Presented by:

Awards Luncheon

June 7 – 8, 2005Washington Convention Centerwww.fai.gov/face

Mission Possible through Acquisition

FC EA

Luncheon MenuCaesar Salad

Chicken Mediterranean filled with Roasted Vegetables, Couscous and Asiago Cheese,

Marsala Wine Sauce served on a Bed of Saffron Basmati Rice

Marbled New York Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce and Strawberries

Award ProgramNational Anthem

Rosia E. Smith

Opening Remarks Emily W. Murphy, Chief Acquisition Officer, GSA

GSA Excellence in Performance-Based Service Acquisition AwardDavid Drabkin, Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer, GSA

Governmentwide Excellence in Performance-Based Service Acquisition Award

Glenn Perry, Director, OCFO, Department of EducationCarl DeMaio, Performance Institute

Chief Acquisition Officer Council Management Award David Safavian, Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy

Procurement Roundtable Elmer B. Staats Young Acquisition Professional Excellence Award

William Tuttle, Chairman, Procurement Round Table (General, ret.)

Procurement Roundtable John Magnotti Award for Acquisition Mentorship

William Tuttle, Chairman, Procurement Round Table (General, ret.)

Ida Ustad AwardStephen A. Perry, Administrator, GSA

Closing RemarksEmily W. Murphy, Chief Acquisition Officer, GSA

GSA Excellence in Performance-Based Service Acquisition Award

Recipient: Mr. Lawrence E. Ries

InnovationA federal agency’s Office of Information Technology sought the acquisition expertise of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Technology Service to replace expiring contracts with an enterprise task order called In-frastructure Systems Support (ISS). Mr. Ries managed the ISS procurement for GSA. He immediately recognized the opportunities for better acquisition strategies, and worked extensively with the Chief Information Officer of the agency to fully implement a performance-based acquisition to replace them. Using FAR 37.6 as a guide, Mr. Ries undertook an effort to execute a perfor-mance-based contract.

BiographyMr. Ries began his federal career as a Personnel Classifier with the District of Columbia. Shortly thereafter, he joined the General Services Administra-tion as a Management Intern. Following his internship, he became a Man-agement Analyst with the National Archives and Records Service of GSA, working in Washington DC and Boston, MA. After rising to the position of Supervisory Management Analyst, Mr. Ries left the Government in 1984 to pursue other opportunities. In 1994, he became the Marketing Research Coordinator for a software company in Rockville, Maryland. 1999 marked Mr. Ries’ returned to GSA, when he joined the Federal Technology Service where he currently works as a Lead Information Technology Specialist and Project Manager for the Federal Systems and Integration Management Cen-ter (FEDSIM). He is also a member of FEDSIM’s Trusted Advisor Group, and provides continuous mentoring and counseling to his FEDSIM peers on all aspects of performance-based service acquisitions, while performing his professional duties and responsibilities in an outstanding manner. Mr. Ries currently resides in Rockville, Maryland.

Governmentwide Excellence in Performance Based Acquisition Service Award

Recipient: Michele Y. Brown

InnovationThe Front End Business Integration (FEBI) project is a stellar example of an acquisition that personifies the spirit, intent, and realization of the perfor-mance-based contract process. FEBI, which recently was renamed ADvance, is an initiative of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education to modernize and integrate its core front-end business functions through the reengineering, replacement, and retirement of existing legacy systems. The ADvance solution creates a fully integrated aid application, Pell Grant and Direct Loan origination, and disbursement system that con-solidates and streamlines common functions and offers an end-to-end, online view of financial aid information for customer service representatives, schools and students.

Ms. Michele Brown was the program manager for FEBI for the acquisition phase. It was through her transformational leadership that the high-perfor-mance FEBI core team promoted adaptive and useful changes in the front end business processes of FSA. Ms. Brown performed and demonstrated the Seven Steps process throughout the FEBI project.

BiographyMichele Brown currently serves as the Director, Applicant Products and Cus-tomer Service Division (APCSD), Students Channel, Federal Student Aid (FSA), U.S. Department of Education. Her organization is primarily respon-sible for aligning FSA’s aid delivery products and services to more effectively meet the needs of the customer and the student. The primary product is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA, which is the primary form most students complete when preparing to attend a post-secondary school, helps FSA determine if a student and his or her family are eligible to receive federal financial aid. FSA processes over 12 million elec-tronic and paper applications for each application cycle. In addition, APCSD responds to customer inquiries through the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC). While available to respond to general financial aid ques-tions, the center responds most frequently to inquiries from students, parents and postsecondary school financial aid administrators regarding the FAFSA or the web-based format FAFSA on the Web (FOTW). The FSAIC customer interaction center responded to more than 13 million phone calls, letters and emails in 2004.

