readiness | The Contracting Education Academy

April 29, 2020 By cs

Emergency acquisitions group at center of GSA’s coronavirus response

For the General Services Administration, the surge in contracting to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and now the fourth stimulus bill is business as usual.

Even with the activation of its emergency acquisitions group and new authorities, the Federal Acquisition Service is striking the balance between helping the Department of Health and Human Services, FEMA and other agencies, and pushing forward with key modernization initiatives.

Julie Dunne, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, said that contracting officers and other acquisition employees are meeting all the demands coming from multiple directions.

“I’ve heard from customers and other folks that GSA has not missed a beat in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. A lot of that is due to our telework capability and, in large part, the GSA IT shop has just been phenomenal,” Dunne said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Network. “Things we are seeing a lot of demand for, you won’t be surprised to hear, medical equipment, hand sanitizer and masks. We also are doing a lot in the IT world in terms of trying to support other agencies with telework capacity.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition/2020/04/emergency-acquisitions-group-at-center-of-gsas-coronavirus-response/

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/

April 21, 2020 By cs

OMB releases guidance to clarify coronavirus relief act’s contracting provisions

On Friday, April 17 the Trump administration released guidance to clarify how and when agencies can reimburse contractors as outlined in the recently enacted novel coronavirus economic relief legislation.

**Click on image above to download OMB Memorandum M-20-22.**

The Office of Management and Budget published a memo to supplement Section 3610 of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which allows federal agencies to use their funds to give contractors sick or paid leave during the pandemic if they are not able to access their worksites or telework. Although the administration advised agencies to “maximize telework” for contractors, that is not possible for many contractor jobs, including some involving sensitive or classified work. Trade associations that represent federal contractors previously welcomed this provision, but then asked for more clarification.

For applicable contractors, agencies can “modify the terms and conditions of a contract, or other agreement” to “reimburse at the minimum applicable contract billing rates” up to an “average of 40 hours per week [for] any paid leave (including sick leave) a contractor provides to keep its employees or subcontractors in a ready state,” according to the legislation. The new guidance says agencies can use their funds to reimburse contractors from the period of March 27 (when the CARE Act was signed) to September 30, 2020. Initially, the bill did not give a start date.

Additionally, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy within OMB “has developed [the] guidance to help agencies make rational business decisions that balance the need for contractor resiliency with the need for good stewardship,” Michael Wooten, OFPP administrator, told Government Executive on Friday. This includes being mindful of the challenges small businesses face and helping contractors secure the correct documentation they need for reimbursement.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/04/trump-administration-releases-guidance-clarify-coronavirus-relief-acts-contracting-provisions/164729/

April 20, 2020 By cs

Newest DoD industry guidance clarifies repayments, makes prototyping easier

As part of its ongoing effort to bolster the defense industrial base, the Pentagon has issued two new pieces of guidance — one focused on workers, and one focused on prototype contracts.

Overall, the department has now issued 17 different actions, ranging from basic guidance for industry to memos changing how the department pays contractors, since March 5.

In an April 6 memo, acquisition head Ellen Lord changed the rules for issuing prototype contracts through other transaction authorities.

OTAs are small contracts awarded to companies of any size, in theory targeted at nontraditional defense contractors, with the purpose of conducting research or prototype efforts on a specific project; they are not subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation rules. By comparison, SBIR contracts are targeted at small businesses in order to act as seed money for them to conduct research and development efforts; they are subject to the FAR rules.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/04/09/newest-dod-industry-guidance-clarifies-repayments-makes-prototyping-easier/

April 17, 2020 By cs

Homeland Security will use a new procurement pilot program to fight COVID-19

The Department of Homeland Security announced April 9 that it will use a recently established pilot program to procure innovative tools to assist in its fight against the new coronavirus.

The new effort comes on the heels of an April 1 announcement from DHS chief procurement officer Soraya Correa, who said the department will set up a Procurement & Acquisition Innovation Response team to handle the influx of industry inquiries looking to help the department with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effort will involve DHS’ Commercial Solutions Opening Pilot program, established by the fiscal 2017 defense policy law and kicked off in 2019, which allows DHS to procure new commercial technologies at a faster and more efficient rate.

The department’s needs are broad, ranging from handling the shortage of personal protective equipment to converting logistics operations to support its pandemic response.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fifthdomain.com/govcon/contracting/2020/04/10/homeland-security-will-use-a-new-procurement-pilot-program-to-fight-covid-19/

April 13, 2020 By cs

Pentagon seeks innovative commercial tech to address COVID-19 pandemic

The U.S. Air Force — on behalf of the Defense Department — is looking outside the military for innovative commercial technology, processes, methods and research that could address the national crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 6, the Air Force Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force issued a solicitation for new technologies to address seven mission areas:

combating the COVID-19 spread;
welfare of citizens;
readiness;
logistics;
industrial base impacts;
medical; and
other areas that support the national response to the pandemic.

The Air Force seeks those technologies under the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Joint Acquisition Task Force, which was launched last month to “synchronize and support the acquisition” of the Defense Department’s response for COVID-19 resources.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2020/04/pentagon-seeks-innovative-commercial-tech-address-covid-19-pandemic/164435/

For the General Services Administration, the surge in contracting to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and now the fourth stimulus bill is business as usual.

On Friday, April 17 the Trump administration released guidance to clarify how and when agencies can reimburse contractors as outlined in the recently enacted novel coronavirus economic relief legislation.

As part of its ongoing effort to bolster the defense industrial base, the Pentagon has issued two new pieces of guidance — one focused on workers, and one focused on prototype contracts.

The Department of Homeland Security announced April 9 that it will use a recently established pilot program to procure innovative tools to assist in its fight against the new coronavirus.

The U.S. Air Force — on behalf of the Defense Department — is looking outside the military for innovative commercial technology, processes, methods and research that could address the national crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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