Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Commandant plays hardball with industry on buying gear

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Marine CorpsThe top officer of the Marine Corps has a message to industry: Gear delivered to the Marine Corps must arrive faster, in working order, and with adequate parts.

Speaking at a panel of sea service chiefs Monday morning at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space expo near Washington, D.C., Gen. Robert Neller didn’t mince words, telling a crowd dense with industry leaders that a trend of contract award protests was costing the Corps time it couldn’t afford.

“There is the tension: How do you go faster in this world when you’ve got rules that are designed to allow everybody here to compete, and even if you don’t win the bid, you get to protest,” he said. “OK, I understand that; that’s business, that’s money, that’s what you need to do …  But we’ve got an obligation to men and women in our service to give them new gear as soon as we can.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2016/05/16/marine-commandant-plays-hardball-with-industry-on-buying-gear

Navy issues $26 million small business set-aside solicitation for cyber training

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The Navy is looking for a small business to build a curriculum to train their cyber command teams.  The contract to train its cyber command personnel and the Marine Corps is estimated to be worth $26 million.

SPAWARThe service’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command released a combined solicitation for a five-year program to train military personnel and civilians in the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and the Navy’s own Fleet Cyber Command. The $26 million contract, set aside for small business, requires the creation of both online and in-person cybersecurity courses “to meet operational standards at National-level organizations providing support to cyber security missions.”

The solicitation says the training will be aligned to support both services’ ongoing cyber development efforts. The contractor will build the curriculum around an example annual training requirement “and identify knowledge gaps such as computer science theory, information technology networks, cyber security, emerging [offensive and defensive] project technical requirements, and certified ethical hacking skills,” says the solicitation, posted last week.

Keep reading this article at: http://fedscoop.com/navy-marines-cyber-teams-issue-26m-contract-for-training

See the solicitation at: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=4866469831101e5f218c63d7387a909a&_cview=0

 

Marines could do a better job on small biz contracts, IG says

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Marine Corps Systems Command is failing to adequately ensure small business contractors get access to defense contracts, according to an Inspector General’s report.

Marine CorpsThe report found that the Quantico, Virginia-based command had not ensured small business contractors had opportunities to subcontract on 12 prime contracts valued at $221 million, offered no compliance tracking on four contracts, did not follow up on large businesses not meeting small business-goals and awarded contracts without subcontracting plans.

“As a result, small businesses may have been denied subcontracting opportunities that large businesses were required to make a good faith effort to provide,” the report said. “In addition, MCSC contracting officials did not determine whether the prime contractors are making good faith efforts to comply with negotiated subcontracting goals and whether liquidated damages should be assessed.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/acquisition/2015/11/16/marines-could-do-better-job-small-biz-contracts-ig-says/75874242/

 

DoD acquisition heroes during Iraq, Afghanistan? Small biz, universities and DARPA

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You didn’t hear much about them during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but DARPA, small businesses, and universities were the people who most impressed retired Gen. Hoss Cartwright when he was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he and the services scrambled to find weapons to give American troops a combat edge.

“DARPA was incredible to our ability to gain advantage. Small businesses and universities were hotbeds of innovation for us,”  Cartwright said during a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on lessons learned from the last dozen years of war. He made no mention of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, or BAE Systems — or any of the other large defense companies.

What made them special? “Their willingness to take risks… made a huge difference and saved countless lives on the battlefield,” Cartwright said. And he said that in Afghanistan and (previously) Iraq, “[the] battlefield is not driven by platforms” — tanks, ships, planes — which take so long to design, build, and deploy.

Another avenue of innovation at the Pentagon sprang from the acquisition processes of Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which has the right to just buy things in small quantities if it really needs them.

Keep reading this article at: http://breakingdefense.com/2013/11/dod-acquisition-heroes-during-iraq-afghanistan-small-biz-and-darpa/

Want to meet government buyers? Albany, GA is the place to be on Feb. 22nd!

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Ever heard of “speed dating” where couples are matched for short periods of time to see if the chemistry is right?