Ms. Brown has nearly 17 years of federal service. She thrives in the challeng-ing environment of FSA, which holds the distinction of being the federal government’s first performance-based organization (PBO). The PBO fosters an organizational environment where employees can perform effectively and efficiently. Before joining FSA, Brown served as a program analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she provided program management for a large-scale information technology system.

Ms. Brown received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Hampton Uni-versity in Hampton, VA.

Chief Acquisition Officers Acquisition Management Award

Recipient: The Federal Aviation Administration, ATO-A, Acquisition and Business Services,

Office of Competitive Sourcing

Joann Kansier, DirectorJames C. Little, Manager, Acquisition Division

Don King, Contracting OfficerNathan Tash, Chief Counsel Representative

Maureen A. Vorce, Cost Team Lead

InnovationThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) views Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 as an objective means of bringing efficiencies to the Federal government. The Circular itself provides guidance on how to appro-priately compare the talents, skills, abilities and know how of the government with that of the private sector. In the FAA, we saw this President’s Manage-ment Agenda item as a means of correcting deficiencies, alleviating waste and improving a safety related service.

The FAA provides information to General Aviation pilots in the continental United States, Puerto Rico and Hawaii through a network of 58 Automated Flight Service Stations. The buildings are old, the equipment is inadequate and 54% of the employees are eligible to retire. Significant capital would need to be invested to make the improvements necessary in order to pro-vide the service that is required and expected from the general aviation com-munity. This would have been virtually impossible with the Federal budget

system due to the pressures on the FAA budget because of other government priorities, as well as the rate of escalation in activities required by commercial aviation. Through the use of the A-76 process, the FAA was able to leverage capital from the private sector.

The major system acquisition strategy chosen for FAA A-76 studies miti-gated risk, promoted innovation, and provided incentive for creativity. FAA effectively utilized preplanning by issuing a Request for Information early in the process; conducting continuous discussions with potential providers; releasing draft documents as they were developed to obtain feedback; issuing a Screening Information Request (SIR) and down-select process; and devel-oping a performance-based Performance Work Statement (PWS). The PWS reflected customer expectations based on input from field technical experts rather than a typical statement of work and it also promoted innovative think-ing from the vendors and MEO. The FAA competition focused on overall service—a customer-focused acquisition leading to a five year contract with option years including opportunities comprising labor, facilities and equip-ment. Cost accounting data was used to define minimum required savings from vendor proposals and included such things as cost sharing incentives based on specific performance levels. The RFO included financial incen-tives to meet or exceed 21 metrics which defined quality service standards. A Board of Performance and Cost Review was created for contract oversight and monitoring implementation. Financial reporting is required at the activ-ity level for greater budget and performance oversight.

As a result of this competition, pilots will get better service, employees will have jobs at an equivalent salary with benefits, and the taxpayer will save $2.2B over 10 years.

BiographyJOANN KANSIER Ms. Kansier accepted the challenge of working on this A-76 study knowing how unpopular, sometimes contentious, and always politically charged the project would be. She identified her role as managing a disciplined approach to the study by being an advocate for the end users of the service while main-taining the identity and professional pride of affected parties. Ms. Kansier is dedicated to preserving the integrity of the process, and communicating complex, sensitive, technical data to all levels of audiences both within and outside of the agency. She leads and facilitates team efforts without dominat-ing the process. She represents the organization’s goals, mission, and vision by making sound leadership decisions and exercising executive direction. Ms. Kansier demonstrates commitment to fostering public confidence in the in-tegrity of the FAA in consonance with principles of ethical conduct.

