22 entries found

New GSA administrator seeks to shine light where the shadows of federal procurement live
Feb 8, 2018

The General Services Administration is exploring how it can add more transparency to the procurement process, particularly with its $35 billion schedules program.

Since its inception, GSA’s schedules program has been hidden behind a wall where only vendors with a contract could see the solicitations and awards. The lack of transparency about what happens on those “members-only” contracts has frustrated good government groups, the media and vendors who aren’t on the contracts, but may want to join.

So GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, who was confirmed by the Senate about two months ago, has made transparency one of her four goals and is seeking not just an agency solution to this challenge, but one that would work governmentwide. Reference Article

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Tags: Gsa procurement Gsa schedules
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SBA Announces Results of 2014 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard
May 7, 2015
WASHINGTON, May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Friday, May 8, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet will join cabinet officials and senior executives from the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Treasury, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration and the U.S. Social Security Administration to announce the results of the 2014 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard at the White House.
 
The annual Scorecard is an assessment tool that measures how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals and reports agency-specific progress. The prime and subcontracting component goals include goals for small businesses, small businesses owned by women (WOSBs), small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), and small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones).
 
Every fiscal year, the SBA works with each agency to set their prime and subcontracting goals and their grades are based on the agreed upon goals. Each federal agency has a different small business prime contracting goal. SBA ensures that the sum total of all of the goals exceeds the 23 percent target established by law. Agency specific data from previous years can be found at: http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-procurement-scorecards-0
 
WHAT: Press Conference on Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard
WHO: SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet
Christopher Lu, Deputy Secretary, Department of Labor
Alfonso Lenhardt, Acting Administrator, U.S. Agency for
 International Development
 Adam Neufeld, Acting Deputy Administrator, General Services Administration
WHEN: Friday, May 8, 12:30-2 p.m.
WHERE: The White House
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Room 430
HOW: Press must RSVP and provide their press credentials for the White House event to Tiffani.Clements@sba.gov by noon, May 7.
Contact:  Tiffani S. Clements (202) 401-0035
Miguel Ayala (202) 205-6420
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news
 

 

 

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Tags: Procurement Federal government contracts Procurement forecast
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Army commits $500 million to GSA's OASIS contract
Mar 18, 2015

The Army is moving hundreds of millions of dollars to the OASIS professional services governmentwide contract.
The Army and the General Services Administration signed a memorandum of understanding Monday with new incentives for the service to use OASIS.
 
The service is committing to spend $500 million a year on the OASIS professional services contract across five main areas — program management, consulting, science, financial services and logistics.
Harry Hallock, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement, said the goal is to minimize duplicative contracting efforts where the risk is low, while also increasing efficiencies.
 
But the real reason for committing so much money through OASIS is money.
 
Hallock said the Army will pay a fee of 0.1 percent instead of what other agencies pay to use OASIS, 0.75 percent, meaning the service will get a significant discount. The Army sends hundreds of millions of dollars annually to GSA in exchange for using their assortment of contracts. A reduced fee of 0.65 percent means the Army can use that money for mission-critical necessities.
 
"The first task orders have already come through. We already are using OASIS," Hallock said during a press briefing on the MOU at GSA headquarters in Washington. "What's nice about the arrangement we agreed upon is going back to Jan. 1, I think, those that already are done prior to the signing of the agreement as of Jan. 1 fall under the OASIS requirements. We are there. We're doing it. We're using it." Read Full Article.

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Big changes may be awaiting GSA's schedules program
Nov 18, 2014

he Federal Supply Schedules — the government’s large catalog of contracts that generates tens of billions of dollars worth of federal purchases — appears likely to see major revisions in the months ahead.