Well, through a unique event on February 22, the same principle is being applied – EXCEPT it involves matches between local businesses, government agencies, and prime contractors.

If you want the opportunity to meet with buyers from local, state and federal agencies, you can’t afford to miss this event!

On Tuesday, February 22nd, the Albany (GA) Civic Center is the place to put your best marketing techniques to work.  You’ll get a chance to meet with — and present your capabilities to — decision-makers and buyers from representatives of local, state, and federal government agencies, including the State of Georgia, the University System of Georgia, the Georgia Dept. of Corrections, the City of Albany, the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, the Marine Corps Command, the IRS, the General Services Administration, and the federal departments of Commerce, Interior, and Juvenile Justice – among others scheduled to be in attendance.

Along with 15-minute one-on-one meetings with buyers and contracting officials, attendees will have a chance to attend briefings on each of these topics:

  • Business Communications, Elevator Pitches and Capability Statements
  • Reading and Responding to Bid Solicitations
  • The Do’s and Don’ts of Government Contracting
  • Government Market Research
  • SBA’s New Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Certification Program

The featured luncheon speaker for this very special day is Ms. Pat Hanes, Regional Director of the Atlanta National Enterprise Center with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Coffee and informal networking begins at 8:00 am.  The day’s program begins at 9:00 am and runs until 3:00 pm.

This event is completely free, so register now!  Simply click here to register and then hit the “Sign Up” button.

Upcoming vendor conferences — valuable, if you do your homework

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In the next few weeks and months there are many government-sponsored conferences being held to attract small businesses to, and inform small businesses of, government agencies’ upcoming contracting opportunities.

Toward the end of this article, you’ll see a list of many government-related vendor conferences coming up, along with details on how to register.

But before jumping right into that list, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) suggests you take a few preparatory steps.  After all, it’s important that you make a sound decision about whether it’s worth the time, effort, and expense to attend a particular vendor conference.

First of all, small businesses should make no mistake about it: government agencies may need you more than you need them.  Federal agencies are under the gun to ensure that small businesses — including 8(a) firms, companies in HUBZones, service disabled veteran owned small businesses, and others such as women-owned businesses at the subcontract level — get their share of the “contract spend.” 

(Keep in mind that this is especially true as the federal government nears the end of its fiscal year — Sept. 30th of each year.  Contracts must be obligated by that date, or agencies lose those budgeted funds.  In addition to spending by that date, often there’s also a rush to meet small business goals.) 

All this is why agencies host conferences — to demonstrate that they are reaching out to the small business community.

Does that mean that you should attend as many governmental vendor conferences as you can, and that by attending, contracts will begin to fall in your lap?   Hardly. 

From GTPAC’s perspective, government-sponsored vendor conferences run the gamut in value.  Some are well-organized, featuring details on specific, upcoming opportunities as well as access to the decision-makers.  Other conferences, however, can be disappointing, consisting of little more than “a dog and pony show.”

So how do you select a good conference to attend?   How do you reduce the risk that you’ll be attending a conference that has little value to you?

There are several things you should do before deciding to go to a government-sponsored vendor event.  Here is a checklist:

1. Research the conference sponsoring agency’ s forecasted contract opportunities.  Look for the sponsoring agency’s annual procurement forecast on that agency’s website.  Use www.google.com/unclesam and type in the name of the federal agency and “procurement forecast.”  (If that search fails to produce the results you need, check https://www.acquisition.gov/comp/procurement_forecasts/index.html.) One thing for sure, before you attend an event, you want to make sure the sponsoring agency buys what you sell.

2. Find out what contract opportunities will be the subject of the conference.  Even if an agency buys what you sell, you’ll want to make sure that will be the focus of the conference.  Look in the conference announcement — see if the agency identifies specific goods and services that will be the focus of the conference.  Are the NAICS codes for future contracts identified, and do they match-up with yours?

