This column was originally published on Roger Waldron’s blog at The Coalition for Government Procurement and was republished here with permission from the author.

During the Coalition’s Spring Training Conference last week, Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, announced that the agency will be hosting a Federal Acquisition Service Training (FAST) Conference on April 14-16, 2020, in Atlanta.

As many of you know, the Coalition has been a strong advocate for GSA-hosted training opportunities, which will help facilitate the critically important task of educating government and industry on GSA’s contracting programs, e-tools, and other initiatives in an environment that fosters constructive dialogue for common sense solutions.

The return of a nation-wide training conference is a game-changer for GSA and the procurement community. The FAST Conference will provide agencies, as well as industry, with thousands of procurement training hours and the opportunity to explore the latest commercial solutions that meet Federal agencies’ mission critical needs. In addition, the Conference will provide GSA, customer agencies, and industry with a unique and valuable business intelligence opportunity, as stakeholders share information on key program initiatives, acquisition policies, commercial capabilities, and trends in the commercial marketplace.

These training sessions and networking opportunities surrounding GSA’s critical efforts will lead to better understanding among stakeholders, as well as improvements in program operations. Through this enhanced understanding and program operation, GSA will be able to implement continuous program improvements for customer agencies, as well as the American taxpayer.

Moving forward, the Coalition strongly supports GSA’s decision to enhance the collaboration between government and industry. The FAST Conference is sure to provide a positive opportunity to bring together all of GSA’s agency customers and business partners at a single event. The Coalition looks forward to participating next April, and we hope that our members will join us in Atlanta for FAST 2020.

Roger Waldron is the president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, and host of Off the Shelf on Federal News Network.

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