If you feel like you have been seeing more and more of me over the past couple of weeks at GSA, you DO NOT need to have your eyes examined. Bill and I have been very busy taking over contract administration duties while Matt Oviatt has been focused (quite successfully!) on Business Development. It’s been exciting to see so many of you in your environment and in action.

GSA/PET/SDM Program

On May 28, 2010 the Capitol CREAG / UNISYS Team was awarded the Spatial Data Management (SDM) contract with the GSA/NCR Pricing Execution and Tools (PET) Division.

GSA/PET/SDM Program Overview:

The SDM Program is GSA’s national effort to create, update, and maintain its spatial data and associated Computer Aided Design (CAD) floor plans to accurately reflect the national federally owned inventory. SDM CAD floor plans are the basis for the assignment data and square footage information that PBS uses for tenant rent bills. The creation and maintenance of drawings supports accurate rent bills for customer agencies. The SDM program also aids in the performance and utilization of each asset while identifying the most efficient and cost-effective way to house Federal employees and manage Federal Space. The NCR SDM program surveys, measures, and validates spatial and assignment data for NCR’s buildings and maintains spatial data using AutoCAD, Map3D and eSmart, the SDM database platform.

New Team Members

On June 1, 2010 we began the on-boarding of 12 new team members. We are excited to welcome Team Lead/Program Manager, Leon Hatton, and his team of highly skilled CAD/CAFM Engineers. They are well respected at GSA.

So, if you see a professional walking down the hall with a friendly smile and a blue Capitol CREAG lanyard hanging from their neck, I encourage you to introduce yourself and welcome the SDM members to the family.

GSA Financial Management Division, shared the Good News with Capitol CREAG Team Leader, Marvin Muhammad, this week.  As a result of Capitol CREAG’s efforts, GSA NCR PBS Achieves GREEN Score in November FY10 Accounts Payable. This is the First Time achieving this status since the measurement was established in November FY09.

Congratulations for a Job Well Done!

Brent Goe sent me an article yesterday that came from the “REDC Reporter” newsletter at GSA-Atlanta (Issue no. 1, September 2008).

Closeout Team takes Giant Steps

The REDC Contract Closeout Team was formed in November 07 with goal of reducing the mountainous backlog that plagued the division. Led by Alison Smith, Acquisition Specialist, the team began the task of organizing over 700 scattered contract files. In addition, there are 100+ in-house and field offices files that need to be closed.

According to Alison “files were left abandoned in empty offices and storage closets. She stated that “the toughest part was getting organized and coming up with a plan of attack.” One major step was development of Standard Operating Procedures that gave the team a unified approach.

Since that time, the team has made remarkable progress. They have successfully closed out over 500 contract files primarily consisting of major design & construction contracts and IDIQ task orders.

According to Alison, “its true… there really is no “I” in team. Everyone had to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it took to get the job done” ; that included a generous helping hand from the regular acquisition division staff. Once each month the division held a “closeout party” where Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists pitched in to closeout as many files as possible in a single work day. The group was rewarded for its efforts with a mid-day pizza buffet and the appreciation of their colleagues

The benefits of this effort will extend for years to come. An automated tracking system is being developed to help manage both closed contracts and canceled solicitations. Improved maintenance and disposition of contract records will facilitate compliance with federal regs and preserve the transactional history of GSA and its stakeholders.

Also of particular note:

1. Although there is no mention of us in the article, the team led by Ms. Smith consisted entirely of Capitol CREAG employees.
2. We developed the complete set of initial operating procedures for the closeout team to follow, including training for incoming closeout personnel.  GSA adopted our documents and modified them as needed to get their final SOPs.
3. The “Closeout Parties” consisted of the GSA contracting officers approving the closeout work we did on the contract files.  We prepared between 150-250 contract files for each party and the COs simply signed off on our work as we had no signature authority.
4. The Automated Tracking System - We developed a comprehensive database in MS Access to be used as the tracking system.  Unfortunately, they had some IT security concerns with MS Access so they would not let us put it to work.  The system they are currently building is a mirror of the system we built. They are simply using the same structure in a different program.  All of the database fields and functionality are the same.

We’d like to give special recognition to all those involved who did a spectacular job in all of our closeout efforts.  You’ve done a great job of closing over 2,000 contracts to date!

• Stacy Duson, JoAnn Doughty, Alenda Conway, and Brent Goe each did an outstanding job on the REDC team;
• Brenda Starr and John Pena both did an outstanding job on the Realty Services; and
• Andrea Brzoska and Drand Dixon did an outstanding job on the Property Management services.

I know I speak for Art and Todd when I say “thank you for making Capitol CREAG a success!”

Just wanted to give everyone an update on a great kickoff meeting Art and I just came from with Hill International/Berger and GSA Region 3.  We are excited to be strategic partners with Hill/Berger to represent GSA Region 3 and FBI on the new FBI Field Office Build to Suit in the Norfolk, Virginia area.

This state of the art building will consist of approximately 131,000 SF of secured office space. We have been asked to assist GSA with:

• OMB Scoring
• Prospectus Compliance
• IGE Quality Control
• Leasing Consulting
• Cost Benefit and NPV Modeling
• Relocation Management, and more

What an exciting day we had yesterday!

Yesterday marked the official launch of our new Capitol CREAG Signature Team brand.  This team is a group of retired GSA personnel who has spent significant time as GSA employees and are known as the most experienced in their field.

Each team member has 25+ years of experience as a GSA employee.  As these highly experienced contractors work on difficult or highly specialized projects from GSA, they will also have junior Capitol CREAG co-workers working together with them so that the tradition of knowing the ins and outs of GSA continues at Capitol CREAG.

I encourage you to take a minute to download the marketing package that has been delivered to Thomas James in DC and is being delivered in Atlanta today.  While resumes are normally boring to read through, these resumes actually captivated me and left me saying “wow!”.

Just a few samples:

• Tom Walker - Assistant Regional Administrator for seven years responsible for PBS region that includes NC, SC, FL, GA, MS, AL, KY, and TN serving 125,000 Federal tenants with a staff of 560 real estate and construction professionals and with an operating budget of over a half billion dollars.  Retired from Federal Service after 33 years in 2006.
• Carol Dunham - First CFO of Homeland Security.  Retired from Federal Service after 38 years in 2008.
• Mike Roper - Managed 1.7M sq ft design-build lease of Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center (ninth-largest federal building in the country and the largest in the Southeast).  Completed the project four months early and $7M under budget.  Retired from Federal Service after 33 years in 2006.