3. Determine whether you’ll get access to decision-makers.  Look for opportunities to meet one-on-one with the people who make the buying decisions.  Good vendor conferences will provide you with the opportunity to meet, on an appointment basis during the event, with agency contracting officials.  See if you can make appointments as a part of the registration process or whether such opportunities exist on-site at the event.  Think outside the box: If you arrive early — or stay late — will you be able to spend time with the people who award contracts?

4. Once you select a conference, prepare yourself.  Remember, only one-third of the “action” occurs at the event itself.  You should spend the first third of your time preparing to attend.  And another third should be spent in follow-up, after the event.  If you are not prepared to make this much of an investment of your time, maybe you shouldn’t attend.  To help you prepare, attend, and follow-up, we recommend you read our detailed article at:  http://gtpac.org/2012/12/14-tips-for-attending-a-government-expo-or-trade-show.  Your GTPAC Counselor will be glad to elaborate on this topic and provide you with additional advice.  You can find our contact information right here.

Now, what you have been waiting for:  The information about upcoming government vendor shows.  Here they are:

2011 Conferences

2010 Conferences (Note: Conference materials are posted on many past conferences.)

© 2011 Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center – All Rights Reserved.

Gates takes ax to Defense programs to end ‘culture of endless money’

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled steep cuts to several pricey and deeply entrenched weapons programs last Thursday as part of sweeping reforms to the department’s budget planned during the next half-decade.

During an afternoon news conference at the Pentagon, Gates announced the Defense Department had identified a total of $154 billion in efficiencies over the next five years through cuts to overhead, improving business practices and eliminating troubled programs.

The service agencies will be allowed to keep and reinvest roughly $70 billion, though $28 billion from those funds would be directed to higher-than-expected operating expenses, including fuel, maintenance, health care and training costs.

The department also announced it would bring down the overall size of the U.S. fighting force by trimming the Army by 49,000 soldiers and the Marines by 20,000 starting in fiscal 2015. That decrease would be first for the armed forces since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The secretary stressed that the program decisions amounted to a reduction in the overall rate of growth at the department rather than a decline in total defense spending. “My hope is what had been a culture of endless money . . . will become a culture of savings and restraint,” Gates said.

On the chopping block is the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, an armored, high-speed amphibious assault vehicle that has been in the planning stages since the Reagan administration. The $14 billion program has experienced multiple testing delays and cost increases. Thus far, Defense has spent $3 billion on the project.

The Marines had expected to purchase 573 of the floating tanks, but on Thursday Gates terminated the program altogether in his planned 2012 Defense budget. Gates acknowledged this was a “controversial decision,” but he noted the department could not afford a program that would “essentially swallow the entire Marine vehicle budget.” Rather, the Marines will upgrade their existing fleet of amphibious vehicles.

“Despite the critical amphibious and warfighting capability the EFV represents, the program is simply not affordable given likely Marine Corps procurement budgets,” said Marine Corps Gen. James Amos. “The procurement and operations-maintenance costs of this vehicle are onerous.”

Some industry analysts believe the department is being short-sighted with the EFV decision. Loren Thompson, who runs the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, a defense think tank, argued there is no safer way to get Marines ashore than the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. “The bottom line is the Marine Corps either gets EFV or it loses a lot of men doing the mission the old fashioned way,” said Thompson, who serves as an adviser to several major defense contractors.

Gates also announced plans to delay by two years the Marine Corps’ version of the F-35 fighter jet because of significant testing problems. The secretary said the program, run by Lockheed Martin Corp., would be reviewed for the next two years to see whether it demonstrates increased reliability. If the program does not show improvements, it could face termination, Gates said.

The Army also canceled plans to purchase a surface-to-air missile defense system being developed by Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed that the program cuts actually would “improve our readiness. We can do things smarter and more efficiently.”

The department also on Thursday elaborated on previously announced plans to eliminate $100 billion in overhead costs and inefficiencies from the Defense budget. The Air Force identified $34 billion in proposed efficiencies, while the Army and Navy found $29 billion and $35 billion, respectively, in potential savings.

