Past Award Winners

The First Travel and Relocation Innovation Award Presented in June 2006

The first biennial 2006 Travel and Relocation Innovation Award winners were announced and honored at GSA's National Travel Forum held in Los Angeles, CA, June 2006.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was recognized as a team for its Voluntary Relocation Pilot (VRP) Program.  The VRP, approved by GSA under the Pilot Test Program section of the Federal Travel Regulation, enabled CBP to pay a simple reduced relocation lump sum to Border Patrol Agents who were interested in voluntarily relocating to a different border station.  Since its 2004 inception, 435 agents had relocated at an average cost of $16,888 per move.  This represented significant cost savings from the historical average of $72,000 per move.  Relocations under VRP were accomplished with $23.9M in reduced relocation costs, and administrative burden was dramatically reduced with considerable man-hour savings.

Additionally, Honorable Mention was awarded to the Department of Interior's National Park Service Midwest Region's Regional Travel and Housing Manager, located in Omaha, Nebraska.  The manager was instrumental in establishing centralized, web-based travel and relocation programs that have proven a higher level of customer service with cost savings and quick turnarounds.