JAMES C. LITTLE Mr. Little joined the Competitive Sourcing office as the Manager of the Ac-quisition Division within a month of the office being formally established. In this capacity, he manages a disciplined approach to conduct of the study. From the very beginning, he conducted tasks such as identifying critical in-terface points, affected parties, mission needs, workload/staffing issues, facili-ties/equipment, stakeholder issues, political pressures, safety/security, union issues, and airspace restrictions/complications. He led integrated teams of subject matter experts in critical functional disciplines to include manage-ment of requirements, procurement planning, real property impacts, risk management, communication, acquisition processes, cost analyses, and staff-ing. Through all this, Mr. Little was directed to maintain an accelerated time-line – from Public Announcement of acquisition to Source Selection he only had 15 months. He met this schedule.

DONALD KINGMr. King was the Contracting Officer when the Competitive Sourcing office was created. He has over 20 years of major system acquisition experience, with more than three years of direct A-76 experience. He is a recognized expert on A-76, FAR and the FAA’s Acquisition Management System (AMS). He was responsible for developing and executing the acquisition strategy and providing guidance and support to the highest levels of FAA management. He successfully submitted a major update to the FAA AMS to incorporate the A-76 competitive sourcing acquisition activity, and he presented his unique acquisition approach to OMB and received their approval. Mr. King ex-ecuted the acquisition in January 2005, less than 15 months after Public Announcement of the AFSS study. In February of this year, Mr. King ac-cepted a promotion to a Supervisory Contract Management position with the Department of Energy. Mr. King’s in-depth knowledge of the A-76 program, his familiarity with the FAA, and his keen understanding of the process were invaluable during critical phases of this competition. He has been missed, but his efforts contributed substantially to the success of the program.

NATHAN TASH Since August of 2004, Mr. Tash has been the legal representative working on the FAA A-76 program. He has been called upon to work many long days, evenings, and weekends responding to Congressional letters, FAA employee inquiries, Union memos, contests, and various other inquiries. The nature of this study has attracted more than its share of political interest and has been scrutinized carefully from every angle. Mr. Tash has diligently examined the rules and regulations to ensure the FAA’s AFSS A-76 competition followed the guidelines established for public-private competitions. His communica-tions were always complete, clear and concise to share information in an open and honest manner with all contacts both inside and outside of the agency. The unique and unusual situations this program presented to Mr. Tash some-times left him scratching his head for a moment but he always persevered and found the right answer. His input and guidance have been invaluable.

MAUREEN A. VORCE Ms. Vorce was one of the first employees to join Joann Kansier in the Com-petitive Sourcing office in early 2003. She played a key role in the source se-lection of this $2B plus major system acquisition. Ms. Vorce has been instru-mental in the development and implementation of the overall cost analysis and has shown the ability to lead a group of subject matter experts through a new, complex environment. The processes were complicated and often con-fusing and the software analysis tools were new. She has remained calm under pressure and accommodated tasks that challenged the limits of her expertise. In addition to leading the overall cost analysis, Ms. Vorce also provided the organization with business management skills necessary to ensure the team has an appropriate baseline budget and has worked with the CO in establish-ment of new contracts to provide services to the organization.

Procurement Round Table Elmer Staats AwardRecipient: Mark Strawn

InnovationMark Strawn led the Landing Gear Commodity Council and significantly reduced the time to process landing gear requirements for improved delivery time to the warfighter. Mark split the landing gear items to allow for both small business set-aside as well as full and open competition. The resulting contracts have a 10-year period of performance. Buyers now order these parts by placing individual orders against these already existing contracts. Acquisi-tions that formerly took 75 to 100 days to process now take an average of 3 days to process. This reduction in administrative lead time directly cuts the time it takes to contract for and provide critically needed parts to support the warfighter. It ensures that warfighters are ready to engage in real world conflicts in support of our nation’s defense at all times.

BiographyMark Strawn entered the contracting career field in 1994 after completing his Masters Degree in Accounting at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. His academic accomplishments led to his competitive selection into the pres-tigious COPPER CAP management intern program, a highly regarded four-year program which provides intense management and leadership training as well as experience in all aspects of contracting. He has gained a variety of experience in the contracting career field by holding such positions as a contract negotiator, procurement analyst, price analyst, Executive Director of Contracting, Contracting Officer, Team Lead and Supervisory Contract Negotiator.

During his 11 years of service in the Air Force, Mr. Strawn has proven himself a valued employee and has distinguished himself from his peers. He has met each challenge, exhibiting the highest levels of competence and dedication. His outstanding performance has led him to hold the highest-visibility jobs as he has progressed rapidly through positions of increasing responsibility and authority to his current position as a GS-14 Supervisory Contract Negotiator in charge of Landing Gear and Power Systems.