Nonservice agency offices, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, identified $54 billion in potential cuts through consolidating information technology support; a hiring and salary freeze; a reduction in generals, admirals and civilian executives; the elimination of hundreds of nonmandatory reports; and an increase in TRICARE health premiums for military retirees. In addition, a 10 percent reduction for each of the next three years in service support contracting is expected to save the department $6 billion, Gates said.

To take effect, the program cuts must still be approved by Congress, and top Republicans already are expressing skepticism.

These proposed cuts “are being made without any commitment to restore modest future growth, which is the only way to prevent deep reductions in force structure that will leave our military less capable and less ready to fight,” said Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “This is a dramatic shift for a nation at war and a dangerous signal from the commander in chief.”

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Defense proposals would be discussed as part of the normal budgeting hearing process. But he stressed the need for a new Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. “The Marine Corps needs a next-generation amphibious vehicle,” Levin said. “The nation needs us to build and buy that vehicle at a reasonable cost.”

Gates briefed the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Defense Appropriations committees on Thursday morning.

The Pentagon’s proposed budget for 2012, which includes funding for the wars, is expected to be $553 billion, or about $13 billion less than it had expected.

— By Robert Brodsky – GovExec.com –  January 6, 2011

Defense insourcing to continue at military services

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When Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in August that the Pentagon was scaling back its insourcing initiative because it wasn’t generating enough cost savings, many in the contracting universe let out a not-so-silent cheer. But the victory party might have been premature.

Military services have continued with previously announced plans to bring thousands of private sector positions back in-house. And those efforts are expected to pick up steam next year.

Department officials confirmed on Tuesday that the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are exempt from a fiscal 2011 billet freeze, allowing them to continue with their insourcing plans. Other Defense agencies will see their ranks frozen. Unless contracted work is being inappropriately performed, or “compelling circumstances” for insourcing are provided, those jobs will remain with the private sector, they said.

“Insourcing was not canceled as a result of Secretary Gates’ efficiency directives,” said Thomas Hessel, a senior analyst in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in an e-mail to Government Executive. “No insourcing programs were canceled. Insourcing is a statutorily required workforce-shaping tool/process to appropriately align work between private and public sectors.”

Defense officials explained that the most significant policy change arising from Gates’ speech is that insourcing will no longer result in an automatic or assumed federal position increase to replace contracted services.

As of June 30, more than 16,500 new civilian positions have been established across the department as a result of insourcing contracted services, Hessel said. More than half of these positions were brought in-house because the work was determined to be inherently governmental, closely associated with inherently governmental, or otherwise exempt from private sector performance, he said.

“Moreover, on a case-by-case basis at the organizational level, DoD components are finding that they can generate savings or efficiencies through insourcing certain types of services or functions,” Hessel wrote.

The initiative will add 12,000 new civilian positions in fiscal 2011, Hessel said.

The Pentagon’s insourcing efforts have caused growing confusion and consternation in private industry.

“This has not been a very transparent process,” said John Palatiello, president of the Business Coalition for Fair Competition, an industry group that called on the Obama administration to impose an immediate moratorium on insourcing. “The companies that are involved have not been given a lot of information and they don’t know what the rules and criteria are.”

On Monday, the coalition sent a letter to Daniel Gordon, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget, citing 17 examples of insourcing projects that have continued at Defense in areas such as meteorology services, library administration and anti-terrorism protection.

In each instance, the coalition says the work does not meet the strict criteria for insourcing. Gordon told Government Executive in August that insourcing should be occurring only for positions that are inherently governmental; in critical functions where an agency feels it has lost control of its mission or operation; or when a detailed cost analysis has been conducted to show savings for the government. The group wants Defense or OMB to issue new guidance on the criteria for canceling or moving forward with insourcing projects.

The coalition cited job conversions for the Army and the Air Force, and neither responded to requests for comment about their insourcing plans. The Navy confirmed on Monday that it plans to establish roughly 10,000 civilian positions by fiscal 2015 through insourcing contracted services. The jobs would be focused on acquisition, cybersecurity and financial management, department officials said.

