Procurement Countdown Spring 2004 No. 129

Highlights...Most of this issue’s articles areabout the Procurement TrainingConference. Look for over-views on pages 1, 8, 12, and 13.

Articles on specific sessions arefeatured on pages 10 and 11.

The Big PictureThe NASA Procurement Conference 2003By Kathleen J. Huddleston, NASA Management Office

Think warm breezes, palmtrees, an elegant hotel with afabulous pool, high tech fitnesscenter, the finest dining, findingyour comforter turned, andchocolates placed on your pillow.Dreaming? Not if you werelucky enough to attend the four-day NASA 2003 ProcurementConference at the Grand LakesHotel and Resort in Orlando,Florida. It couldn’t have been abetter location and to paraphraseTom Luedtke, it beats a Motel 6and just goes to show, competi-tion definitely has its payoffs!

The NASA 2003 Procure-ment Conference was anothersuccess. Attendance was great,the location and facility werefabulous, the weather was nice;and the conference presenterswere excellent. This year wehad roughly 300 attendeesparticipating in an exchange ofknowledge through presentationsand informal discussions. Therewere 15 workshops, 7 functionalarea breakout sessions and 11idea market discussions. It wasthe perfect opportunity to meetup with old friends, meet col-leagues from other centers,

network, exchange ideas andenhance and update our knowl-edge of NASA and the procure-ment arena.

Our host and conferencecoordinator this year was the oneand only Yolande Harden. Whatcan be said other than she did afabulous job orchestrating this

very large and very successfulevent? Thank you Yolande foryour hard work, dedication, andcreativity.

Each morning the confer-ence began with a continentalbreakfast, opening remarks fromour Procurement Administrator(and part-time comedian) TomLuedtke, and a special guestspeaker. We were fortunate tohave a few of NASA’s “finest”

brief us on the Agency’s infra-structure and the roles andresponsibilities as they pertain toeach one’s functional areas.Although the NASA Administra-tor, Sean O’Keefe could notattend, we were honored to haveFred Gregory, NASA DeputyAdministrator; Paul Pastorek,General Counsel; Robert W.Cobb, NASA Inspector General;and James L. Jennings, Associ-ate Deputy Administrator,Institutions and Asset Manage-ment. Each guest gave anenlightening presentation andthen engaged the audienceduring a question and answerperiod. Many of the participantstook advantage of the opportu-nity to ask important questions,and we all benefited from theexchanges.

Workshops began aroundmid-morning. The many topicspresented drew considerableinterest and were very thoughtprovoking. Sessions included theNASA Shared Services Center(NSSC); Multiple Award, IDIQ,Multiple Discipline Contracts;Small Business Issues; Best

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Fred Gregory gives the openingaddress at the conference.

The Procurement Awards arediscussed on pages 15 and 16.

Specific impressions on theconference are on pages 2, 4,and 5.

Features are on Tasha Davis, anNCIP intern at MSFC on page 6and the SSC AcquisitionsManagement Office on page 7.

Information about the DOLWage website is on page 9.

Spring 2004 page 2

Practices in the Pricing Arena;Acquisition Contract Strategies forMajor Procurements; E-Gov andan Evolving Landscape; Return toFlight; SAP Tips, Tricks andWorkarounds; SuccessfulDebriefings and Source SelectionStatements; Contractor Access toConfidential Business Information;Property Issues; CompetitiveSourcing; Mission AssuranceSurveillance Plans in PBC Con-tracts; NASA Research An-nouncements; and AffirmativeProcurement & EnvironmentalManagement Systems.

There were also two func-tional breakout sessions each day.These sessions included Policy;Pricing; Training and CareerDevelopment; Grants and Coop-

erative Agreements; and Simpli-fied Acquisitions. We had theopportunity to participate in anIdea Market, which was aninformal brainstorming sessionwhere participants could movefrom topic to topic discussingconcerns and issues, then offerrecommendations. Each IdeaMarket had two facilitators tokeep the discussions moving.From an informal perspective, thisapproach was very effective ingenerating discussions.

