federal contractors | The Contracting Education Academy

November 19, 2020 By cs

What a Biden administration will mean for contractors

For federal contractors, much will change under a Biden administration.

Some changes will return the familiar. Some wags are already calling the next presidency a third Obama term. That may or may not be accurate, much less fair to Biden.

One thing is certain, the government won’t retreat one dollar from its $500 billion-a-year contracting appetite. Beyond that, the pH of the procurement waters will change.

The agency to watch, if you’re a contractor, and by extension a contracting officer, is the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This Labor Department unit is the source of many policies that apply to contractors, starting with ensuring contractors follow what used to be called employment standards. Mainly that contractors don’t, in their own employment practices, violate equal opportunity laws and regulations.

Administrations use it as one of the levers of power the general public doesn’t see, unlike, say, the Environmental Protection Agency or Justice Department. Its policies apply to contracts and contractors.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/tom-temin-commentary/2020/11/what-a-biden-administration-will-mean-for-contractors/

October 8, 2020 By cs

Contractors seek clearer, uniform guidance for returning to offices

Lack of such guidance is a “huge hole” in the federal government’s pandemic response, industry group says.

A lead trade association would like federal agencies to issue uniform guidance for their contractors’ return to workplaces amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The approximate 4.1 million federal contractors play an integral role in the functioning of the government, but are often managed differently than the 2 million federal employees. After calling on the Trump administration to issue guidance regarding telework at the onset of the pandemic, the Professional Services Council, which represents over 400 companies that work with the federal government, now would like to see agencies issue some form of uniform guidance regarding returning to workplaces.

The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management outlined in April how federal agencies should consider bringing employees back to offices, while noting it will vary based on the region. Although there have also been questions, confusion and concerns, individual agencies have been issuing their own reopening plans for their employees.

“The guidance needs to be clearer, it needs to be more uniform, it needs to be consistent and it needs to be visible, transparent,” David Berteau, PSC president and CEO, told Government Executive during an interview last week. “I think it’s a huge hole in the government’s response. They don’t tend to think of contractors as part of an integrated workforce when they absolutely are.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/09/contractors-seek-clearer-uniform-guidance-returning-offices/168668/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

July 21, 2020 By cs

DoD cautious of industrial base impact as coronavirus ramps back up

The Defense Department is seeing much of its industrial base reopen after shutdowns due to the coronavirus. However, the Pentagon isn’t celebrating yet.

As a second wave of COVID-19 hits the United States, DoD is reviewing policies to keep the supply chain moving and keeping an eye on the numbers.

Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Kevin Fahey said only 34 of the approximately 1,000 defense-related companies that closed due to coronavirus are still shuttered. Employees are still getting infected though.

“We are seeing a lot of cases of COVID, a lot of cases in our defense industrial base, it’s pretty consistent with what you see in the news,” Fahey said Monday during a Professional Services Council webinar. “It tends to be the younger grouping of people for the most part. When more people get sick it spreads.”

He added that almost every industry partner has had confirmed COVID cases or quarantines.

Fahey said businesses and DoD have continued some operations because they’ve learned to operate under a new normal.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/07/dod-cautious-of-industrial-base-impact-as-coronavirus-ramps-back-up/

February 25, 2020 By cs

How much do you want to become a ‘FAR master’?

Whether you are a government contracting official or a government contractor, your success hinges on your mastery of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) — the rules that must be followed in acquiring goods and services.

*Don’t miss the opportunity to learn all about the FAR — side-by-side with your peers.*

The FAR’s rules are voluminous — 2,000 pages in all, plus hundreds of supplemental rules tailored to individual agencies throughout the federal government. How can you be expected to find these rules, grasp their meaning and, most importantly, apply them properly?

Fortunately for you, Georgia Tech has the courses that will teach you all you need to know. And, best of all, our instruction is based on practical application, so you will return to your job equipped with the skills and knowledge to confidently navigate all aspects of contract planning, contract formation, and contract administration.

Our FAR coursework is based on training originally developed by the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). It’s been enhanced by Georgia Tech to provide the know-how actually needed by acquisition professionals like you. And, best of all, our comprehensive coursework is broken-up into modules so that you can learn conveniently, based on your priorities and at your own pace.

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech (The Academy) offers its comprehensive FAR course in four, one-week classes. Each “module” focuses on a different aspect of the FAR and, best of all, the modules may be taken in any order. This means you have multiple opportunities throughout the year to complete the entire course without the challenge of being away from your job or home for an entire month.

The Academy’s foundational course focuses on four distinctly different aspects of the FAR:

Contracting Overview of the FAR (CON 090-1) introduces the FAR and how to navigate all of the acquisition regulations. This four-day course answers the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the FAR. This module is considered the most challenging lesson in the course, as it provide hands-on training on the FAR’s structure, meaning, and proper application.
Contract Planning in the FAR (CON 090-2) presents information on the policies and procedures for the acquisition of supplies and services from required or preferred sources. Key topics in this lesson include the use of required sources, use of existing contracts, and required participation by small businesses.
Contract Formation in the FAR (CON 090-3) goes deep into different methods of contracting by: 1) comparing and contrasting the solicitation and evaluation of offers in sealed bidding and competitive negotiation, 2) exploring the procedural requirements of making a contract award, and 3) explaining simplified acquisition procedures as well as the policies and procedures for handling bid and size status protests.
Contract Administration in the FAR (CON 090-4) covers the basic principles of contract management, including making contract modifications, administration of selected terms and conditions, handling delays, quality assurance procedures, making payments, addressing disputes and appeals, and contract terminations and closeouts.

**Students are exposed to realistic case studies and get a chance to work in groups to tackle real-life problem-solving exercises.**

Click on any of the course titles listed above to see course schedules and pricing. And see our exclusive Student Resources page for a detailed outline of the content covered in each of our four FAR course modules.

Benefits of attendance include expert instruction, a printed Student Guide to be used back on the job, valuable handouts, and exclusive electronic resources. In addition, a complimentary breakfast is served each morning, along with snacks throughout each day. Plus, you’ll earn Continuous Education Units from Georgia Tech as well as credit toward Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) and Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Program (FAC-C) training requirements.

All courses are conducted in Georgia Tech’s world-class Global Learning Center, conveniently located in Midtown Atlanta. Interested in us bringing our coursework to you? Simply contact us at info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu — we will be happy to speak with you about scheduling and quantity discounts.

**Georgia Tech is an official equivalency training provider for the Defense Acquisition University and the Federal Acquisition Institute.**

December 6, 2019 By cs

DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification: Are smaller companies prepared?

New requirements mean contractors will have to pay to play. What does this mean for small businesses in the defense industry?

The cybersecurity posture of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) supply chain is only as strong as its weakest contractor. When considering the DIB supply chain includes 300,000 contractors with sensitive government data, and around 290,000 of them are not subject to strict cybersecurity requirements or oversight, something needs to change.

Leading that change is the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment – OUSD(A&S) – which has developed the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), an agile set of unified cybersecurity standards to ensure the security of government data on DIB networks.

Keep reading this article at: https://securityboulevard.com/2019/11/dods-cybersecurity-maturity-model-certification-are-smaller-companies-prepared/