“With guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of the Navy is continuing to pursue insourcing,” said Cmdr. Victor Chen, a Navy spokesman. “The recent announcement by the secretary of Defense did not cap or freeze the number of authorized and funded manpower billets in the [Navy].”

The Navy’s “insourcing goal is to ensure the appropriate mix of military, civilian and contractor support to perform its functions; rebuild internal capabilities to enhance control of the mission and operations; and reduce workforce costs as appropriate,” Chen said.

In 2009, Defense officials announced they would cut 33,000 service support contractors by 2015. The Pentagon had planned to replace those contractors during the next five years with 39,000 new full-time government employees, many coming from insourcing.

On Aug. 9, Gates said, “We weren’t seeing the savings we had hoped from insourcing.” He noted insourcing projects at nonmilitary departments that were already planned for fiscal 2010 would be allowed to continue, as well as conversions for acquisition support positions.

At military installations throughout the country, little has changed since Gates’ announcement. The Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, for example, still plans to insource hundreds of private sector jobs — an initiative that is now about 75 percent complete.

“We are executing the plan we laid out to the business community in 2009, based on our guidance from our higher headquarters, Army Materiel Command,” said Kim Henry, a spokeswoman for the command. “We will continue to implement our strategy as planned, until told otherwise by our higher headquarters.”

Several contractors who stand to lose projects to insourcing have hired attorneys and are planning to litigate their cases in court. In at least one case, the Air Force canceled an insourcing proposal when faced with potential court action. Several additional cases have been filed but not yet heard by the court, industry officials said.

Elsewhere contractor employees whose jobs are on the line remain hopeful for a last-minute reprieve.

The Air Force, for instance, announced plans in 2009 to insource 55 firefighter jobs and other contract security and management positions at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., a government-owned, contractor-operated facility.

“Nothing has changed for the firefighters since Gates made his announcement,” said Capt. Raymond S. Bower, who serves as president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-25. “We have received no news from the [Air Force] regarding any changes.”

A lack of clarity also hangs over the proposed conversion of several hundred flight simulator instructor positions at five Air Force bases in Oklahoma, Texas and Mississippi. The Air Force originally estimated converting the private sector positions to civil service jobs would save taxpayers $480,000 during the next five years — or about 0.2 percent of the total cost of the contract.

According to documents Lear Siegler Services obtained, the incumbent contractor at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma, the Air Force’s price analysis might have been flawed. Documents show the cost of continuing with the contractor was based on work at five bases, while the price for using federal employees included only four. The contractor suggests the insourcing plan actually would cost taxpayers $27.5 million.

In an e-mail to a Lear Siegler Services employee in August, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz wrote the service “will pursue a course of action consistent with both the guidance from the Department of Defense and the Air Force’s best interests.”

Members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation wrote to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley in August requesting more information on the insourcing plan — which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 1 — and an explanation of the disputed cost analysis.

The private sector training instructors, meanwhile, are awaiting a final decision on their fate.

“We are all taking unnecessary salary cuts, the cost to the taxpayer and government is drastically increasing, the mission is being negatively affected, and morale is low,” said one contractor employee. “We are all former military officers and pilots and feel like we have been treated much like cattle.”

—  By Robert Brodsky – GovExec.com – September 7, 2010

NDIA hosts Albany Marine Corp base tour Oct. 14

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The Georgia Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is hosting a tour of the US Marine Corp Logistics Base (MCLB) Logistics Command and Defense Maintenance Center (DMC) in Albany, GA on October 14, 2010.

The Marine Corp base  in Albany is one of the larger and more diverse military logistics and maintenance centers in the United States with a global presence supporting Marines from the Americas to the Middle East.  The Oct. 14th event will provide an insider’s view with briefings and tour on defense logistics and maintenance on a grand scale and how-to-do-business-there info for small businesses.  The tour has been described as an excellent way to develop new business leads.  

The tour size is limited to the first 50 to sign up, and it is open to NDIA and non-NDIA members alike.

Complete details on the agenda and cost can be found at http://www.ndia-georgia.org.

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