The last day offered theopportunity to tour the KennedySpace Center. What a fantasticway to end a terrific week! If youhaven’t been on the KennedyTour, you don’t know what you’remissing. Touring the center has a

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The Big Picture

way of confirming the remarkableoutcomes of all the hard work anddedication of the NASA family.It’s a tremendous and unforget-table experience.

After the conference, I took acasual poll of some of the partici-pants (see below). The generalconsensus was that the confer-ence was very informative andthat good ideas were gleaned fromthe topics of discussion. The twotopics that attracted the highestattendance were Best Practices inthe Pricing Arena and Return toFlight-Procurement Challenges.

I’m looking forward toNASA’s next procurementconference, and NASA is lookingforward to seeing you all there.

NMO Comments:Best Practices and Pricing Arena

Presenters: Patricia Beall, KSC; Lorrie Eakin, GSFC;and Jose Garcia, JSC

Every element discussed during the module at sometime will be helpful to me….I can tell you the discussion onpricing contract changes where the prospective andretrospective approaches were compared will be helpful inthe near future.” E. M.Shared Services

Presenters: Kim Dalgleish and Jim Becker, HQ“Kim Dalgleish and Jim Becker did a great job present-

ing the facts and why an A-76 competition had to be held.Seriously, the module was presented excellently, and Ididn’t realize how misinformed I was of the NSSC until Iattended this session.” R. Q.Electronic Government, An Evolving Landscape

Presenters: Ron Crider and Ken Stepka, HQ“The presentation provided a superb overview of the

type of electronic systems that we work with, how theseelectronic tools fit together, and how these systems willchange.” S. M.Policy Functional Breakout

Leader: Robin Strohacker, GRC“My memory is most vivid on the ISRS discussion. Not

because I had a concern about ISRS but because I couldn’tget over the fact that this Agency collects so much data onits contractors. Made me scratch my head!!” J.C.

Multiple Discipline AwardsPresenters: Lorenzo Chance, KSC; Jerry Edmond, HQ;

Karin Huth, GRCThe module was excellent. The speakers provided

excellent insight into the advantages as well as challengesthat are faced. The examples used during the discussionswere excellent.” S.B.Successful Debriefings and Source Selection Statements

Presenters: Jeffrey Cullen, JSC; Jim Huk, SSC; DavidSudduth, HQ; Sumara Thompson-King HQ, Code G

“Overall, I was very pleased with this module. Thepresenters were extremely knowledgeable, and were able tosuccessfully field not only specific, direct questions onthese topics, but more philosophical comments as well.Since our experience with source selection statements anddebriefings has ranged from wildly successful to incrediblydistressing, I was very glad to hear that agencywideinstructional guides are being prepared for our use.” R.S.NASA Research Announcements

Presenters: Dawn Fountain, GSFC; Suzan Moody, HQ;Nancy Sessoms, LaRC; Lupe Velasquez, ARC; and MaryJane Yeager, LaRC

This session was so interesting the time flew by. Igleaned a great deal of good information. The speakers werevery well informed, the material presented was excellent andthe speakers easily drew the audience into the discussion.”K. H.

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People on theMove

The list ofPeople onthe Moveonlyincludesthose namesthat weresubmitted tothe Procure-ment Count-down. If youknow peoplewho shouldbe listed inthis column,contact yourcenterProcure-mentCountdownpoint ofcontact, orsend thenames to theeditor, SusieMarucci, on(202) 358-1896, or e-mail atsusie.marucci@nasa.gov.

ARCCongratulations: We are all

wishing much success to our newgroup leads. Deb Glass has beenselected as a group lead in theAcquisition Branch for Aeronau-tics; Mark Lefler has beenselected as a group lead in theAcquisition Branch for Businessand Policy; and Carlos Torrez hasbeen selected as a group lead inthe Acquisition Branch for CenterOperations and Space.