Mr. Strawn has been hand-picked to champion transformation efforts for Hill Air Force Base and the Air Force. The purpose of such transformation efforts is to improve flexibility, performance, and affordability of weapons by improving processes, cutting costs and improving quality. Recently he was the first choice as the OO-ALC contracting focal point for a number of Pur-chasing and Supply Chain Management initiatives, including the senior con-tracts manager of the first Commodity Council at OO-ALC. In this capacity, Mr. Strawn has led the newly formed Landing Gear Commodity Council to develop groundbreaking out-of-the-box acquisition strategies which will result in significant reductions in the time it takes to process requirements.

Procurement Round Table John Magnotti Award for Acquisition Mentorship

Recipient: Ms. Patsy J. Reeves

InnovationTrailblazing initiatives, a commitment to ethics, and modeling the way char-acterize Patsy J. Reeves’ tireless dedication to professional growth and men-toring of the acquisition workforce. As Chairman of the Air Force Contract-ing Executive Development Panel, she leads a service-wide corporate training program, incorporating geographic mobility, career broadening, leadership growth, and mentoring. In addition, she spearheaded mentoring training for Air Force contracting supervisors worldwide. At her local installation, she champions a comprehensive leadership program for 1500+ supervisors and a Contracting Professional Code of Ethics, both having potential for Command-wide adoption. Lastly, Mrs. Reeves mentors most profoundly through personal engagement, with her own career the best role model. Patsy J. Reeves lives her belief that time and effort devoted to the growth of others is an investment with lasting impact; and, she is truly deserving of the John Magnotti Award for Acquisition Mentorship.

BiographyPatsy J. Reeves, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Director of Con-tracting, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, GA. She serves as the senior contracting official responsible for $3.7 billion of annual contract awards, more than $22 billion of active contracts, and for training and equipping the centers contracting workforce of more than 450.

Mrs. Reeves began her contracting career in 1976 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In July 1980, she began work at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, where she served in various system program offices. In 1991, Mrs. Reeves joined the Air Force Systems Commands Top Rung program and transferred to Washington, D.C. where she served in major command and Pentagon program manage-ment assignments. In 1996, Mrs. Reeves returned to Wright-Patterson AFB, OH as a program manager for multiple aircraft training systems, including the C-17. She moved to Kelly AFB, TX in 1997 to work as the Deputy Director and then Director of Contracting. Subsequently, Mrs. Reeves was selected for the Defense Leadership and Management Program. In 2000, she transferred to Brooks AFB, TX to work as the Deputy Contracting Director and later Director of Plans and Programs. She was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in December 2001.

Ida Ustad Award for Excellence in AcquisitionRecipient: Ms. Mary Pat Shanahan

InnovationThe Army Reserve Contracting Center (ARCC) Satellite Office at Coraopo-lis, PA provides a full range of contracting support to the reserve component in the five state region (plus the District of Columbia) reporting to the 99th Regional Readiness Command (RRC). The office is responsible for contract award and administration, as well as management of the 99th RRC govern-ment purchase card program. The office supports more than 181 reserve facilities and 22,000 soldiers in the five state region. (Pennsylvania, West Vir-ginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware).

When Ms. Shanahan was appointed to her position at the ARCC Coraopolis satellite office in May 2003, she was the fourth supervisor to assume leader-ship of this office since the ARCC gained command and control of contract-ing support to the 99th RRC. Because of the turnover in leadership, the staff she inherited lacked clear goals and vision in satisfying customer needs; they needed to be guided back to their excellence. Ms. Shanahan was charged by the ARCC with regaining customer confidence, increasing customer satisfac-tion, and instilling a proactive, “can do” attitude in her acquisition staff. In short, performing as a business advisor to her customers, and putting the Coraopolis satellite office into the excellence column in the eyes of her cus-tomers.

In the short time Ms. Shanahan has been employed by the ARCC she has achieved brilliant results. Customer comments received through Interactive Customer Evaluation (ICE) and emails to ARCC leadership are illustrative: “Final score: we’re winning because of [Mary Pat Shanahan]” (99th RRC En-gineer). “She devises ways of getting things done rather than say we can’t do

that and walk away” (99th RRC Engineer). “There is no room for improve-ment. Ms Shanahan and her staff should be commended for the excellent services they provide to the 99th G-6 Telecommunications Division” (99th RRC G-6). “Her spirit of coordination and wanting to get the job done well are to be commended.

