awards | The Contracting Education Academy

October 29, 2013 By AMK

DoD awarded $6 billion in shutdown contracts

The Defense Department awarded 95 contracts valued at more than $6.3 billion during the 16 days of the government shutdown this month, with the Air Force and Navy awarding contracts valued $2.7 billion and $2.1 billion dollars, respectively.

The Pentagon, which ordinarily announces awards of contracts valued at more than $6.5 million on a daily basis, suspended the announcements – but not the awards – until Friday, when it posted all the contracts that met the threshold since Oct. 1.

The Air Force awarded United Launch Services LLC, a Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture, the biggest contract during the shutdown, a $939.1 million deal for Delta IV and Atlas V rockets to launch satellites primarily for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The largest technology contract let during the shutdown was a five year, indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract valued at $899.5 million awarded by the Navy to 14 companies for computing infrastructure support, including research, development, testing, evaluation, production and fielding of a wide range of capabilities.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/management/2013/10/dod-awarded-6-billion-shutdown-contracts/72359/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

October 25, 2013 By AMK

IG: Debarred firms remain listed for transportation set-asides

The Department of Transportation IG has alerted the department that it found three suspended or debarred firms currently listed in state Disadvantaged Business Enterprises directories as eligible to participate in the DBE program.

The IG issued a management advisory stemming from a recent audit into the DBE program, noting that federal regulations explicitly exclude suspended or debarred firms from receiving federally funded contracts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fedweek.com/item-view.php?tbl=3&ID=5412

Read DOT IG’s letter at: http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/DBE%20Management%20Advisory.pdf

October 4, 2013 By AMK

VA awards $275 million contract to track supplies at hospitals

The Veterans Affairs Department awarded Shipcom Wireless of Houston a four-year contract with a maximum value of $275 million to help manage the supply chain in its 152 hospitals at the “point of use” — wards, operating or emergency rooms.

VA’s current supply chain system “is outdated, underutilized and often accomplished manually,” said the department, which wanted to “build a world class advanced supply chain to serve as a benchmark for the overall healthcare logistics industry.”

VA wanted to acquire a point-of-use system that uses automated supply stations to streamline the supply chain for timely delivery of required supplies to the point where those supplies are consumed throughout a hospital.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/09/va-awards-275-million-contract-track-supplies-hospitals/70774/?oref=nextgov_defense

October 1, 2013 By AMK

Army awards vehicle radio deal worth up to $140.7 million

The Army awarded Harris Corp. a $140.7 million contract for a vehicle radio designed to link infantry platoons and companies with higher headquarters.

The mid-tier networking vehicular radio, or MNVR, runs government-owned software waveforms developed under the now-defunct joint tactical radio system project and adopted by Harris and other vendors for use in their radios. BAE Systems, General Dynamics C4 Systems and a team of Northrop Grumman and ITT Exilis submitted bids on the contract for up to 5,000 vehicle radios in an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity procurement the Army launched in February 2012.

The Army immediatly placed a task order with Harris valued at $8.4 million for up to 232 vehicle radios for test and integration. The Harris radios run the broadband data Wideband Networking Waveform and voice and low data rate Soldier Radio Waveform, software that defines bandwidth, modulation and frequency range.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/09/army-awards-vehicle-radio-deal-worth-1407-million/70816

November 29, 2012 By AMK

GAO wants to charge companies disputing federal contract awards

Companies that want to fight the federal government over billions of dollars in contract awards may have to pay up or shut up.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, which arbitrates contract disputes, is asking Congress to approve the agency’s first-ever fee to file a bid protest, said Ralph White, GAO’s managing associate general counsel for procurement law. The proposed charge might come in the form of a $240 flat fee, which would fund an online docket system designed to help the GAO cope with a rising caseload, he said.

Protests over award decisions and other contracting issues rose to 2,475 in the year that ended Sept. 30, the highest level since 1995 and a 75 percent increase since fiscal 2007, according to GAO statistics. The surge in recent years may partly reflect more competition for a smaller pool of awards as U.S. agencies begin cutting their budgets.

“We’ve got to find some way to improve and streamline how we handle protests, and this idea is meant to be one possible way,” White said in a phone interview.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-19/pay-up-or-shut-up-fee-proposed-for-federal-contracting-protests.html.

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