Integrity. If you were to come to my office you would
find three words in capital letters on my whiteboard. Those words are:
"INTEGRITY," "LOYALTY" and "FUN." These are words that I choose to live by and
how I value other people and organizations.
Integrity is always first, above all else. Integrity is first among our values at GSA. Integrity is not something one can prove one
has by talking about it--it is something one demonstrates one has by living it
every minute of every day. For those of
us in the acquisition workforce, it is imperative that we demonstrate that not
only do we have integrity but that our processes do as well.
When it comes to our processes, we demonstrate our
integrity by providing for the maximum practicable competition and making our
processes as transparent as practicable in the context of conducting business. For those of you who are students of history
or government, or just happen to have read the biography of John Adams, you
know that since the inception of our government, getting competition and
providing transparency into the processes used has been the focus of our
leaders. Keeping good accounts and
getting value for the taxpayer has been the hallmark of our acquisition system
and the vision of every administration since George Washington was sworn in. We, the members of the acquisition
workforce, are the gatekeepers for our acquisition process. If we aren't ardent advocates for
competition and transparency, who will be?
This doesn't mean we throw up roadblocks, it means we facilitate the
process to get what our customers want by using the system to deliver elegant,
compliant solutions.
As to personal integrity, it is unfortunate that
over the last several years a number of our fellow associates gave away their
integrity in pursuit of personal gain.
What can be said about someone who gives away the most precious thing he
or she has, their integrity? We all
know that nobody can take our integrity from us. We also know that once given away, getting one's integrity back is
very hard, and sometimes impossible.
Combine a loss of integrity in the process with the loss of personal
integrity and our whole system comes crashing down. Public trust and confidence is eroded and our leaders begin to
look for new ways to make sure the system doesn't fail - often this results in
new rules. Consider the foregoing with
the news last week that another of our colleagues was convicted on his plea of
guilty for taking a bribe as a contracting officer. I know that there is nothing we can do to stop those who are
determined to break the law. The fact
that we can't stop them from intentionally breaking the law doesn't mean that
the rest of us can't impact public perception by demonstrating every day that
we have integrity. We don't tolerate those among us who do not value integrity
and we greatly outnumber those few associates who are determined for whatever
reason to give up their integrity. For
us this means that we must think about the impact our words and actions have
and be sure that we don't accidentally give up our integrity, even for what may
appear to be a laudable goal, servicing the customer.
From the Desk of the Editor by Judy Steele
Spring
is here and it’s time to get updated on the latest in acquisition news and seek
out some training opportunities to tune up your acquisition skills! In this edition we focus on changes to
reviewing unsolicited proposals. Be
sure to brush up on the best in Performance-Based Service Acquisition by
checking out new additions to the online Seven Steps Guide. The Federal Procurement Data System-Next
Generation (FPDS-NG) has many features and functions that you may not know
about—check out the article on FPDS-NG titled “Did You Know?” In this edition,
PBS discusses the use of FedTeDS, an IAE initiative; and Region 1 details a
successful partnering “green” acquisition for carpeting the JFK Federal
Building. Keep JWOD products in mind
when filling requirements. To make that
easier to do, get a copy of the new 2004 JWOD Catalog, which is now available.
Wonderful
training opportunities await you at the 2004 Federal Acquisition Conference and
Exposition (FACE 2004). Early bird
registration ends April 9 so get registered NOW! Online and classroom training opportunities are available through
FSS’s Center for Acquisition Excellence.
To make it
easier
for busy acquisition professionals to locate training opportunities, in this
edition we begin a new column--“Check It Out!”--which will highlight upcoming
conferences and events of interest to the GSA acquisition community. If you’d like to have your conference or
event listed in this column, send an email to the Editor with the pertinent
information and a point of contact.
And
finally, CONGRATULATIONS! to Rhonda Cundiff, whose accomplishments are
featured in this month’s “Spotlight on Excellence.”