The General Services Administration, which manages the schedules, is reviewing whether the current supply schedules program still makes sense in an era of when most agencies make purchases via bulk-purchasing contracts such as blanket purchase agreements and strategic sourcing programs.
“Everything should be on the table with schedules,” GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said at a conference earlier this month.
He said it’s time for GSA to take a thoughtful look at how the agency uses the schedules program — technically called the Multiple Awards Schedules — and where it fits in a digital age where people expect to be connected to products and services with the click of a button.
“We can really even ask some bigger meta questions about what is the role of the schedule in an environment in which you can have digital access to multiple-award vehicles across the government,” Tangherlini said.  Read Full Article.

 

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GSA to temporarily suspend adding new vendors to services schedules
Aug 28, 2014

The General Services Administration will stop accepting new vendors on its professional services schedule in the coming months. The decision to temporarily close down the seven schedule contracts for services to new companies is part of how GSA is giving its entire program a facelift.
Tiffany Hixson, the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service's professional services category executive, said the suspension of new vendors getting on the schedules could last between three and six months.
"The other challenge for us is going to be if there is a federal agency that needs a contractor to get on schedule, we will have to accommodate that," Hixson said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Radio.
She said the decision to suspend new entrants on services schedules, including MOBIS, professional engineering and financial services, will not impact the current 3,500 schedule holders, nor how agencies use the schedules to buy services. Agencies spent about $11 billion on these seven schedules in 2013, with MOBIS and the financial service schedule leading the way.
Hixson is leading an effort to change how GSA provides services under the schedules program. She said the goal over the next 18 months is to make it easier for agencies to purchase integrated services and reduce the costs for GSA to administer these schedule contracts. Read full Article.
 

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Agencies losing faith in prices on GSA schedules?
Aug 26, 2014

A growing number of agencies no longer believe prices under the General Services Administration schedules program are "fair and reasonable."

Along with the Defense Department, NASA quietly issued a memo in March that requires its contracting officers to do additional research to ensure GSA schedule prices are the best value for the government. Industry sources say other agency memos could follow from the likes of the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Energy.

And nearly five months after the Defense Department's Dick Ginman, director for procurement and acquisition policy (DPAP), created quite a stir by changing almost two decades of precedent around GSA schedule prices, Tom Sharpe, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, finally responded publicly to these major changes.
"I support what Dick Ginman has done in terms of telling his contracting workforce to go ahead and apply techniques to get the best price, value and other things important to the taxpayers when they raise orders or otherwise contract — that means getting competition and that means negotiating prices," Sharpe said in an interview with Federal News Radio. "I think where Dick was at, and I agree with him, is we didn't know how often contracting officers were receiving discounts. If you have any type of large volume at the order level, you should in fact be competing orders and negotiating discounts. The schedules were set up to enable that."
 
Sharpe said by standardizing part numbers and descriptions on the schedules, GSA will use the data to make decisions about how much price variability in the schedules make sense, and agencies can use the data to make better buying decisions. He said GSA also plans to propose a rule to require schedule contractors to provide prices paid data and all demographics around it.
 
Sharpe said FAS will put that data in a tool so buyers can use it to help them shape how they should price that order.
"I support the agencies getting the best prices they can," he said. "I'm in the process at FAS of setting the conditions, particularly on the multiple award schedule, such that possibly those deviations would no longer be needed, and I'll defer to those customers."
 
Despite Sharpe's support of DoD, and presumably NASA too, industry experts aren't happy with this growing trend. Several sources say DoD, and now NASA, aren't solving a problem with the schedules, but rather not addressing a problem with the training of contracting officers. Read Full Article.

 

 

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Tags: Gsa Bpa Gsa schedule Gsa schedule awards Government procurement Gsa schedule pricing
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GSA increases contract duplication one solicitation at a time
Aug 26, 2014

A little over two weeks ago GSA awarded the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) Office Supply 3 (OS3) Indefinite-Quantity-Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) contracts—the third generation FSSI for office supplies. These new OS3 IDIQ contracts duplicate the current GSA Schedule 75 for office supplies—so much so that the OS3 solicitation used GSA Schedule 75 pricing as a benchmark. Moreover, for those GSA Schedule 75 contractors who now have OS3 contracts—the OS3 contract terms require pricing consistency across both vehicles, essentially incorporating by reference the operative GSA Schedule 75 contract terms!
 
