In Depth interviews – Feb. 1

The Small Business Administration wants to grow the amount of federal contracting dollars that go to HUBZone-certified small businesses. Mariana Pardo, director of the HUBZone program at the Small Business Administration, joins In Depth to discuss what is being done to make sure businesses that say they’re small actually are.

The Office of Personnel Management is changing the way it does business with your agency. Policy offices will deal with agency questions and issues instead of human capital officers. Tim McManus, vice president for education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service joins In Depth to discuss what the change means for federal agencies.

An explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara Turkey has Federal employee security in the spotlight again. Secretary of State John Kerry’s first day in office now includes questions about what’s next for security in the Foreign Service corps. Retired ambassador Ron Neumann joins In Depth to discuss embassy security around the world.

Military members who want to work on advanced degrees have a new choice, thanks to the Military Academic Advancement Program. The new program is a partnership of the Defense Department and the Agriculture Department. Barbara Thompson, director of DoD’s Office for Family Policy/Children and Youth joins In Depth to discuss why the project is important.

DOD, USDA Partner in ‘Win-win’ Distance Learning Program (related story)

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily DoD Report. For more defense news, click here.

A seven-year quest to smooth the wrinkles in interagency contracting may be paying some dividends. Action from the Office of Procurement Policy and the General Services Administration is getting a thumbs-up from the Government Accountability Office. Bill Woods, director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management Issues at GAO, joins In Depth to discuss the progress the federal government has made on interagency contracting.

DoD slow to codify some interagency contracting standards (related story)

Your federal pay and benefits haven’t been getting much attention on Capitol Hill lately. But they may still be on the congressional bargaining table. Andrew Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, joins In Depth to provide his take on federal pay and benefits.

Read the full article.

Steven Chu says he’s leaving the Energy Department. John Kerry is taking over at the State Department. And Chuck Hagel is through his confirmation hearing to become Defense Secretary. David Hawkings, editor of the CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing, joins In Depth to discuss the recent personnel happenings.