Correction:
The
article, “Do You Know a JWOD Program Supporter?” included in the Winter 2004
edition of the newsletter incorrectly stated that Mr. Steven Arginteanu was the
most recent GSA employee to receive the E. R. “Dick” Alley Career Achievement
Award from the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled. While Mr. Arginteanu won the
award in 2000, the most recent GSA recipient of this award was actually Donna
Hutchens, Team Leader, Contract Services Team, in the Northwest/Arctic
Region of GSA’s Public Buildings Service, who was recognized in 2001. Ms. Hutchens has supported the JWOD Program
for over 25 years and helped create nearly 300 jobs for people with disabilities
on janitorial and administrative support contracts in her region. Ms. Hutchens has also assisted in the
creation of employment opportunities for people with severe disabilities
outside of her region by her consistent advocacy of the JWOD Program to other
GSA regions and Federal agencies. We
congratulate her on her accomplishments!
We
welcome any comments, suggestions and articles for the newsletter. The “Forum” is here to meet the needs of the
GSA acquisition community and we can’t do that without your input! We also welcome any individually authored
articles on acquisition issues that would be of interest to the GSA acquisition
audience. Please contact the Editor,
Judy Steele, at judy.steele@gsa.gov or (202) 501-4994 with comments or
suggestions.
“FAR-Cited” by Jerry Zaffos
QUESTION: Why doesn't
the FAR Directorate (or someone at the CO level) make the FAR (and FAR updates)
available in Word for Windows format?
Why only HTML and PDF? I suspect
everyone in GSA who uses the FAR needs it in Word format.
ANSWER: The FAR is
maintained in HTML and PDF formats for a number of reasons. One reason is that these formats make it
easier to incorporate the revisions contained in the FAR Circulars. These formats are freely available to users
in and outside the government, whereas not every user has access to Word.
Another reason is that the formatting in Word is
dependent on the user’s printer set up.
For example, a visit to the GSAM site will disclose that the GSAM is
formatted using the settings of the HP LaserJet 4000. When the GSAM is printed using a different printer, the printed
edition will not look the same as the screen edition.
If a user wants to copy sections of the FAR into a
solicitation or correspondence, the easiest way is to highlight the pertinent
section of the FAR in HTML, right click, COPY and then PASTE the section in the
Word document you are working on. You
may have to reformat the text to match the font you are using for the rest of
the document.
If you have any questions about the FAR
including where the FAR covers a specific topic, please send them to the Editor
to be answered in the next edition of the newsletter.
Unsolicited
Proposals Rule by Julia Wise
The Federal government looks to the private
sector to assist in the accomplishment of its mission and program
objectives. The government’s policy is
to encourage the submission of novel and unique ideas in response to Broad
Agency Announcements, Small Business Innovation Research topics, Small Business
Technology Transfer Research topics, Program Research and Development
Announcements, or any other government-initiated solicitation or program. When
the innovative ideas do not fall under topic areas publicized under those
programs or techniques, the ideas may be submitted as unsolicited proposals.
There
are a number of applicable regulations relating to criteria governing
acceptance of an unsolicited proposal; principally, they are:
· Title 48 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR),
Chapter 1,
· FAR Subpart 15.6 Unsolicited
Proposals; and
· Title 48 CFR, Chapter 9, the Department of
Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) Subpart 915.6 Unsolicited Proposals.
DOD, GSA, and NASA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register at 68 FR 33330, June 3, 2003, to revise the FAR to implement Section 834 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296). Section 834 adds new considerations concerning the submission, receipt, evaluation, and acceptance or rejection of unsolicited proposals. It requires that: · a valid unsolicited proposal not address a previously published agency requirement;
· before initiating a comprehensive evaluation, the agency must determine that the proposal contains sufficient cost-related or price-related information for evaluation; and
· it has overall scientific, technical, or socioeconomic merit.
The final rule will be published in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC)-01-22 and the FAR will be revised to incorporate these changes in FAR Subpart 15.603( c) and 15.606-1. For more information, contact Julia Wise at julia.wise@gsa.gov or (202) 208-1168.
PBSA Online Guide Update
The purpose of the Seven Steps to Performance-Based
Service Acquisition (PBSA) Online Guide is to be the one-stop resource for all
PBSA information to assist the acquisition community
in awarding performance-based acquisitions.
