The General Services Administration awarded 599 small businesses a place on its new governmentwide contract for information technology services, the agency announced today. The Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) II contract allows agencies to buy up to $10 billion in IT services, such as IT helpdesk support, cybersecurity, custom computer programming, and computer operations maintenance. The cost of the services offered are prenegotiated to be at least 10 percent less than the initial prices offered to the government. Agencies used GSA’s two preceeding IT contracts for more than $5 billion in services over the past decade. The contract specifically went to businesses that are considered small and…
Browsing: Procurement
If proposed changes to small business size standards are finalized, most of the nation’s engineering fims will be defined as small businesses, allowing them access to set-aside contracts that should go to “truly small firms,” the American Council of Engineering Companies said this week. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is redefining what constitutes a small business in the professional, scientific and technical services sector for the first time in more than 25 years. SBA has said the changes aim to reflect the current realities of industry. For example, the revenue standard defining a small engineering services firm would increase from $4.5 million to…
The large industry association is asking Senators to oppose House bill provisions that would automatically debar contractors with unpaid tax debts or criminal convictions. Companies should be held accountable when they violate federal laws, Professional Services Council President Stan Soloway wrote in a June 28 letter sent to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. However, federal suspension and debarment officials are required by federal regulations to consider if the company took remedial actions, such as whether the contractor voluntarily reported the activity to the government and took appropriate disciplinary action against the responsible individuals. Automatically debarring contractors ignores their due process rights, Soloway said in his letter. The PSC represents around 350 businesses that contract with…
A group of House Democrats sent the President their written support of a draft executive order that would require contractors to disclose what they spend on lobbying and political campaigns. “Absent public disclosure, there will certainly be some contractors who would seek to influence the awarding of contracts through unreported political contributions,” says the letter, dated June 2 and signed by 25 members. “By requiring contractors to disclose such contributions, you will help to prevent the temptation to engage in inappropriate and illegal behavior.” Another group of primarily Republican senators have sent letters and issued statements in opposition of the proposed order, leaked in April. They say…
In direct response to a presidential order under consideration, lawmakers today introduced two bills to prevent federal agencies from collecting or using information about contractors’ political expenditures. Several lawmakers — most of whom are Republican — have asked the president to abandon his plans for an executive order, a draft of which was leaked last month, that would require potential contractors to report their campaign contributions and political expenditures before being awarded government contracts. After the leak, White House officials said they are considering the policy as a way to add more transparency to the contracting process. But it has been a month with…
It’s an honest enough mistake but couldn’t have been better timed. In the midst of debate over how to pursue spending for the rest of this year — and days before President Obama’s 2012 budget recommendations — the Navy released this solicitation for, you know, stuff. Clearly, somone accidentally posted a template instead of the proper announcement. Still, despite the inevitable frustration of meeting the contract requirements for whatever it is, we already have some takers! One reader of Wired’s Danger Room, where the post was first brought to light, has offered up a canoe, “guaranteed to be stealthy,” for less than $2 million each. The…
Dan Gordon, administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said Friday he would consider disclosing more information about government and contractor interactions, but reiterated that the administration’s so-called “myth busting” campaign will not alter regulations or statutes. “We don’t believe we need statutory change or regulatory change, Gordon said in an interview with reporters. “What we really need is cultural change” in the federal contracting community. It could be months before a cultural shift occurs, but Gordon expects increased awareness about proper communication with industry will result in fewer bid protests and more success stories, especially for high-risk and large…
The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Dec. 13 that would strengthen the Federal Acquisition Institute and require consistent training standards across the civilian acquisition workforce. S 2902, the Federal Acquisition Improvement Act, also requires the institute’s director be “appointed by and report directly to” the Office of Federal Procurement Policy administrator. The bill would allow greater flexibility in spending dollars from the Acquisition Workforce Training Fund, which is financed by fees collected from non- Defense Department governmentwide contracts. The bill would instruct all civilian acquisition training and internship programs to align with standards set through the institute by the…
I’ve heard several remedies in the past few days for curing government’s acquisition woes. The latest: turn the tables and create an industry scorecard for government’s past performance on acquisitions. At least that’s what one fed proposed during the Executive Leadership Council CXO Roundtable event on Tuesday. The candid discussion among nearly 500 feds and industry covered healthcare, cybersecurity and consolidation issues facing government. Here are some of the results from a poll conducted at the event: – 53 percent think the implementation of meaningful use requirements (financial incentives and rewards for meaningful use of certified electronic health records) will…
Happy Friday! To ease you into your Labor Day weekend, enjoy a few headlines from The Onion, such as “Pentagon Ripped Off By Shady Weapons Dealer:” Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted losing $192 million in defense funds Tuesday when he unwittingly purchased a large number of bogus BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles from a disreputable arms dealer known only as “Steve.” “When I got the crate open at the office, it turned out the ‘missiles’ were nothing more than old sewer pipes filled with newspapers and capped with construction cones, all painted to look legit,” Gates said. That’s probably the Onion’s best…