As a result of this effort, GSA and the firms competing OS3 together spent millions of bid and proposal dollars for a duplicative contract vehicle. Time and money could have been saved through the competitive establishment of BPAs under the GSA Schedule 75. More importantly, task order competitions using the GSA Schedule 75 would have leveraged individual agency requirements in a cost effective and efficient manner.  Read full article.

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GSA Federal Schedule Contracts: Pros And Cons
May 9, 2014

You may have heard that the path to government contracting riches is paved with a General Services Administration (GSA) multiple-award schedule (MAS) contract, also known as a Federal Supply Schedule contract. 

Contracts awarded via the GSA's MAS program are indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicles against which government buyers can place orders directly with the schedule holder for commercial products and services (including of-a-type variations) that the contractor agrees to sell at prenegotiated prices and terms and conditions. GSA puts the items, prices and terms in an online catalog visible to all on the Internet.
 
But while its true schedules hold advantages for sellers and buyers alike, there is no guarantee that you will end up with orders: Of the 5,400-odd companies in possession of a schedule contract for information technology products and services during federal fiscal year 2010, about 39 percent did no schedule business whatsoever. Another 17 percent didn't do business worth more than $100,000.
 
There's a lot to think about when embarking on the GSA schedule process. You need to consider your position in both the private- and public- sector marketplaces, and your plans for the next five years in both sectors before making decisions about your go-to-market strategy and the role of a GSA schedule contract within that strategy.
 
The generic business case for getting a schedule contract is that schedules are the only purchasing program accessible by all federal agencies. Schedules also let contracting officers narrow the field of potential sellers, permitting them to review and evaluate a handful of quotes rather than dozens, thus speeding the procurement process -- and government buying decisions tend toward the path of least resistance.
 
A schedule means you can sell to federal agencies without contracting officers having to spend time figuring out if you're responsible or capable for each procurement -- GSA has done that already. You can participate in schedule-restricted competitions, and because competition requirements are relatively lower for schedule purchases, also be in a position to sell directly to agencies. And although agencies can further negotiate schedule prices down prior to placing an order, and sellers often discount below the GSA catalog price during order-level competition, schedule prices have gained an official GSA stamp of approval as “fair and reasonable.” As a result, GSA-approved schedule prices can be the basis for a transaction, even if the buyer ultimately uses another contracting method or type.
 
The GSA stamp of approval can mean a lot to companies of a certain size, especially ones that don't have a lot of name recognition within their niches. A schedule contract demonstrates that you have a good past performance record, that you have financial capability, and that you have processes in place to ensure delivery and post-sale support. A schedule says you're a serious business, and serious about getting government business as government contractor.
 
But there are some circumstances under which a company might not need tacit endorsement from GSA.  Read more.

 

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Small businesses often lose in GSA schedule contracts, Hill investigation finds
May 17, 2013

An investigation from the House Small Business Committee found what a lot of contractors have said for years: The General Services Administration's Multiple Award Schedule program doesn't always pay off, and can actually leave companies in the hole.
 
Between fiscal 2008 and 2012, the GSA canceled 3,300 MAS contracts, which give businesses the ability to sell goods and services to agencies, because the companies didn't meet a requirement to make at least $25,000 in sales under the contract per year.
 
Those that had their contracts canceled in a lot of cases are worse off than when they started, having invested anywhere from $6,000 to $40,000 to win the contract, not to mention the time and money required to then bid on purchase orders.
 
"Competing for a federal contracting is not only time-consuming but very costly, especially for small businesses, who often don’t have a large procurement team like larger corporations may have," the committee noted in a released statement.
 