The Guide is updated constantly with new policies and regulations,
guidance, and now samples and examples.
To see the new additions to the Guide, “Vetted Samples and Examples,” go
to www.acqnet.gov, click on “Library,” and “Executive Version
(hardcopy),” see the “Executive Summary,” and click on Download Executive
Version.
PBSA information is still being sought, especially
samples or examples of best practices, performance work statements, performance
incentive plans, performance measures and standards, and quality assurance
surveillance plans for any service. To
contribute to the PBSA repository of information, please submit documents to SevenStepstoPBSA.Feedback@gsa.gov.
For more information, contact Julia Wise at julia.wise@gsa.gov or (202)
208-1168.
The Federal
Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) is the new data collection
system for procurement information governmentwide. It went “live” October 1, 2003, and began accepting procurement
data from departments and agencies that day.
FPDS-NG is funded through contributions from many departments and
agencies and its goals are to make procurement information available to
decision makers “real time,” have more accurate information, and save money
through elimination of redundant related systems (feeder systems and data
warehouses).
Did you know that you can now run your own reports from a list of pre-canned
reports available on FPDS-NG?
Did you know that you will soon be able to design your own report online to extract
whatever information you need from the FPDS-NG website?
Did you know that there are three ways to enter data into FPDS-NG?
· Contract writing system sends directly to FPDS-NG real
time.
· Agency batch reporting to FPDS-NG (like the reports to the old
FPDS).
· Direct entry using the data entry screens on the FPDS-NG
website, if you do not yet have a contract writing system or batch system in
place.
Did you know that reports from FPDS-NG on your procurement performance are useless
if you did not report your contract actions?
Did
you know that the Federal Acquisition Council and OMB
have determined that agencies should get rid of batch systems that report to
FPDS-NG and replace them with systems such as contract writing systems that
report directly to FPDS-NG on a real time basis?
Did
you know that the FPDS-NG system is going to change much more frequently than
the old FPDS system to add and modify data elements that are reported to
FPDS-NG? However, you will receive
advance notice of those changes and, even if you do not adapt your contract
writing system (or batch system) to the new changes, the FPDS-NG software
allows you to use old formats until you have made the change. FPDS-NG is backward compatible for version
changes.
Did you know that help is available from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM (EST) at the FPDS-NG
Help Desk? They can tell you how to do
things that are confusing you and they can tell you how the system works or who
to talk to if you do not have the system rights you need.
Did
you know there is an active program to track problem calls at the FPDS-NG Help
Desk in order to find system bugs and fix them? If you find a problem with the FPDS-NG screens, procedures,
output, etc., call the Help Desk and turn it in. A bug fix will be started and a number will be assigned. You will be able to track that bug fix
through its development all the way to production.
For
more information, contact Jerry Olson, FPDS Program Manager, at
jerry.olson@gsa.gov or (202) 501-3221.
Register Now for the Federal Acquisition Conference and Exposition
2004 (FACE 2004)! By Barbara Plevelich
Online registration is now
available for this year’s Federal Acquisition Conference and Exposition 2004
(FACE 2004). To register, go to www.fai.gov/face. The conference will be held June 2-3, 2004 at the Hyatt Regency
Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, and June 22-23 at the Dayton Marriott in
Dayton, Ohio.
The theme of this year’s
conference, Partnering for Performance, emphasizes the need for strategic
partnerships between contracting professionals, program managers and private
sector counterparts. Federal
acquisition professionals and industry partners are invited to attend. FACE 2004 features agency and industry
experts, networking opportunities, a wide range of exhibitors, plenary and
breakout sessions, and an awards banquet.
Featured speakers include the
administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, several Senior
Procurement Executives, and other knowledgeable acquisition and industry
professionals. The conference features
several breakout sessions on two program tracks, People and Projects, and Smart
Contracting. Topics covered in the breakout sessions were generated by
conference sponsor, the Federal Acquisition Council, and include human capital,
program management, competitive sourcing, performance based contracts, and
e-commerce, among others.
