Royce Manwiller helps GSA clients by day, goes wild with drums at night
Royce Manwiller – known as “Cook” to friends and colleagues – joined GSA in 1997 working in business development. His duties included tracking orders for customers to make sure their products arrived on schedule where they were supposed to.
Today, Cook is a GSA Customer Service Director in Pennsylvania, helping clients learn how to use GSA Advantage! and e-Buy. These services allow federal buyers to find information and solicit price quotes on goods and services available through GSA Schedules and government-wide acquisition contracts.
“It’s one of the best organizations in the federal government because of what we do,” Manwiller said, speaking of GSA. "This is as good as it gets.”
Manwiller said the part about his job he enjoys most is meeting new people – the same benefits he enjoyed while working as a professional musician before joining GSA.
During the 1960s, Manwiller played drums professionally with various bands. Initially he was self-taught, sneaking into the attic to play on a relative’s drum set stored there. Later, he received several lessons from Buddy Rich – arguably the greatest jazz drummer of all time. At Frankie Valli’s request, Manwiller once filled in on drums for the Four Seasons during one of their concerts.
When he’s not working at GSA, you can catch Cook playing with the band, Cutting Edge Heat. The 10-piece, Philadelphia-based band plays a wide range of music, from Motown, to hip-hop and jazz. He also plays at GSA holiday parties in Crystal City, Va.