As a result of Ms. Shanahan’s leadership, The Coraopolis Satellite Office is achieving a 100% satisfaction rate on the ICE metric. She achieves her suc-cess by applying proven management, business, and teaming principles. Ms. Shanahan does not manage from behind her desk. Early in her tenure she started the practice of frequently visiting her customers’ place of work; listen-ing to their concerns, needs, and criticisms. Her customer’s primary com-plaints were a lack of communication and a lack of understanding of the procurement process. In response, Ms. Shanahan developed a suite of “plain English” acquisition guides to demystify the process of partnering with the contracting office. In order to reach her customers in the more remote areas of her five state region, she created a shared drive where all RRC customers can access her acquisition guides, procurement status, management control metrics and contracts. This has resulted in process standardization, certainty in the procurement process, and superior management tools for the RRC staff.

Ms. Shanahan’s leadership success is reflected not only in superior customer satisfaction, but also in business results for her team and customers. Ms. Sha-nahan inherited an office with a well-deserved reputation of supporting the JWOD program. In FY04 Ms. Shanahan achieved a savings in excess of $178,000 for JWOD custodial services contracts alone.

Because of increased customer confidence, Ms. Shanahan’s office achieved a non-mobilization requirement increase of 50% in procurement actions in FY04 vice FY03. Also in FY04, in excess of $12M in previously off-loaded

dollars was returned to the office for procurement, saving her organization more than $500,000 in off-loading fees. Ms. Shanahan manages 150 Billing Officials and 329 cardholders. In FY04 she worked closely with the 99th RRC command to improve payment delinquency metrics. As a result, the 99th RRC achieved 76% of potential rebates in 1QFY04 vice the Army aver-age of 63.8%; 82% of potential rebates in 2QFY04 vice the Army average of 73.7%; and 90% of potential rebates in 3QFY04 vice the Army average of 73.7% (4th quarter results are not available).

Ms. Shanahan has been in her current position for only 1-1/2 years. Her cus-tomers were skeptical and uninformed. In this short time she has managed to win back the trust and satisfaction of her customers, energize and profes-sionalize her staff, and move her organization into the excellence column by anyone’s standards. Ms. Shanahan is the epitome of the entrepreneurial busi-ness advisor: not afraid to take risks to rebuild her organization and position it for a successful future.

BiographyMs. Shanahan began her federal career as an auditor for the Defense Con-tract Audit Agency (DCAA) in 1988. During her federal service she has held many positions within the acquisition field, including Contract Price Analyst, Administrative Contracting Officer, Procurement Contracting Of-ficer and currently holds the position of Supervisory Contract Administrator with the Army Reserve Contracting Center, Coraopolis, PA. Ms. Shanahan is also a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania. She has also received the Department of the Army Achievement Metal for Civilian Service in October 2004 as well as the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board, Bronze Award 2002 for Outstanding Professional Employee. She resides in Franklin Park, PA with her husband, Tom and two boys and is expecting in July.

Finalists for the Ida Ustad Award

InnovationThe Secretary of Defense has emphasized financial management operations by designating financial management as one of the Department’s top ten priorities. As the lead Contracting Officer of a Congressionally mandated program, Adrienne Somerville has worked with the Office of the Inspector General Department of Defense (OIG DOD) to improve the reliability of existing information systems and their resulting financial statements. On behalf of the OIG DOD and Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft Division, Adrienne Somerville developed and implemented a three-year, competitively awarded, Best Value Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) Mul-tiple Award contract strategy. Valued at $977.5M, this acquisition strategy is designed to meet the dynamic DOD requirement for a streamlined con-tractual vehicle that will centralize the procurement of professional services from Information Technology (IT) firms and Independent Public Account-ing (IPA) firms.

Adrienne Somerville’s innovative acquisition approach allows the Govern-ment the flexibility to issue task orders for specific requirements while pro-viding a competitive environment throughout the contract performance. Further, Ms. Somerville has incorporated provisions in the ID/IQ contract for the issuance of task orders on a Firm Fixed Price (preferred method), Cost Plus Fixed Fee, Cost Plus Incentive Fee, Cost Plus Award Fee, or Time and Materials basis, allowing maximum flexibility to choose the most suitable pricing arrangement.

