This week has seen a snap of cold weather more akin to winter than two weeks before Thanksgiving! Thankfully, while the cold weather may have arrived early, our Fall Events are right on schedule! Next week we will mark the 40th Anniversary of the Coalition for Government Procurement with our Fall Healthcare Procurement Training Conference: DHA, DLA and VA—A Team Approach; our Fall Training Conference – Commercial Acquisition Disruptors: e-Commerce, Consolidation, and Cyber; and the Excellence in Partnership Honors Dinner. Thank you to our members for all their strong support over the years. You make the Coalition possible! Here are some of the event highlights coming next week:
On Wednesday, November 20th, the Coalition will host the Healthcare Procurement Training Conference: “DHA, DLA, and VA – A Team Approach.” As the title reflects, the focus will be on the evolving procurement and logistics efforts to leverage capability across DHA, DLA and the VA to support best value healthcare for the warfighter and veterans. We are pleased to have the VA’s Dr. Angela Billups as our Keynote speaker. After the keynote, we will have our first panel consisting of Phil Christy, Deputy Executive Director, OLAC, VA; Matthew Beebe, Director of Acquisition, DLA; and Dr. Barclay P. Butler, Chief Acquisition Executive, DHA. We will then move on to our VA Healthcare Acquisition Panel with Andrew Centineo, Executive Director Procurement and Logistics, VHA Tom Leney, Associate Executive Director, SAC, VA; and Rick Lemmon, Executive Director Procurement, VHA. Prior to lunch we will have a short Update on Clinical Input with Tammy Czarnecki, Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Health for Administrative Operations, VA. The afternoon will be filled with numerous breakout sessions to attend, including Medical Imaging Equipment; Medical Surgical; DLA; Prosthetics; and Pharmaceutical.
Click here to review the agenda and to register for the Healthcare Procurement Training Conference
Later that same day, the Excellence in Partnership (EIP) Awards Dinner will honor individuals and organizations in the acquisition community who have made significant contributions to the procurement system that deliver best value and meet agency missions. Historically, these awards have been given to individuals, organizations, and contractors involved in procurement with GSA, VA, DOD, DHS, and other government agencies. A list of the honorees can be found here. We are honored and excited to have Bill Zielinski, FAS Assistant Commissioner for the Office of the Information Technology Category, Phil Christy, Deputy Executive Director, OLAC, VA and Jack St. John, GSA General Counsel as speakers. In addition, as it is the Coalition’s 40th Anniversary, we are shaking things up with our featured speaker Frank Abagnale, whose incredible life story inspired the film, Catch Me if You Can.
Click here to review the agenda and to register for the Excellence in Partnership Awards Dinner
Wrapping things up, on Thursday, November 21st the Coalition will host our Fall Training Conference – Commercial Acquisition Disrupters: e-Commerce, Consolidation, and Cyber. We honored to have Dr. Michael Wooten, Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, as our Keynote Speaker kicking of the day! We are delighted to again welcome GSA Administrator Emily Murphy for a conversation focusing on her strategic vision and priorities in light of GSA’s 70th Anniversary. We are also excited to have Major General Cameron Holt, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting, US Air Force sharing his vision for “Bringing Innovation to the Procurement System.”
In addition to the featured speakers, we have a host of panels and breakout sessions focusing on the key issues, opportunities and challenges facing the procurement system and governmentwide contracting. The panels will include a Schedules Potpourri Panel (Consolidation, GSA Systems, Unpriced Schedules, Transactional Data Reporting and OLMs) that will include Crystal Philcox, Assistant Commissioner, Enterprise Strategy Management, GSA; Judith Zawatsky, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Systems Management, GSA; and Tiffany Hixson, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories, GSA. Mid-morning we will have our e-Commerce, CICA, and the Future of Competition Panel, moderated by Steven Schooner, Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law, GWU, and joined by Jon Etherton, President, Etherton and Associates Bill Stallings, Partner, Mayer Brown, and Ryan Roberts, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP. Prior to breaking for lunch, we will have the Future of the Supply Chain Panel with Kim Herrington, Acting Principal Director, DPC, Vice Admiral David Lewis, Director, DCMA, and Andrew Hunter, Director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and Senior Fellow, International Security Program, CSIS. During lunch we will have a brief update on FAST 2020I from Kathy Carson, Director, FAS Office of Customer Accounts & Research, Customer Outreach Division, GSA. In the afternoon, after Administrator Murphy’s and Major General Holts individual sessions, participants will have the option to choose from eight different breakouts, including IT; Services; Product Centers; Assisted Services; GWACs; GSA Systems; FedMall, and Cyber. The day will conclude with a networking reception.
Click here to review the agenda and to register for the Fall Training Conference
A final reminder, all three events will be held at the Fairview Park Marriott – 3111 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA 22042.
We look forward to seeing everyone next week!