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Small Business in Hurricane Katrina Recovery Participation

As prepared for delivery.

Statement of Lurita Doan
Administrator
U.S. General Services Administration
Before the
Committee on Small Business,
Louisiana Supreme Court, Field Hearing,
U.S. House of Representatives
April 12, 2007

Good afternoon Chairwoman Velasquez, ranking member Chabot, and other distinguished members of the committee.  Thank you for inviting me here today to testify on how the U.S. general services administration has maximized the use of regional small businesses in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

The devastation wrought by Katrina touched me personally.  Though I live in the Washington, DC area, I still count New Orleans as “home.” I grew up in the 9th ward and went to school at Ursline academy.  It’s been several years since I graduated from high school, but in my 10 months as GSA Administrator, I’ve made it back here three times.  One of those trips was to reopen the New Orleans customs house, located just four blocks from here.  Another trip home was to pair small businesses with large companies helping to restore New Orleans to its former greatness.

The rebuilding of the Gulf, the revitalization of New Orleans, the recovery of the local economy … these are all priorities to me as a fourth generation New Orleanian.  As an American, as GSA Administrator, and as a former small business owner, I feel a heavy responsibility to ensure that small businesses participate fully in the crucial work that lies ahead.

When hurricane Katrina made landfall, I was not yet in my current position.  I was confirmed as President Bush’s nominee to head GSA about 10 months ago, and I started on June 1, 2006.  One of the first things I learned was that the agency had performed admirably in response to the most devastating hurricane in American history.  The impact zone spanned two GSA regions: 200 miles wide, as far west as Louisiana, as far east as Florida, and as far north as Kentucky.

As you are aware, Madame Chairwoman, GSA serves as a centralized procurement and property management agency for the federal government.  GSA manages more than one-fourth of the government’s total procurement dollars and influences the management of $500 billion in federal assets, including 8,300 government-owned or leased buildings and 200,000 vehicles.  GSA helps preserve our past and define our future, as a steward of more than 420 historic properties, and as manager of usa.gov, the official portal to federal government information and services.  GSA’s mission to provide superior workplaces, expert technology solutions, acquisition services, purchasing and e-travel solutions and management policies, at best value, allows federal agencies to focus on their core missions.

GSA supplies a wide range of products and services, including: construction equipment, tools, telephone, information technology, furniture, and office supplies.  It is through the dedication, effort, and expertise of GSA employees in each of our 11 regions, and in every GSA service and staff office, that we continue to record solid progress in meeting the challenge of providing our customer agencies with the excellent acquisition services they need.  GSA aggressively responded to the emergency situations created by Katrina.

GSA’s first priority was to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Our role is specifically defined in the national emergency response plan as: Emergency Support Functions (ESF) #2 (communications) and #7 (resource support).  We have provided and continue to provide as needed: communications support, facility space, office equipment, and contracting services.  The level of support required of GSA after Katrina was unprecedented.

While GSA had disaster contingency plans in place during Katrina, GSA adapted to obstacles not encountered in previous disaster situations.  Many companies normally relied upon to assist in recovery efforts had evacuated the area.  Other companies could not be reached by telephone.  Also, because conditions at the time required the city be evacuated, GSA had to set up field offices outside the most severely impacted areas.

GSA employees worked tens of thousands of collective hours in response to Katrina.  These employees processed countless requisitions for items such as: diapers, bottled water, ice, bed sheets, pillows/pillow cases, assorted towels, mass care supplies, blankets, portable restroom facilities, computers, pumps, generators, and tents.  In addition GSA employees transferred approximately $2 million worth of property from excess inventory.

Within days, GSA established a 24-hour emergency order desk.  Employees rotated in two 12 hour shifts to take and place orders as they were needed.  The operation joined with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Joint Field Office (JFO) in Baton Rouge.  The JFO was housed in a vacant department store.

