Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

‘Supply Chain Cybersecurity Academy’ hosted by Lockheed Martin on Feb. 27

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The Lockheed Martin Corporation and the National Center for American Indian Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) are inviting interested vendors to participate in the Lockheed Martin Supply Chain Cybersecurity Academy to be held:

  • Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2019
  • Time: 8:15 a.m. Registration – (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. cybersecurity training, plus lunch with Lockheed Martin procurement personnel from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)
  • Location: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, 86 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA

A featured part of this event is a special round table discussion for all Woman Owned Small Business owners to meet and greet Lockheed Martin Aero’s WOSB Advocate.  WOSBs with the potential to fulfill Lockheed Martin’s supply needs are encouraged to attend.

The Lockheed Martin Supply Chain Cybersecurity Academy is designed to be a two-way forum offering small businesses the opportunity to learn about the importance of Cybersecurity in today’s Defense Department environment, and the opportunity to meet with various Lockheed Martin personnel.  Training topics within the area of cybersecurity will include legislation and policy, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), safeguarding covered defense information, cyber incident reporting, best practices, and other key areas.

Space Is Extremely Limited.  No more than two people per company may attend.  If you wish to attend, please complete the  Supplier Registration Form linked not later than February 15, 2019 and send to  orysia.d.buchan@lmco.com with a copy to  george@ncaied.org.

Important Security Requirements.  It’s important that you use the legal name that matches your photo identification.  Only U.S. citizens will be allowed to enter the Lockheed Martin Marietta property.  Also, consult the Visitor Packet linked below.  Once registration is completed, you will receive a follow-up email from Lockheed Martin Security, requesting additional information needed to clear you for visit to the Lockheed Martin facility.  Once completed, returned and accepted, a confirmation email will be sent along with directions to the facility. You will need to bring a photo identification (i.e., driver’s license).

Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first received basis, so please register as soon as possible.

Lockheed: Pentagon negotiators are becoming more unpredictable

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Pentagon negotiators have in recent months become more unpredictable and willing to ignore precedent, Lockheed Martin’s CFO said last week.  The seemingly new approach has slowed down talks on the latest batch of F-35 fighter jets and even on other weapons and gear that the U.S. Defense Department has been buying for decades, Bruce Tanner said.

“It’s not like negotiations were always easy, but I’ll say they were more predictable than they are today,” Tanner said in an interview Monday. “There’s just more things that are being changed or things that you thought were sort of foundational elements of negotiation that maybe weren’t up for negotiation that now seem to be up for negotiation.”

For example, he said, the government now wants companies to eat various costs they once would have been reimbursed for.

“Everyone should be interested in cost reduction, not simply not reimbursing elements of cost that you historically reimbursed,” Tanner said. “That’s a strange way to get cost reduction and, I would argue, a very short-sighted, not helpful, not healthy for the industry and ultimately not healthy for the folks in the Pentagon buying under that strategy to use that approach.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/03/lockheed-pentagon-negotiators-are-becoming-more-unpredictable/146432

Lockheed Martin to pay $5 million to settle contract violations, whistleblowers to receive $920,000

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Lockheed Martin Corporation and subsidiaries Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and Lockheed Martin Utility Services (collectively, Lockheed Martin) have agreed to pay the United States $5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and, in misrepresenting their compliance with RCRA to the Department of Energy (DOE), knowingly submitted false claims for payment.

Energy Dept.The settlement action relates to Lockheed Martin’s contracts with DOE to operate the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Kentucky.

 

The government’s lawsuit alleged that Lockheed Martin violated RCRA, the statute that establishes how hazardous wastes must be managed, by failing to identify and report hazardous waste produced and stored at the facility, and failing to properly handle and dispose of the waste.  The government further alleged that this conduct resulted in false claims for payment under Lockheed Martin’s contracts with the Department of Energy.

Of the $5 million settlement amount, Lockheed Martin will pay $4 million to resolve the government’s False Claims Act allegations and its subsidiaries (Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and Lockheed Martin Utility Services) will each pay $500,000 – $1 million total – in RCRA civil penalties.

Justice Dept. seal - Copy“Government contractors are required to follow the same federal laws that apply to everyone else,” said U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. for the Western District of Kentucky.  “These companies do not get a pass on compliance, especially when their responsibilities include managing and disposing of hazardous waste.  Today’s settlement should serve as a reminder that my office and the Department of Justice will pursue all credible allegations of false claims and of environmental regulatory violations.”

Lockheed Martin operated the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant under contracts with the Department of Energy and a government corporation, the U.S. Enrichment Corporation, from 1984 to 1999.  During that time, Lockheed Martin was responsible for the facility’s uranium enrichment operations.  Enriching uranium increases the proportion of uranium atoms that can be used to produce nuclear fuel for weapons and civilian energy production.  As the name of the plant suggests, the process used was called “gaseous diffusion.”

In addition to uranium enrichment, Lockheed Martin was responsible for environmental restoration, waste management, and custodial care at the site, which occupies 3,500 acres in McCracken County, Kentucky.  Uranium enrichment operations ceased at the plant in 2013.

The settlement resolves two lawsuits filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery.  The lawsuits were filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and several former employees of Lockheed Martin who worked at the Paducah facility.  The United States partially intervened in the lawsuits, which were then consolidated into one action.  The whistleblowers will collectively receive $920,000 from the United States’ portion of the settlement.

The case is captioned United States, ex rel. John David Tillson, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., et al. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., et al., Civil Action No. 5:99CV00170-GNS (W.D. Ky.).  The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.

Source:  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/lockheed-martin-agrees-pay-5-million-settle-alleged-violations-false-claims-act-and-resource

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