BiographyAdrienne Somerville, Procuring Contracting Officer with the Department of the Navy, Patuxent River, MD, has excelled professionally by conducting and

completing various Acquisition and Leadership training courses, a Masters degree in Management, and by continuing to seek career-challenging op-portunities. Ms. Somerville was accepted into the Senior Executive Manage-ment Development Program, an honor bestowed upon those that reflect the confidence senior management places on the ability and potential of future leaders.

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InnovationMr. Gerber has been a key participant in building the V-22 Aircraft Afford-ability Strategy designed to lower the unit cost of the aircraft by 25% ($16 million per aircraft) over a seven year period. This strategy is a multi-faceted approach involving cost reduction initiatives, multi-year procurements, and contractor-led lean initiatives. In order to achieve this strategy, Mr. Gerber identified the negotiation of the V-22 aircraft production contracts as well as the development of a V-22 aircraft price reduction program as key tactical ob-jectives to meeting the V-22 program affordability goal. Due to the successful implementation of this strategy, the negotiated unit cost of the aircraft was reduced by a total of 8% (valued at approximately $6.4 million per aircraft for an approximate total of $70.1 million) by the end of 2004.

BiographyJames Gerber is the Contracts Division Head for the V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Program at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Patuxent River Naval Air Station, MD. As the V-22 Lead Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO), James is the V-22 Program Manager’s business and contract advisor, and is responsible for overseeing acquisition strategy development, pricing, negotiation and award of contractual instruments for all V-22 development, production, training systems, engines and sustainment programs. Prior to his

assignment on the Osprey Program, Mr. Gerber served in several contract-ing positions at NAVAIR including: the Head of the Multi-Mission Plat-form Support Equipment Contracts Division; the Lead PCO on the EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft Program; and lead negotiator and con-tract specialist for F/A-18 Hornet Strike Fighter Program. Prior to his ar-rival at NAVAIR in 1996, He held positions as lead negotiator and contract specialist on several major surface and undersea weapon system programs and shipbuilding programs while assigned to the Naval Sea System Command in Arlington, VA.

Prior to his career as a federal civil servant, Mr. Gerber served as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer (AMO) in the United States Marine Corps and was assigned to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 (MALS 29) and Marine Medium Lift Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 162 Golden Eagles, Marine Air-craft Group 29 (MAG 29), 2nd Marine Air Wing.

Mr. Gerber is a member of the Navy Acquisition Professional Community and is Level III Certified in Contracts. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Management from Kent State University, a Masters of Science Degree in Management (with a concentration in Acquisition Management and Contracting) from Florida Institute of Technology. He lives in Saint Leonard, Maryland with his wife Linda and their three children Andrew, Christian, and Kimberly.

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InnovationOver the past five years, the 88th Contracting Squadron has experienced con-tinued declining manpower—both authorizations, as well as a civilian pay cap precluding hiring against vacant authorizations—while workload has sig-nificantly increased. Mr. Knapp formed a “GSA Action Team” (GAT) to de-

termine if GSA offered any efficiency guidance we could use during this time of doing “more with less.” The GAT consisted of three buyers and a Con-tracting Officer. Their charter was to use GSA schedules and report back in 60 days with results and recommended policy. The team reported its results after accomplishing three buys using GSA schedules—the results appeared to be too good to be true! The team recommended GSA as the contract vehicle of choice for those products and services that had a GSA schedule available to fill the requirement. The results demonstrated significantly reduced lead-times. Source selections that customarily required 300+ days were being ac-complished in 30 days—a 90% reduction in award lead time! Mr. Knapp kept the team together to act as a GSA policy and procedures team, and ex-panded the use of GSA-ordering to the entire office. Over the years, the team continued to experience significant reductions in award lead times, and cus-tomer satisfaction improved dramatically—customers were getting the same excellent products and services in weeks as opposed to FAR Part 15 source selections that could take up to a year or more! In 2000, his Flight awarded 10 GSA orders totaling $7M. In FY03, they awarded 47 GSA orders totaling $177M. In FY04, they awarded 62 GSA orders totaling $74 million.

