Training | The Contracting Education Academy

May 24, 2016 By cs

Learn contract negotiation skills in June workshops

Are you a good negotiator?

You’ll discover the answer to that important question by participating in an upcoming workshop being conducted by The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech. The Negotiation Workshops are being conducted in Jackson, Missouri on June 28 and in Springfield, Missouri on June 30, 2016.

The University of Missouri is hosting the workshops to help businesses understand how government agencies negotiate their contracts.

By participating, business people will discover their own negotiating style and whether it works in the government contracting arena. Participants will be challenged to ‘think outside the box’ and put good negotiation techniques into practice.

Attendees will:

Be briefed on the latest research identifying effective negotiation practices,
Learn when and how the government negotiates contracts,
Examine effective contract negotiation techniques,
Engage in a simulated contract negotiation for a critical purchase, and
Receive a debriefing on what negotiation tactics and strategies work and don’t work.

Negotiation Workshop - quotes In addition to expert instruction, each attendee will receive a printed guide.

The workshops are being presented through special arrangements made by the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (MOPTAC). Specialists from The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech, a recognized educational leader in the government contracting field, will lead the workshops and provide insights available nowhere else. As a result of attending, participants will understand how to negotiate with government agencies, prime contractors, suppliers and even potential business partners.

To attend the Negotiation Workshop on Tuesday, June 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Jackson, Missouri, OR Thursday, June 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Springfield, Missouri, please visit http://missouribusiness.net/ptac/training to register at a discounted workshop fee.

May 4, 2016 By cs

Academy to conduct FAR webinar for NCMA

If you represent a business in need of a quick orientation to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), an upcoming webinar hosted by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) may be just your ticket.

On Thursday, June 30, 2016, NCMA will host a webinar entitled “30 Things Every Contractor Needs to Know About the FAR.”

The webinar was developed by The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech, and will be presented by Chuck Schadl, group manager of government contracting services at Georgia Tech. Chuck provides instruction and advice to both government contracting officials and business professionals. He has more than 40 years of experience in the contracting field at federal and local government levels, and consults with state and local governments on acquisition reform.

By highlighting 30 provisions of the FAR, the webinar will provide insights into:

Why the 2,000-page FAR is important and how it is structured,
How the federal government plans its contracts,
How a contract is created using the FAR, and
How government agencies administer contracts.

The webinar will be conducted from noon until 1:30 pm Eastern Time on June 30th. For more information and to register, click here.

February 10, 2016 By cs

GAO says Army needs training on how to exercise contract options

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report that finds contracting officials at the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal have improperly used the option to extend services clause by extending three of five contracts reviewed for periods longer than 6 months.

When included in a contract, the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (FAR) option to extend services clause allows contracting officers to extend a contract more than once as long as the total extension does not exceed 6 months. However, the three contracts GAO identified were extended for periods between 10 and 12 months using contract modifications that cited the option to extend services clause. All three contracts were sole-source bridge contracts included as a part of GAO’s October 2015 review of bridge contracts. In that report, GAO found that multiple factors contributed to the use of bridge contracts, including those reviewed at the Army, such as an inexperienced and overwhelmed acquisition workforce.

Why GAO Did Its Study

The option to extend services clause provides a way for the government to continue to receive services for up to 6 months when, for example, the award of subsequent contracts might be delayed. When noncompetitive contracts are used frequently or for prolonged periods, the government is at risk of paying more than it should for goods and services. The same is true when the option to extend services clause is used for longer than permitted, thus delaying potential competition. In October 2015, GAO reported on federal agencies’ use of bridge contracts, which GAO defined as including extensions to an existing contract beyond the period of performance of a contract (including base and option years).

As a follow-up to its October 2015 report, GAO developed its latest report to address the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal’s use of the option to extend services clause on selected contracts, and to bring the issues GAO found to the command’s attention. For this report, GAO examined, for selected Army contracts, how the option to extend services clause was used to bridge a potential gap in services and the extent to which it was used in accordance with federal regulations.

To conduct this work, GAO relied on audit work completed as part of an October 2015 review of federal agencies’ use of bridge contracts. As part of that review, GAO selected 29 contracts, including 5 Army contracts awarded by the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal, for an in-depth review. To review the Army contracts, GAO collected and analyzed contract documentation and interviewed contracting and program officials. In addition, GAO reviewed FAR sections 37.111 and 17.208 (f), which provides for the use of FAR clause 52.217-8, the option to extend services, to better understand the rules related to the use of this clause, and compared the Army’s use of this clause on the selected contracts to the terms and limitations of the clause.

What GAO Is Recommending

GAO has recommended that the Executive Director of the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal provide training and, in a timely manner, issue a formal reminder to contracting officers on the appropriate use of the option to extend services clause, in particular the period of performance limitations prescribed by the FAR. The Department of Defense has concurred with GAO’s recommendation.