GSA provided:

• Over 1.2 million square feet for joint field offices, initial operating facilities, disaster recovery centers, and other logistical facilities
• 16,000 cots
• 5,000 blankets and pillows
• 1.5 million gallons of fuel
• 600 pallets of ice
• 2,400 folding tables and chairs
• Analog telephones
• Over 21 million meals, ready to eat

GSA’s procurement support to FEMA under the Robert T. Stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act requires that preference be given to local businesses, to the extent feasible and practicable, within a disaster area.  GSA regional offices went to great lengths to ensure maximum utilization of small and minority-owned businesses.  The greatest challenge GSA faced in attempting to utilize small and minority owned local businesses was locating the sources quickly enough to ensure needed supplies, services, and equipment were quickly delivered.

Working with state and local officials in the devastated areas, GSA’s regional small business directors were able to help contracting officers access local resources that were not being identified through normal methods such as the central contractor registry.

GSA had a new disaster response vendor database in place almost immediately. This database, that would become the disaster and emergency operations vendor profile, provided contracting officers with information on businesses that could provide goods and services immediately.  Since it was accessible to contracting officers on the ground, GSA was able to connect supply with demand- all while utilizing streamlined procurement procedures.

The disaster and emergency operations vendor profile – later to become an established form - was a vital link to our recovery efforts.  Now with nearly 9,000 companies, the profile continues to grow.  By adding new businesses with products and services to offer after a disaster, the profile will shorten the time for disaster recovery.

During clean up efforts, if the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama needed dump trucks to remove debris, they could use the vendor database to find businesses with available dump trucks.

In the aftermath of Katrina, GSA regional small business utilization offices provided the GSA-FEMA liaison staff with vital government points of contact, thus facilitating the identification of qualified small businesses.  Beginning in September 2005, GSA has participated in more than 25 outreach events for small businesses, including a conference for the repair of the customs house located about four blocks from here.  One outcome of this conference was a Hubzone company receiving a sub-contract for cleaning the marble at the customs house worth 1.2 million dollars.

As a result of GSA’s ongoing efforts, small and minority owned businesses received the majority of contracts and contracting dollars related to hurricane Katrina.

GSA Hurricane Katrina Contracts	Number of Contract Actions	Percentage	Dollars	Percentage
Total Actions	2,030	100%	$680,941,506	100%
Large Business	647	32%	$194,581,727	29%
Small Business	1,383	68%	$486,359,779	71%
Small Disadvantaged Business	143	7%	$46,822,960	7%
Woman-owned Business	302	15%	$61,607,946	9%
HUBZone Business	53	3%	$16,343,578	2%
Service-disabled Veteran-owned Business	22	1%	$1,071,885	0.2%

Source: FPDS-NG Report dated 3/23/2007, 10:00 AM EST

As you can see, 68 percent of contract actions, and 71% of dollars, went to small businesses.

Immediately following the hurricane, GSA began working with customer agencies to provide functional space and to enable them to accomplish their missions.  This included finding replacement space and transporting vital records.  Within GSA-provided space, there were approximately 2,600 federal employees in 28 federal agencies whose operations were significantly impacted by hurricane Katrina.  In the case of personnel located in the disaster area, GSA employees performed their duties while living under the same conditions as evacuees.  

Once immediate needs were met, GSA began to gather lessons learned from Katrina.  GSA reviewed its operational response efforts that took place before, during, and after the storm.  Several action items came out of that review and were grouped and documented for future response to such major disasters.

During the initial stages of the response, agency responders were not able to obtain some basic office supplies.  To address that situation, GSA assembled several kits or “go packs” with some key supplies, necessary forms, contact information, and information on goods and services that might be required.  In future emergencies these packs will be placed in several key locations from which responders are likely to be deployed.  Further we are working with our counterparts at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to put in place Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA’s) for several key items, including ambulance services, ice, and water.  Information on these items will be included in the “go packs.”

GSA also established a rapid response team to:
• Accumulate and coordinate the deployment of resources such as equipment and people from our other regional offices;
• Establish and distribute budgetary and procurement policy;

• Accumulate and distribute situational intelligence;
• Establish and maintain senior level communications with FEMA and the affected agencies; and
• Coordinate support for historic preservation.