BiographyLouis R. Knapp has been the Branch Chief, of Technology Support Acquisi-tion, the 88th Contracting Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH since 2000. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oakland University, Roches-ter MI and a Masters of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University. Mr. Knapp has 24 years of government contracting experience with the US Army and US Air Force. His experience includes Weapon Sys-tem, Specialized and Operational contracting environments.

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InnovationMs. Rohmer used an innovative and aggressive approach in implementing multiple award IDIQ contracts in various geographic zones that cover the entire US in order to support the design and construction needs of DHS’s Border Security Enhancement Program (BSEP) (now known as US-VISIT). When first enlisted to help legacy-INS the focus was on replacing the land ports of entry. Now the current program Ms. Rohmer is supporting must deliver the entire infrastructure that will support the technology and business process at all 165 land ports of entry, and some airports and seaports as well. The approach was flexible enough that it will allow GSA to deliver almost any construction program DHS has a need for. She was also instrumental in awarding multiple award A/E contracts for the same program using Design Excellence procedures. The procurement approach used by Ms. Rohmer is to have several IDIQ contracts in place for each of nine zones for construction and seven zones for A/E. This approach allows GSA to issue projects based on geographic and economic factors to each A/E and construction contrac-tor. This not only allows DHS to accomplish their mission, but does it in the most efficient and economical means available.

BiographyShirley Rohmer began her Government career with General Services Admin-istration, Public Buildings Services, Greater Southwest Region in January 1980. During her tenure she has contributed to the agency’s successful ac-complishment of their mission as a contract specialist, realty specialist, re-gional acquisition executive, and supervisory contract specialist. She cur-rently manages the Program Support Contracts Branch of the Acquisition Services Division. Twenty- five years experience with the agency, a BSB in Business Management, and the support of many professional associates has

enabled Mrs. Rohmer and her branch to successfully develop and execute several initiatives in support of the region and agency. Examples include:

The Border Security Enhancement Program and United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program are managed by Depart-ment of Homeland Security. Mrs. Rohmer and her branch have provided all contract procurement and administration for these national programs of sig-nificant importance to the safety of the nation. The procurement schedules have been very aggressive and the programs are complex. Many consecutive and concurrent increments, all equally important, have been successfully ex-ecuted because of the innovation and dedication of the team. The programs expedite the arrival and departure of legitimate travelers, while making it more difficult for those intending to do us harm to enter the nation. The programs cover ports of entry at sea, air and land.

Nationwide Reverse Auction software was developed and implemented with a $132,000 Venture Capital grant from the PBS, Chief Information Officer through evaluation of competitive proposals from across the nation.

Regional Economy Act Customer Service Program was developed to accom-modate the contracting source needs of other federal agencies.

Regional Energy Savings Performance Contract Program, which contributed $15,681,726 to the regional budget, achieved a guaranteed energy cost sav-ings of not less than $1,841,244 per year, and $761,904 in cash rebates in ac-cordance with the authorities and mandates of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and Section 801 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act.

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InnovationMr. Siravo has been NAVSUP’s lead in the task of analyzing contract re-quirements for the Navy Personnel Development Center, its subordinate Learning Centers and Training Support Centers against the backdrop of the Navy’s Revolution in Training and the 5 Vector Model. The Analysis consid-ers both existing contracts and projected requirements. The ultimate goal was to identify those contract requirements that are common throughout NPDC as well as those that are core to a specific Learning Center. The result has been the solicitation and award of several contracts that provide for the backbone of the Revolution—Instructor Services, IT Architecture Support, Learning Content Management System Support, Skill Object Identification Services Support—and a series of Center-specific contracts. Still in process are efforts to provide for Curriculum Development in support of the many courses taught at Navy A and C schools. The total value of the requirements both awarded and in process is in excess of $700M.

BiographyRocco Siravo is a graduate of La Salle University and a member of the Acqui-sition Professional Community. He is a Warranted Contracting Officer with unlimited signature authority. He is the FISC Norfolk Contracting Depart-ment Philadelphia Office Intern Coordinator for multiple locations through-out the Northeastern United States. Mr. Siravo is an outstanding employee who has been honored routinely throughout his 20-year professional career with Letters of Appreciation and Recognition from Customers, Special Act and time-off awards. Most notable of these recognitions is his receipt of the Meritorious Civilian Service Award received for his role in a $1B procure-ment that resulted in nearly $350M savings.

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