The conference awards banquet
will feature several awards for outstanding acquisition professionals presented
at a dinner on June 2. The awards
include the Ida Ustad Award for Excellence in Acquisition, a $5,000 award
presented to a government employee who embodies the “contract specialist as business
leader/advisor” concept. The
Procurement Round Table will present the Elmer Staats Award for Young
Acquisition Professional Excellence, a $5,000 award given to a young Federal
acquisition professional that makes significant contributions to acquisition
operations or policy. Additionally, the Performance Institute will present the
Excellence in Performance-Based Service Acquisition Award. (See more information on this below.)
Exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities
are also available for the conference. Exhibitors may register for booth space
at one or both conferences by visiting www.fai.gov/face. There is an exhibitor discount for those
exhibiting at both venues and exhibitor benefits include two full complimentary
conference registrations, mention in the conference program and exposure on the
website.
For more information on the
conference, please visit www.fai.gov/face or e-mail face@sra.com. Early bird conference registration deadline
is April 9, 2004.
The Federal
Acquisition Conference & Expo (FACE) awards dinner will be held at 6 p.m.,
on June 2, 2004, at the Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, Virginia.
GSA is
partnering with the Performance Institute to sponsor a governmentwide
award. The Excellence in
Performance-Based Service Acquisition Award is a $2,500 governmentwide award
recognizing an individual who has made a significant contribution or has been a
driving force in a performance-based acquisition. This award serves as incentive for acquisition professionals to
continue to improve their use of performance-based contracting. The deadline for nominations for the 2004
Excellence in Performance-Based Service Acquisition Award has been extended to April 9, 2004. For more information on nominating an
individual and nomination forms, go to http://www.acqnet.gov. For more information, please visit
www.excellenceinacquisition.org or contact Beverly Cromer at
beverly.cromer@gsa.gov or (202) 501-1448.
Congratulations to Rhonda Cundiff, Procurement Analyst with
the Office of Acquisition Policy! The
Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) is honoring her, among other GSA
recipients, with their “Above and Beyond” Award recognizing achievements in
advancing GSA’s Small Business program.
As the small business acquisition policy expert within GSA, Ms. Cundiff
works closely with OSBU in an effort to achieve the GSA goal to provide maximum
practicable opportunities in its acquisitions to small business, veteran-owned
small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small
business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business
concerns.
The
OSBU is specifically recognizing Ms. Cundiff for her efforts on two policy
initiatives that advance small business participation. Ms. Cundiff made a highly significant
contribution to the extremely visible contract bundling strategy mandated by
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in response to the President’s
Small Business Agenda. The contract
bundling rule will increase Federal contracting opportunities for small
business and strengthen compliance with subcontracting plans among other
things. The second initiative the OSBU
is recognizing Ms. Cundiff for is GSA Acquisition Letter MV-03-01, Federal
Acquisition Regulation Class Deviation – Size of Business Re-representation.
This policy will not only improve the accuracy of small business participation
reporting but also ensure that companies that are no longer small fulfill the
responsibilities associated with being a large business.
Rhonda,
Well Done!!
If
you would like to spotlight the accomplishments of an outstanding GSA
acquisition professional, send an article outlining their accomplishments and a
photo (if available) to the Editor, judy.steele@gsa.gov.
FSS Acquisition Training News
Increase your acquisition knowledge and skills
through the Federal Supply Service’s FSS Center for Acquisition Excellence
(“the Center”). The Center is a virtual
campus designed to meet your training needs in relation to the GSA Multiple
Award Schedule (MAS) program. The
Center was developed to target three specific audiences: MAS customers, businesses seeking to
participate in and market their services and products through the MAS program,
and FSS associates.
The Center provides an online training course,
"Basic Contracting for the GSA Schedules Program - FSS Personnel,"
designed to teach FSS associates how to effectively award MAS contracts. Another online course, "Using GSA
Schedules – Customers," is available to teach Federal customers and other
authorized MAS users how to properly place orders against the MAS program. Additionally, an online course entitled
"Cooperative Purchasing Program" is available to assist state and
local government customers in understanding the rules and regulations governing
the MAS program. Finally, the Center
will soon offer a course for FSS business partners, both online and in the
classroom. This course will be aimed
specifically at vendors to instruct them in how the MAS program works and what
steps they need to take to receive a MAS contract. All of the online courses are self-paced. At successful course completion, students
receive a course completion certificate.