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-262R

December 16, 2015 By cs

DoD hasn’t updated plan to achieve adequately sized and capable acquisition workforce

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Department of Defense (DoD) doesn’t have a plan in place to have an adequately sized and capable acquisition workforce to handle the $300 billion in goods and services it buys annually.

DoD is required by statute to develop an acquisition workforce plan every 2 years. DoD issued a plan in 2010, in which it called for the department to increase the size of the acquisition workforce by 20,000 positions by fiscal year 2015, but has not yet updated the plan. More importantly, in six of DoD’s 13 acquisition career fields, including three priority career fields — contracting, business and engineering — DoD did not meet growth goals.

DoD's contracting workforce lags by 1,562 positions according to a Dec. 15, 2015 GAO report. — DoD’s contracting workforce lags by 1,562 positions according to a Dec. 15, 2015 GAO report.

DoD increased the size of its military and civilian acquisition workforce by 21 percent, from about 126,000 to about 153,000, between September 2008 and March 2015. This exceeds its 20,000 personnel growth target by over 7,000. However, while DoD attempted to strategically reshape its acquisition workforce with the 2010 acquisition workforce plan, it fell short in several priority career fields, including contracting.

There have been improvements in the training and qualifications of the DoD workforce. For example, the percent of the workforce that met certification requirements increased from 58 percent to 79 percent between fiscal years 2008 and 2014. However, DoD still faces the challenge of an aging workforce, as statistics also show that the average age of the workforce has been static since 2008 at about 45 years, and the percentage of retirement eligible personnel has remained at 17 percent. Defense acquisition officials recognize the risks associated with the loss of very experienced members of the acquisition workforce.

GAO recommends that DoD’s focus should now be placed on reshaping career fields to ensure that the most critical acquisition needs are being met. In GAO’s opinion:

An updated plan that includes revised career field goals, coupled with guidance on how to use the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund, could help DOD components focus future hiring efforts on priority career fields. Without an integrated approach, the department is at risk of using the funds to hire personnel in career fields that currently exceed their targets or are not considered a priority.

A copy of GAO’s report, entitled “Actions Needed to Guide Planning Efforts and Improve Workforce Capability,” can be downloaded here: http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/674152.pdf

November 19, 2015 By cs

Academy’s 2016 course schedule set

Training courses — ideal for government contracting officials and contractors alike — are now scheduled for 2016 on the Georgia Tech campus in midtown Atlanta.

Below are the details of professional education courses being presented by The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech in the first three months of 2016. (For a complete calendar of 2016 courses, click here.) To see pricing or to register for any class, click on the course titles below.

January

Jan. 19-21 – CON 260B: Small Business Programs – Covers the intricacies of the government’s Small Business Programs designed to maximize the participation of small businesses in prime contracts and subcontracts, including selection of appropriate acquisition strategies, the SBA’s role in the award decision-making process, subcontracting requirements, and assistance available to small businesses. Includes a review of on-line course CON 260A.

Jan. 26-29 – CON 090-1: Contracting Overview of the FAR – Covers the identification of the basic principles of federal government contracting, including the structure and content of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and agency supplements. Students learn how to locate, cite, and interpret regulations.

Jan. 25-26 – GSA Schedule Workshop – A 2-day program designed to provide businesses with the hands-on instruction and oversight needed to successfully prepare and submit a GSA Schedule proposal. Appropriate for all business sizes and all GSA Schedule types. Covers all aspects of proposal preparation and includes 4 hours of post-workshop consulting.

February

Feb. 1-5 – COR 206/222: Contracting Officer Representative and the Contingency Contracting Environment – Covers the role and responsibilities of the COR in contract administration, including contract planning support, contract awards, contract changes and modifications, monitoring performance, expenditures and schedules, and ethical situations and cultural differences a COR may experience while deployed in a contingency operation.

Feb. 22-26 – CON 244: Construction Contracting – Focuses on contracting issues unique to construction, including acquisition planning, contract performance management, funding, environmental concerns, construction contract language, construction contracting in a commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements statute, design/build methodology, basic schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, acceleration, and construction contract quality management.

March

Mar. 14-25 – CON 170: Fundamentals of Cost & Price Analysis – Conveys fundamental quantitative pricing skills, including seller pricing strategies, the Truth in Negotiations Act and how it mitigates government risk, application of Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) rules to negotiated contracts and subcontracts, and contract cost principles and procedures. Covers cost-volume-profit analysis, contribution margin estimates, and cost estimating relationships.

Mar. 14-15 – GSA Schedule Workshop – A 2-day program designed to provide businesses with the hands-on instruction and oversight needed to successfully prepare and submit a GSA Schedule proposal. Appropriate for all business sizes and all GSA Schedule types. Covers all aspects of proposal preparation and includes 4 hours of post-workshop consulting.