Acquisition

  • Although many have retired, the later wave of Vietnam veterans are still active in the federal workforce, including John Grant, the Region Eight customer accounts and research director in the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration. At one time in special forces, Grant worked in the technology industry before joining the federal government. He's also active in the ACT-IAC group. Grant spoke with Tom Temin at the recent ACT-IAC Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg.

    November 11, 2014
  • Subcontractors live in a sort of netherworld. They often don't deal directly with the government, and they're subject to capriciousness by the primes. Tim Sullivan is a veteran of the contracting world and writer of the blog, 10 Myths of Government Contracting. In today's installment, Sullivan tackles myth number four: It's better to work as a subcontractor because our company won't be exposed directly to the government the way a prime is. He spoke with Tom Temin on the Federal Drive.

    November 11, 2014
  • Every contract presents risk, but a smart subcontractor realizes this and takes careful and prudent steps to mitigate that risk, says contracting expert Tim Sullivan. This column is the latest in the series, 10 Myths of Government Contracting.

    November 11, 2014
  • More than 1 million veterans are expected to re-enter the workforce during the next five years and it's the business community's responsibility to help them, says Deloitte's Janet Foutty. She says the nation owes it to today's newest veterans to help them find the right opportunities, the right access to education and the chance to enjoy the future they fought so hard to protect.

    November 11, 2014
  • Consultant Harold Good and immixGrop co-founder and Senior Vice President Steve Charles give us their take on cooperative purchasing agreements. November 10, 2014

    November 10, 2014
  • Navy has issued an instruction giving the Military Sealift Command the OK for its proposal to move its headquarters from the Washington Navy Yard to Norfolk, Va.

    November 10, 2014
  • In this edition of the Women of Washington radio show, hosts Gigi Schumm and Aileen Black speak to Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, and former strategist for the Clinton White House Office of Political Affairs.

    November 07, 2014
  • The General Services Administration released an RFI seeking industry input on how best to improve the "management and operations functions that include ordering, billing, inventory and service level agreements management" and "pricing concepts."

    November 07, 2014
  • DoD contracting officers now are required to upload the outcomes of their large sole-source procurements into a centralized database. This is part of a Pentagon effort to make sure the government has as much information as possible when it strikes deals with vendors for the same products it's bought before.

    November 07, 2014
  • The Defense Department says it's having success with a new data transparency effort that's designed to drive better business deals on sole-source contracts. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu reports the initiative is designed to track all of its business arrangements with a certain vendor, so individual contracting officers can learn from past deals.

    November 06, 2014
  • Contractors are looking for new approaches for reaching out to your agency. Some out-of-the-box business opportunities may make a big difference to your bottom line. Larry Allen is president of Allen Federal Business Partners and author of the Week Ahead newsletter. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he shared some thoughts about three of those business opportunities.

    November 06, 2014
  • The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling on the Department of Energy to improve emergency preparedness and response. Its most recent recommendation maps out a series of safety updates at DOE sites. Jessie Roberson is vice chair of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and a new National Academy of Public Administration fellow. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she explained how she'll bring more than three decades in the nuclear engineering field to the NAPA fellowship.

    November 06, 2014
  • The Defense Department is upgrading its military networks to increase its access to different types mobile technology. But many secruity experts say the gold standard for smartphones is still the Blackberry. Michael Brown is vice president of security product management and research for BlackBerry. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he explained the importance of mobile security for federal agencies.

    November 06, 2014
  • Contracting officers have a lot of authority when it comes to deciding who wins federal contracts, but they don't have unlimited discretion. That's what the contracting officer who awarded a deal to USIS found out. In a sustaining protest, the Government Accountability Office says the contracting officer should have paid more attention to allegations of fraud against the company. In this week's Legal Loop segment, Procurement Attorney Joe Petrillo joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss this case.

    November 06, 2014