February 26, 1999
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Solicitor
Assistant Secretaries
Inspector General
Heads of Bureaus and Offices
Quality of Work Life Executives
FROM:
John Berry
Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management & Budget
SUBJECT: Telecommuting
Last June, I sent a memo to you expressing my support for the Federal Flexible Workplace Project (commonly known as telecommuting). A strong telecommuting program can be a valuable part of our efforts to increase the quality of work life in the Department of the Interior. Telecommuting allows employees to fulfill their job responsibilities at a site other than their principal office one or more days of the week. According to evaluation reports of the Federal Telecommuting Pilot Project, the overwhelming majority of employees and supervisors judged telecommuting arrangements to be a desirable workplace option. In an environment of diminishing resources, telecommuting has proved to be an important tool in increasing productivity and enabling employees to keep on top of ever-increasing workloads. This program also improves the Government's ability to abate pollution and traffic congestion, recruit and retain capable employees, and reduce Federal operating costs.
In order to assist federal agencies, GSA operates a number of telecommuting centers (telecenters) throughout the D.C. metropolitan area. Employees who live in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, who normally commute into D.C., are able to work at a telecenter close to home one or more days a week. To encourage the use of these telecenters, Congress included a provision in the omnibus appropriations bill that requires each agency to spend a minimum of $50,000 for their use. Interior is in the process of setting up an agreement with GSA for this purpose. The $50,000 charge will be divided among the bureaus and the telecenters will be available for use on a first-come-first-served basis.
Please work with your bureau telecommuting coordinator to develop a plan for identifying candidates who would benefit from being able to work at one of these telecenters. A list of GSA-sponsored telecenters is attached for your information. They offer the latest technology as well as on-hand technical support.
If you have any questions about the Department's telecommuting policy, please call Casey Schaffer, Office of Personnel Policy, on 202-208-6107.
Attachment: Telecenter Sites
cc: Bureau Telecommuting Coordinators
Telecenter Sites (as of September 1998)
Additional information on these sites and on non-gsa-sponsored telecenters
in other parts of the country may be found on the GSA web site at
http://www.gsa.gov/pbs/owi/tclist.htm
Maryland
Bowie
Thurgood Marshall Library
Bowie State University
14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie, MD 20715
POC: Charles Turner, (301) 352-4390
Frederick
7340 Executive Way, Suite M
Frederick, MD 21704
POC: Jean Harley, (301) 698-5904
Hagerstown
14 North Potomac Street, Suite 200
Hagerstown, MD 21740
POC: Mary Bray, (301) 745-5601
Southern Maryland (3 Sites)
POC: Danette Campbell, (301) 934-7628
Calvert InTeleWork Center
110 S. Solomon's Island Rd.
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Waldorf InTeleWork Center
128 Smallwood Village Shopping Center
Waldorf, MD 20602
St. Mary's InTeleWork Center
120 MacArthur Blvd; San Souci Plaza
California, MD 20619
National Guard Learning/TeleCenters
(3 sites) POC: Ken McNeill, (410) 429-4514
Laurel
8601 Odelle Road
Laurel, MD 20708
Reisterstown
Camp Fretterd
13610 desert Storm Lane
Reisterstown, MD 21136
White Oak
National Guard Learning Center
12200 Cherry Hill Road
Silver Spring, MD 20904
POC: Charles Turner, (301) 352-4390
Virginia
Northern Virginia (3 Sites)
POC: Larry Siegel, (703) 279-3301
Fairfax City
4031 University Drive; 1st Floor
Fairfax, VA 22030
Herndon (Mar 1998)
768 Center Street
Herndon, VA 22070
Loudoun Co.
100 Carpenter Street; Ste 103
Sterling, VA 20166
Fredericksburg (2 Sites)
POC: Jennifer Alcott, (540) 710-5001
Spotsylvania County
10799 Columbia Drive
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Stafford County
2721 Jefferson-Davis Highway, Suite 11
Stafford, VA 22554
Manassas
9500 Godwin Drive; Building 105
Manassas, VA 22110
POC: Barbara Graziano, (703) 367-3000
Winchester
13 North Loudoun Street
Winchester, VA 22601
POC: Mark Watlock, (540) 678-1909
West Virginia
Jefferson County
401 South Fairfax Blvd.
Ranson, WV 25438
POC: Pete Smith, (304) 728-3051
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