On August 10, 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Report No. GAO-15-590, FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULES: More Attention Needed to Competition and Prices. The report examines (1) how and to what extent the government is using the FSS program; (2) factors influencing the degree of competition for FSS orders, and (3) the extent to which
In policy pronouncements and public statements over the last year, the Department of Defense (DoD) emphasized, as a strategic imperative, gaining access to, and leveraging, innovative commercial technologies. For instance, on April 9th of this year, DoD issued Better Buying Power 3.0 – Achieving Dominant Capabilities through Technical Excellence and Innovation, and among the
On July 14th GSA issued an Request for Information (RFI) seeking feedback on a revised list of Leading Edge Technologies (LETS) for the Alliant 2 Unrestricted and Small Business Set-Aside procurements. The RFI indicated that GSA is considering reducing the 17 LETS identified in the original draft Request for Proposal (RFP) to ten. The RFI
Golf, Excellence in Partnership Awards, and Fall Training Conference The heat and humidity are here, but the good news is that also means we are gearing up for our 3rd Annual Joseph P. Caggiano Memorial Golf Tournament! This year’s tournament will once again be taking place at the beautiful Whiskey Creek Golf Club in Ijamsville,
Last week the Coalition hosted a Regulatory Compliance Training Forum, Labor Contract Compliances: The world according the Department of Labor. The training event covered the Service Contract Act, the Davis Bacon Act, Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Plans and the latest information regarding the proposed Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order and implementing
Today, one of the top procurement “buzz words” has to be “innovation.” It seems that every day departments and agencies across the federal government are seeking “innovation” in one form or another. We have seen the Department of Health and Human Services establish a new Buyer’s Club to promote innovative procurement practices, and along these
Before the July 4th holiday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center (NAC) held its VA NAC Industry Days conference in Chicago. It was a great opportunity for Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contractors that hold pharmaceutical and medical product and service contracts to hear from VA acquisition leaders about their current priorities and
Members, This week the FAR & Beyond Blog and the Friday Flash are dedicated to the Fourth of July. The blog highlights excerpts from a speech given by President Kennedy at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 4, 1962. We hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th weekend! It is a high honor for any citizen of our
It is with a sense of both honor and sadness the Coalition announces that Carolyn Alston, our Executive Vice President and General Counsel, will be retiring in July. We are very excited and happy for Carolyn as she begins a new adventure in her life! At the same time, we will miss her professionalism, commitment
The Federal Acquisition Service’s (FAS’s) Competitive Pricing Initiative (CPI) is intended to address price variability for identical items under competing Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts. An unintended, positive consequence of this effort has been to highlight questions and concerns regarding the impacts of unauthorized resellers in the MAS program. Under CPI FAS is collecting pricing