In addition to the online training, we offer, at
no-cost, a classroom version of the FSS customer course, taught by certified
instructors. This 2-day course can also
be tailored to fit a customer's specific needs by placing special emphasis on
particular aspects of the Schedules program that are of interest to that
customer.
So, the choice is yours . . .
Whether you prefer your training online or in the
classroom, the FSS Center for Acquisition Excellence meets the training needs
of today’s acquisition professionals.
For more information and to find out what’s new, log on to
www.fsstraining.gsa.gov or email fss.training@gsa.gov.
Public Building Service (PBS) Acquisition News:
The Federal Technical Data Solution (FedTeDS) is a web
application developed under e-Gov's Integrated Acquisition Environment
(IAE). FedTeDS enables the distribution
and dissemination of Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) acquisition material
related to solicitations found on FedBizOpps.gov, the single government point-of-entry
for Federal government procurement opportunities. FedTeDS is designed to safeguard sensitive acquisition related
information during the solicitation phase of the procurement cycle.
FedTeDS expands the functions of an existing
Department of Defense (DoD) system for use by Federal civilian agencies. Examples of information protected by FedTeDS
include construction drawings; drawings of bridges, dams, aquifers, and lakes;
Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP); schedules, work hours, and security clearance
requirements.
Although the Federal acquisition community
disseminates solicitation data openly via the Internet and via CDs, in a
post-9/11 world it became obvious that certain solicitation information,
especially in aggregate, might present hazards to National Security. Currently,
over 90 Federal agencies are disseminating Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU)
acquisition materials during the solicitation phase of procurement via the
Internet. This material includes
information related to operations, systems, structures, individuals and services
essential to the security and management of a facility, including
telecommunications, electrical power, building facility structural layout, gas
and oil storage/transportation, water supply, emergency services, and the
continuity of operations. FedTeDS was developed to address the above concerns.
Some of the benefits of using FedTeDS include:
· Improved efficiency, credibility, and effectiveness of the
acquisition and logistics support process by streamlining the Federal
procurement process;
· Real time vendor access to SBU acquisition material, saving
government agencies valuable time and dollars;
· Additional security from a physical firewall between the Federal
government and its public customers without decreasing vendor satisfaction; and
· Ability to use existing DoD databases to validate a user's
access to export controlled data.
FedTeDS marks another milestone in IAE, which is one of the President’s e-Government initiatives. FedTeDS.gov successfully launched February 19, 2003. The system is a collaborative effort by GSA; a team comprised of a number of Federal agency partners jointly lead by U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and DoD; and IBM.
GSA/PBS has embraced this
system and is currently successfully using it to post its sensitive but unclassified
solicitations. The PBS point of contact
is Jacquelyn Owens, PXRP, at (202) 208-2339.
Interest from other agencies should be directed to Richard Clark, JECPO,
at (703) 681-2156, clarkr@ncr.disa.mil.
Green Acquisition in Region 1
The
John F. Kennedy Federal Building was built in 1966 and consists of a 27 story
high-rise attached to a low-rise consisting of 7 stories. The building houses regional offices for
several agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Housing and Urban
Development, Veterans Administration (VA), Department of Labor, and several
smaller agencies. Due to the large
number of agencies in the building, carpet replacement and refurbishment is an
ongoing process.
The
recent carpet replacement project for the VA has been contracted by GSA to
Interface Flooring, headquartered in Atlanta, GA. In their Sustainability Brief, Interface displays the company’s “Reclamation
Program” including Reentry, Recycling, Upcycling, Downcycling and
Repurposing.
ReEntry is
a program to divert all types of carpet from landfills. To date they have diverted more than
3,000,000 yards.
Recycling is
the technique used by Interface to turn waste materials into new materials of
the same value, such as vinyl backing into vinyl backing.
Upcycling involves
turning waste materials into more valuable products such as using waste plastic
from soda bottles to create Terrace panel fabric.