The GSA guarantees that each business will receive at least $2,500 in sales and is required to pay out that amount should the company fall short and lose its contract. The committee found, however, that the GSA has failed to live up to that end of the bargain — and had not paid the required termination costs to small businesses for at least five years.
 
Of the 3,300 companies that had their contracts canceled, 1,334 were eligible for a minimum guaranteed payment from the GSA, and 1,281 of the eligible firms were small businesses. Read full article.

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GSA's ENERGY STAR Buildings Save Taxpayer Dollars
May 1, 2013

15 federal buildings in national building competition make deep cuts in energy use
 
April 30, 2013: Washington, DC -- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that 15 of its buildings saved an estimated $961,470 taxpayer dollars and met top energy benchmarks in the 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition. GSA is meeting energy performance standards in buildings across our portfolio with a variety of strategies, and our efforts are improving federal buildings and saving taxpayer dollars, while easing the government’s impact on the environment.
 
“These 15 buildings saved nearly a million taxpayer dollars, and across our portfolio of federal buildings we are finding ways to bring down costs and deliver better value to the American people,” said Dorothy Robyn, GSA’s Public Buildings Service Commissioner. “GSA is proud to have so many of our buildings meet top rankings in such a wide competition. We are using variety of strategies to make our existing buildings more energy efficient, and they are paying off.”
 
Two of GSA’s facilities achieved energy reductions of more than 30 percent and made it into the top 10 rankings in a competition that included more than 3,000 schools, businesses, and government buildings nationwide.  The Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey achieved a 36.8 percent energy savings and the San Antonio Federal Building in San Antonio, Texas achieved 34.4 savings. GSA had 13 more buildings that were remarkably strong competitors in this contest and reduced energy consumption by at least 20 percent.
GSA’s participation in this contest drove down utility bills and substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions. GSA used advanced meters and smart buildings technology to monitor improvements. Some other examples of the measures taken in these buildings included insulation projects, sealing structures, manually adjusting window shades, using smaller water heaters, and retrofitting light fixtures.
 
The 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition measured energy performance for the entire 2012 calendar year. GSA tracked monthly energy consumption using EPA's free online energy tracking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The energy reductions for each of the top competitors were verified by an independently licensed professional engineer or registered architect. The program calculated cost savings using the national average costs for commercial utilities. More information on the 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition, including top overall finishers and top finishers by building category, an interactive map of competitors, and a wrap-up report: http://www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings.
 
In his 2009 Executive Order, President Obama directed federal agencies to lead by example in their environmental, energy, and economic performance. GSA has made our portfolio of federal buildings more energy efficient through an array of strategies including EPA’s ENERGY STAR programs, Energy Savings Performance Contracts, GSA’s Shave Energy Program, advanced metering, and Green Proving Ground Program.
 
Below is a complete list of GSA’s 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition facilities that reduced energy consumption by at least 20 percent.  Read full article.

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Are You Debating Getting a GSA Schedule?
Oct 24, 2012

GSA Schedules are long-term government-wide contracts that establish set prices and terms for supplies and services.  Because ordering from these established contracts saves government agencies administrative time and money, preference is often given to vendors on a GSA Schedule.

If you are debating on whether or not your company should invest the time and resources in having your company included on a GSA Schedule, consider the following Pros and Cons:

Pros: 
•    A less selective competitive pool (as you will only be bidding against other companies that are already on the GSA Schedule)
•    Access to Request for Proposals and Request for Quotations that are not normally published on FedBizOpps.gov
•    Know who exactly who your competition is
•    An excellent marketing tool for your company—Government Agencies like it that your company has already been pre-vetted by the GSA Schedule selection process!

Cons:
•    Inclusion into the schedule could be a time and resource consuming process
•    The requirements for a GSA Schedule contract award are stringent: you need to demonstrate a history of financial stability, a strong past performance experience, and the capability to meet the service/product requirements
•    The GSA requires prospective vendors to: possess up to date CCR and ORCA records, as well as complete a Readiness Assessment, a Pathway to Success certification, and comply with wage determination labor standards… what does all of this mean?

