The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will not furlough any of its 12,000 employees after the Commerce Department reached an agreement late Friday night for additional budget flexibility, acting NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan wrote in a memo obtained by SpaceNews.com. Sullivan wrote the agency would have had to furlough some workers for up to 10Read… Read more »
Federal agencies saved 4 percent on the $307 billion they spent to acquire services during fiscal year 2012. That percentage would equate to $12 billion by using strategic sourcing to acquire services for engineering and information technology, the Government Accountability Office says in a report dated April 15. Under strategic sourcing, agencies use an aggregateRead… Read more »
In an effort to improve small business contracting opportunities the Office of Budget and Management has issued a recommendation to all federal agencies to analyze their no-bid contracting process. No-bid contracting opportunities dropped 4% this past year while large prime vendor profits continued to rise. U.S. Congressman Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the chairman of the HouseRead… Read more »
Have you taken the comprehensive MAS Basic Course yet? Join us for this training online and receive a 4-credit CLP certificate towards your warrant requirements. The target audience for this training is contracting professionals at all levels who seek to gain understanding or strengthen their knowledge of Schedules contracting and ordering procedures. This course willRead… Read more »
By John Coombs, CFCM, DAWIA III As fiscal pressures rise, senior leaders across the federal government place additional emphasis on Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contracts. A prime example is the Department of Defense “Better Buying Power” memoranda. FFP contracting is an important method to add simplicity and cost efficiency, but with respect to services, FFP contractingRead… Read more »
NCMA’s December 2012 flagship publication, Contract Management, published the article Comparative Best Practices in Public Sector Contracting — How the FAR Excels in the Socioeconomic Perspective. The piece provides a brief breakdown of five major procurement regimes including the the European Union’s Procurement Directives used by the European Union and the U.S.’s Federal Acquisition Regulation.Read… Read more »
You probably have a New Year’s resolution. It may be losing 15 lbs. It may be spending an extra hour each week with your family. I have a few, but one is specific to government contracting: providing better customer service. One of the recurring themes of this blog is government contract specialists are in theRead… Read more »
New female protective gear prototype, from the Washington DC Military Technology Examiner If you have ever had an opportunity to wear protective gear for military combat, you have a good idea just how much body protection in combat can actually conflict with the capability to defend and protect. The average soldier wears between 50 andRead… Read more »
Government standards support federal vendors in metropolitan DC and the nation, Washington DC Government Business Examiner About one-third of metropolitan Washington DC’s economy is involved in or related to the federal government. Generally, the Nation’s Capital and surrounding suburbs are comprised of the following business sectors: Biotech – Washington DC is a biotechnology magnet, whichRead… Read more »
Without a doubt, the next 12 to 24 months will be a period where government contractors need to be even more competitive – chasing after fewer and smaller contracting opportunities. Many are already seeing this as a particularly challenging time. As the market for winning new contracts and holding on to existing ones becomes moreRead… Read more »