GSA’s hurricane response strategy is generally comprised of the following:

• Advance preparation;
• Customer communications/hotlines;
• Damage assessment;
• Historic building assistance;
• Returning customers to operational status;
• Returning owned and leased space to operational status.  This may be as simple as waiting for area-wide power to be restored or as complex as repairing or completely replacing facilities.  GSA’s strategy was developed from the lessons learned by our regional employees who are well-practiced in hurricane response.
• Supporting other federal agencies under ESF #2 (communications) and #7 (resource support)

I created GSA’s new Office of Emergency Response and Recovery (OERR) to be responsible for the awareness of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery from emergencies that affect our own organization and our customers.  Additionally, the OERR is responsible for supporting the relationship we have with FEMA, as set forth in the national response plan.  This new office coordinates operations through our network of regional emergency response officers and our cadre of emergency coordinators within our staff and service offices.

The OERR has 5 divisions: policies and plans, training and exercise, disaster support, communications and security, and historic preservation.

Policies and plans division  – the policies and planning division develops and implements agency-wide policies, plans, procedures, performance standards and measures related to GSA’s roles and responsibilities in support of (including but not limited to): the national response plan, continuity of government, continuity of operations plan, and other contingencies.  It also provides subject matter expertise and assistance in the development of service specific and regional contingency plans.

Training and exercise division  - the training and exercise division develops and implements agency-wide disaster readiness programs.  It also serves as the agency lead for coordination and facilitation of agency participation in international, national, state, and local disaster and exercise programs and activities.

Disaster support division  - the disaster support division provides emergency acquisition support and on-the-ground liaison between GSA field organizations and headquarters during national disasters.  This division also provides emergency real property management and on-the-ground liaison between GSA field organizations and headquarters during national disasters.  It also supports and oversees senior emergency response team processes and procedures during national disasters.

Communications and security division - the communications and security division coordinates internal, interagency and external communication regarding planning, response and recovery.  It develops and implements strategic security plans and policies (physical, personal, and information security).

Historic preservation division - the historic preservation division is charged with integrating emergency historic preservation requirements in all response and recovery plans and operations.  This division provides subject matter expertise to federal, state, local, and tribal government officials during disaster response and recovery activities.
 
It is the OERR’s overall responsibility to ensure that GSA is prepared to recover our own operations and support our federal customers before, during, and after emergencies.
Disaster response actions are tasked by FEMA in accordance with the national response plan.  The OERR has more than 20 employees throughout GSA regions designated as regional emergency coordinators to support this role.  GSA’s efforts are managed through this network of coordinators at the established Regional Response Coordination Centers and Joint Field Offices within the DHS’ National Incident Command System Management Structure.  The Emergency Coordinators working through the OERR can marshal GSA’s entire force of resources as conditions warrant in a disaster.

GSA takes seriously its role and responsibilities in achieving excellence in the federal acquisition process.  We take seriously the trust placed in us by federal agencies that rely on our acquisition expertise to obtain best value.  We recognize that after disaster strikes, GSA can make a huge difference in how quickly a community recovers.  But we must be at the top of our game.

As mentioned earlier, I was pleased to learn of the successful efforts by our agency after hurricane Katrina.  I am also pleased to know GSA is now better prepared for the next disaster.

One way in which GSA is now better prepared to help in disaster recovery is our new disaster recovery purchasing program for state and local governments.  Authorized under section 833 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007 (PL 109-364), this program allows state, local and tribal agencies to access the GSA federal supply schedules to facilitate recovery from a major natural disaster or act of terrorism.  Opening up GSA’s sources of supply and pre-negotiated terms, conditions, and pricing to the state and local agencies struggling to recover from these crises is another way GSA is leveraging our federal investment to help those in need.  I am proud to report that of the nearly 7,000 GSA schedule contractors who have agreed to participate in this program to date, over 75 percent of them are small or disadvantaged businesses.

Madame Chairwoman, GSA can successfully respond to future hurricane seasons by doing the following:

1. preparing for the rapid deployment of resources to the stricken areas;
2. maintaining the availability of experienced professionals; and
3. communicating effectively with customers and the internal response team.

In addition, superior design and sound construction of our public buildings helped them withstand these fierce storms without extreme damage.

GSA has plans and policies in place to better facilitate response and recovery after future disasters.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify here today.  I look forward to working with the committee as we continue to refine our efforts.   Now I am happy to answer any questions you and the other committee members may have.

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