Downcycling creates
less valuable products from waste materials.
An example of this would be turning nylon face fiber into car parts or
carpet padding
Repurposing allows
a product to be reused by donating to a charitable organization or individual.
Understanding the
methods and processes used to recycle carpet tiles has given GSA Property
Management a valuable means to accomplish recycling goals and to meet future
environmental challenges. In the
recycling project at the JFK Building, the carpet tiles were evaluated to
determine the type and condition of the vinyl to see if it could be used as
feedstock for high-recycled content backing.
If it meets a certain quality standard, the backing is separated from
the face fiber via grinding and a separation process. The separated backing material is then made into a sheet that is
incorporated as one layer of the finished backing product. All products should have a total recycled
content of no less than 40% with a minimum of 20% post consumer recycled
content. If the carpet can be reused it
will be donated to a charity or non-profit organization. When neither the option of recycling the
carpet tiles or donation is possible, the carpet goes to waste-to-energy. In the waste-to-energy process, the carpet
is heated in a forced-air furnace to create steam. A generator turns the steam into electricity for community use,
reducing the use of fossil fuels. This
is not the preferred solution, but a better option than placing it in a
landfill.
The
combined effort of GSA and Interface in reclaiming, recycling and reusing
carpets tiles at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston has resulted in
the prevention of nearly 225,000 pounds (approximately 30,000 square
yards) of carpet winding up in landfills.
GSA Building Management at the JFK Building, in particular John
McDonald, Buildings Management Specialist, have been partnering with Interface
for the past year to create ways to reduce and eliminate waste in carpet
replacement. John’s “hands on” approach
to installing environmentally preferred carpet and other similar projects has
placed the JFK Building at the forefront of positive environmental policy in
GSA Region 1. It is certain that all future carpet replacements projects at the
JFK Building and throughout New England will be done in the same manner using
environmentally conscious contractors.
For more information on this article, contact Robert J. Wright at (617)
565-7113 or bob.wright@gsa.gov.
The 2004 JWOD Catalog is here!
By
Annemarie Hart-Bookbinder
This
comprehensive, full color catalog (also available in a user-friendly CD-ROM
version) includes over 2,600 SKILCRAFT and other products provided by Americans
who are blind or have other severe disabilities under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day
(JWOD) Program. An electronic version
of the catalog is also available on the website of the National Industries for
the Blind (NIB) at www.nib.org.
Get
your copies of the new JWOD catalog by contacting NIB's customer fulfillment
center (operated by ABVI-Goodwill Industries in Rochester) via email at
customer_service@nib.org or by phone at (800) 433-2304. Please specify whether you would prefer to
receive your copy of the catalog in print format or on CD-ROM.
Check It Out!
“Check
It Out!” is a new column which will highlight upcoming conferences and events
which may be of interest to the GSA acquisition community. If you’d like to have your conference or
event listed in this column, please send an email to the Editor, judy.steele@gsa.gov with the pertinent information and
a point of contact.
NCMA’s
World Congress 2004,
“Maximizing Value to Stakeholders…Contract Management within the Business
Cycle,” April 26-28, 2004 at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Seaworld,
Orlando, Fla. Early bird registration
ends March 31 and hotel reservation cut off is April 2. For more information, contact NCMA at www.ncmahq.org/meetings/WCO4/.
Grace
Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2004, Chicago, October 6-9, 2004. This is the fifth in a series of conferences designed to bring
the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective
fields, representing industry, academia and government communications. Leading researchers present their current
work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology
fields. A link to this conference has
been posted in the KM.gov Calendar. For more information, go to www.gracehopper.org.
**********************************************************
We thank our guest authors
for their contribution to this newsletter. Guest authors express their own
views, which are provided for the information of our newsletter readers.
**********************************************************
We
welcome any comments, suggestions, and articles. We also welcome any individually authored articles on acquisition
issues that would be of interest to the GSA acquisition audience. Please contact the Editor, Judy Steele, at judy.steele@gsa.gov or (202) 501-4994 with comments or
suggestions. Questions for the
“FAR-cited” column can also be submitted to the Editor.