GovPartners has a 100% success rate in obtaining GSA Schedule contract awards for eligible companies.  We make the process as easy as possible for our clients, providing all of the necessary services for our clients, from the cradle to the grave.  This includes things such as submitting our client’s Open Ratings Reports in the beginning to negotiating acceptable discount terms with the GSA prior to a contract award.

To find out more about our GSA Schedule submission services, click here.

 

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Tags: Gsa schedule Business development Market share Competitiveness
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GSA announces new discount airfares for feds
Aug 12, 2012

The General Services Administration (GSA) said on Thursday, 10 August, that federal travelers can save up to 73 percent off commercial airfare under its City Pairs program beginning Oct. 1, Federal Times reported.

GSA released a list of routes online offered by the program but declined requests for more details on how the program will be changed from current offerings. GSA anticipates the government will save roughly $6 billion annually in reduced airfares through the program.

SA released a list of routes online offered by the program but declined repeated requests for more details on how the program will be changed from current offerings.

GSA anticipates the government will save roughly $6 billion annually in reduced airfares through the program.

One change for fiscal 2013 is the addition of a 48-hour auto-cancellation clause, according to GSA. Airlines will have authority to cancel reservations that have not been paid for 48 hours before the flight departure time. Reservations made less than 48 hours before departure may require immediate payments.

Currently, federal employees can reserve a seat on a City Pairs flight without paying for it. But airlines lose money on empty seats if the employee doesn’t cancel the reservation, airline and travel officials said.

The 48-hour cancellation clause falls short of mitigating the risk that airlines assume in participating in City Pairs, said Jeffrey Haag, government relations manager for Southwest and AirTran airlines. “But it certainly is a step in the right direction,” he said.

Eleven airlines are participating in the City Pairs program in 2013, compared with 13 this year. AirTran Airways is now part of Southwest Airlines, and Mesa Airlines is not participating in the 2013 program. Reference Article.

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GovPartners Awarded MOBIS GSA Schedule
Jul 17, 2012

GovPartners, LLC (GovPartners), a leading provider of government business development and management services, is pleased to announced the company’s recent General Services Administration (GSA) contract award # GS-10F-0369Y , approval for the company to offer acquisition support services to the government. GovPartners has placed management and professional services on the government's electronic ordering system, GSA Advantage!®.

“Our GSA Schedule Award will enable GovPartners to offer complete acquisition and program management solutions to the government market worldwide,” stated Cynthia Karnik, President.  Our convenient location in the Washington, DC metro area has enabled us to indirectly provide government support services as a subcontractor and service provider for over three (3) years, and with our recently awarded GSA Schedule; we look forward to working directly with numerous government agencies and their customers.”

GovPartners has successfully provided quality business development and management services to commercial and government clients, which continues to translate into quality contract acquisitions/ management, with an end result in market growth and expansion.  

About GovPartners

Founded in 2009, GovPartners, LLC, a certified small woman and minority-owned (SWaM) company, provides services to facilitate connections with qualified government business through direct and teaming opportunities. We were formed to support the needs of small and large businesses requiring assistance with business development, proposal writing, acquisition and procurement management, program management, contract administration, quality assurance evaluations, asset deployment assistance, staffing support, and contract compliance monitoring.
 
For more information please contact:
 
GovPartners, LLC
571-252-3868
info@govpartners.com
 

# # # END # # #

 

 

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Government adds rule for acquisitions
Mar 19, 2012

A new federal acquisition rule is seeking to ensure enough competition for purchases made through General Services Administration schedules.

GSA schedules are long-term programs meant to make the buying process easier on federal agencies by pre-negotiating prices and other terms. Multiple companies can hold a spot on a schedule, but they must compete for individual orders, meaning they have to win twice to see actual work.

