Capitol CREAG Closeout Team
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:
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Although there is no mention of us in the article, the team led by Ms. Smith consisted entirely of Capitol CREAG employees.
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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.
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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.
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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!”
