 EIP Awards are currently open, and will close October 27th. To submit a nomination for the following award categories, click here.
- Lifetime Acquisition Excellence Award – Presented to an individual in the government contracting community for delivering outstanding best-value solutions for the taxpayer and demonstrating a long-term commitment to advocating “common sense in government procurement.”
- Acquisition Savings Award– Presented to an organization or individual (government or contractor) for developing innovative solutions resulting in savings to the government and taxpayer through sound acquisition planning and development, and well-defined contracting requirements.
- American Innovation Award – Presented to an organization or individual (government or contractor) for creating innovative solutions and/or processes to solve the government’s challenges in procurement and/or technology.
- Best Veteran Hiring Award – Presented to a government agency or contractor for promoting and executing a robust and successful veteran hiring, teaming, or subcontracting program to the benefit of our brave men and women in uniform.
- Acquisition Streamlining Award – Presented to an organization or individual (government or contractor) for successfully creating an efficient use of resources to design, develop, or produce quality systems in the procurement and contracting environment. This award can be for reducing contract duplication, streamlining the acquisition process, developing a new and effective system, or reducing unnecessary requirements or regulations.
The following day, November 16th, the Coalition will hold its all day Fall Training Conference at the same location. This year’s theme will be 2018 Market MRI: Modernization, Reorganization & Innovation – The Procurement Prognosis for Government and Industry. Speakers will be discussing the status of critical legislation, acquisition reform, business outlooks, and more. Afterwards, we will be holding our much-anticipated afternoon MRI Sessions, which will offer a unique opportunity to get the latest information on the most significant contracts in the Federal marketplace.
Registration is open for both the Excellence in Partnership Awards and Fall Training Conference and you can currently enjoy early bird pricing discounts if you register by October 13th. For any assistance with registration or sponsorship inquiries, please contact Matt Cahill at mcahill@thecgp.org or by phone at 202-315-1054.We look forward to your participation!