Earlier this month, the government issued a rule that ensures that all companies on a given schedule — schedules are sorted by type of purchase — are notified of each opportunity worth between $3,000 and $150,000. Opportunities worth more than $150,000 are already governed by traditional procurement regulations.

These contractors must be given the opportunity to to make an offer and have it considered by the contracting officer. Read Full Article.

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SBA's new size limits yield mixed reviews
Feb 21, 2012

The Small Business Administration's recent increase in size limits for small business opens the door to more firms but has evoked mixed reviews from lawmakers and small business organizations, reports Govexec.com.

The National Federation of Independent Business said in a statement that it is not clear why the definition was changed and National Small Business Association spokeswoman Molly Brogan told Govexec that she is concerned "with it lumping together businesses that have different interests and concerns."

But Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), co-author of the Small Business Protection Act with Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), wants the government not to worry about redefining small business but instead add "complementary incentives for advanced [and] growing small businesses."

The new size increase is scheduled to take effect on March 12. Reference Article

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ACT-IAC and GSA Announce Acquisition Excellence 2012
Sep 29, 2011

FAIRFAX, Va., Sep 28, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The American Council for Technology (ACT) - Industry Advisory Council (IAC) and the U.S. General Services Administration today announced that they will jointly host Acquisition Excellence 2012 to provide a collaborative forum to discuss and develop actionable ideas on federal information technology acquisition, policy, and program management issues in these challenging budget times. The collaborative forum will expand and refocus the goals of the Interagency Resources Management Conference, commonly known as IRMCO, and will maintain a two-to-one government to industry ratio. More than 500 government and industry executives are expected to attend the forum on March 29, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"GSA is committed to a collaborative process where government and industry work to improve the government's acquisition and use of IT," said Kathleen Turco, GSA's associate administrator for Governmentwide Policy and Acquisition Excellence 2012 government chair. "GSA selected ACT-IAC, a non-profit educational organization, as our partner for the spring conference based on their proven public-private partnership outreach with the federal IT community. ACT-IAC will be key to helping us transform this event to provide an open and collaborative environment to continue our role in assisting agencies meet IT and acquisition management challenges." Read Full Article

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Preparing To Succeed With a GSA Schedule Contract
Sep 28, 2011

Last year, the federal government spent more than $40 billion through the GSA Schedules program. This year it may well spend even more. A GSA Schedule contract is, quite simply, the easiest point-of-entry into government contracting – the most effective way to get your products or services in front of the world's largest buyer of products and services.

A GSA Schedules contract gives you access to more than 260 federal, state and local government buyers who have an easier time buying from you than they do your competition.

If you know that, you've already applied, or you're planning to.

After all, it seems hard to fail once you have that contract in hand. Yet a remarkable number of companies do just that.

That's not just a one-time missed opportunity. It can mean the end of future opportunities as well. The GSA requires schedule-holders to do at least $25,000 worth of business through their contract in the first two years they hold it, and another $25,000 every year thereafter. Fall short of that number, and they may terminate your contract. Full article.

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GSA:The price-reduction clause to die another day
Aug 29, 2011

Let’s make this clear: The price reduction clause is forever.

The General Services Administration couldn't endure giving up the clause that goes hand-in-hand with its Multiple Award Schedules contracts.

Officials say the clause guarantees that companies don’t overcharge the government. It's intended to ensure that the government gets a price as good as, if not better than, a company’s commercial clients for what’s being sold on the schedules. If a company lowers a price for a client, it has to give the government that price or better. Otherwise, it faces the consequences.

The clause causes headaches for companies and customers, yet officials cannot part with it.

“Because the pricing clause is a mechanism GSA uses to ensure the government is getting at least as good a price as a contractor’s private-sector clients, it is not feasible to change the collection process,” GSA officials wrote in their new report on reviewing the agency’s regulations.

The White House-ordered review of regulations had officials from all agencies hunting for ways to revoke some of their rules, which continue to pile up higher and higher on companies each year. Read full article.

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GSA's Small Business Procurement & Networking Event, October 6
Aug 15, 2011

Don't miss this powerful one day conference featuring procurement and marketing workshops, an opportunity for you to meet and network with GSA program managers, building managers, leasing specialists, senior procurement associates, as well as small business advocates from DOD and other Federal agencies. Attendees will also be exposed to prime contractors seeking to partner with experienced small businesses to help meet and exceed their company's Subcontracting Plan goals.

Date:
October 6, 2011
Registration opens at 8:00 a.m.
Location:
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Don't miss the afternoon Prime Introduction and Networking Session!

Access to Success will close out the day by giving small businesses the chance to hear directly from large prime companies looking for small business subcontractors. These large businesses currently have contracts for major projects with the GSA and other Federal agencies. Prime representatives will introduce their firms in the open forum before they break out into individual meeting rooms. Learn about subcontracting opportunities and their vetting process for selecting small business subcontractors. The Prime participants will include: Clark Construction, Verizon, Level 3, General Dynamics and more. Plan to stay all day; great things don't just happen before lunch! Learn more.

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GSA Opening Doors 2010
Jun 9, 2010

THE Business-to-Government Event of the year, "GSA Opening Doors 2010", will be held in Los Angeles, California on August 9th through August 11th 2010.  

The sixth annual conference will connect small businesses in all categories with multiple agencies at all levels of government for big opportunities in a recovering economy.

Through networking and buyer/seller matchmaking, workshops and exhibits, engaged participants will make lasting connections leading to more business and stronger partnerships in the pursuit of the billions of dollars of government contracts awarded.

For more information, click here: http://www.gsaopeningdoors.com/default.shtm

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GSA CHAMP Meeting 23 APRIL
Apr 5, 2010

Last year, the GSA Centralized Household Goods Traffic Management Program (CHAMP) created a committee consisting of Federal agencies to conduct an annual review of the GSA01 Domestic Tariff and the International provisions of the Household Goods Tender of Service (HTOS). The purpose of this review
is to identify any domestic and/or international provisions that may need modification and/or clarification.

The next committee meeting will take place the first week of May, 2010. At this time, GSA CHAMP is requesting comments from both Federal agencies and household good transportation service providers in regards to any Tariff and/or HTOS provisions that may need clarification or updating. When commenting, please provide a detailed description as to the issue and please include the proper tariff item or HTOS reference number.

Please sumbit your comments to Brian Kellhofer at brian.kellhofer@gsa.gov no later than April 23, 2010. Comments will be reconciled and a response will be provided prior to the release of the 2010-2011 Household Goods Request for Offers, scheduled for release the latter part of August, 2010.

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Is GSA gunning for other GWACs?
Apr 1, 2010

Joanne Woytek, the head of the NASA Scientific and Engineering Workstation Products governmentwide acquisition contract, wrote on my Facebook wall – wow, what a way to communicate this message! -- that an official from the General Services Administration (not Administrator Martha Johnson) plans to meet next week with Dan Gordon, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, to request that Gordon deauthorize the governmentwide Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners contract run by the National Institutes of Health.

Woytek believes that if CIOSP is put out of business, GSA’s next step will be to put SEWP out of business as well.

I am a big fan of GSA and its own governmentwide vehicles, including the schedules, but I strongly believe GSA’s effort to put competing governmentwide contracts out of business is seriously mistaken.

The basic reason is simple: Competition among contract vehicles (including the default alternative of using one’s own contract shop) promotes customer service and innovation, just like competition in other markets. When GSA last monopolized governmentwide vehicles, up through the early 1990s, it provided poor customer service, poor pricing and little innovation. GSA’s loss of its monopoly during the Clinton administration was actually the best thing that ever happened to the agency – they came up with new contract vehicles, much faster service, and other innovations and in the process ended up doing much more business than before.  Read Full Article.

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