Chuck Duff recently returnedto ARC after spending a year atHQ as the Acting Deputy Assis-tant Administrator for Procure-ment. Upon his return, Chuckwas selected to be the DeputyDirector of Center Operations.The Acquisition Division’s loss isthe Center’s gain. Congratula-tions Chuck!

New Faces: A warm wel-come to Audrey Guerra and KellyKraft. Audrey recently trans-ferred from the Defense Con-tracts Management Agency inSunnyvale, CA. Kelly transferredfrom the Department of the Armyin Fort Bragg, North Carolina.Both Audrey and Kelly arecontract specialists assigned to theAcquisition Branch for CenterOperations and Space.

Farewell: Carolyn La Folletteretired in January after 36 yearswith the government. Carolyncame to ARC in 1975. Shebecame a Branch Chief in 1982and, on many occasions, between1982 to 2004, served as the ActingDeputy Procurement Officer orActing Procurement Officer. Inher 20 years as Chief, Acquisition

Branch for Center Operations andSpace, Carolyn provided procure-ment support to every organizationat the center, including manymajor construction, aeronautics,and space projects, as well ascenter-wide support for grants andinstitutional services.

Barbara Young also retired inJanuary after 37 years with thegovernment. During her 17 yearsat ARC, Barbara was a seniorlead contract specialist in theAcquisition Branch for CenterOperations and Space. While atARC Barbara was involved withand oversaw many source evalua-tion actions. Most recently, inaddition to her review responsibili-ties, she was the contractingofficer for the ARC ODIN task.

Errol Ridgway retired inJanuary after 17 years with thegovernment. One of his majorresponsibilities during his 14 yearsat ARC was as the contractingofficer for the Federal InformationProcessing Services contract, oneof ARC’s larger contracts.During the past two years he wasalso the COTR for the CCIcontract for closeout services forthe Agency.

Tommie Smith retired fromgovernment service in December2003. Tommie began his careerat ARC and then transferred toMarshall Space Flight Centerwhere he spent many years.Tommie returned to ARC sevenyears ago and was assigned to theAcquisition Branch for CenterOperations and Space.

Julie Donley has accepted anon-procurement position with theDepartment of Homeland Secu-rity, Customs Service. Julie beganher career at ARC as the Acquisi-tion Division Secretary and then,two years ago, became a contractspecialist. We wish all of themwell in their new endeavors.

HQ

Farewell: Headquarters saidgoodbye to three invaluablemembers recently. Chuck Duffreturned to Ames after spending ayear at Headquarters as theActing Deputy Assistant Adminis-trator for Procurement. While hewas here, Chuck oversaw majorinitiatives including Freedom toManage, took on major issues forthe AA, and was an importantpart of the Office of Procurementteam. Barbara Cephas, whohandled the procurement trainingrequirements for procurementpersonnel throughout the Agency,retired after 31 years, all of themspent in procurement at HQ. Ifyou took any of the CON classesin recent years, you can thankBarbara for getting interestinginstructors and working to makeyour experience a pleasant one.Bill Childs who at various timeshandled the VPO, IFM issues,Master Buy Plan input, metrics,and much more, also retiredrecently. Bill and his wife areleaving the DC area for thewarmer climate and brighter lightsof Las Vegas. We wish themwell.

GSFCCongratulations: The following

people recently received promo-tions: Nylsea Collazo, TeresaAnthony, Nancy Lockard, AnnHaase. Congratulations to thefollowing people on their recentselections: Keva Crossen andJolyn Nace were both selected aspurchasing agents for the Pro-curement Operations Division.

New Faces: Lee Cetorelli,Alicia Joyner, Claudia Womble,and Donna Broderick. Welcomenew Co-ops LaMar Hortman andChristopher Torrance

Farewell: Karen Weaver toHQ, Simone Rollings to NSA, KimTann to Code 400 within GSFC,

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A Fresh PerspectiveBy David Vance, Glenn Research Center

As a member of the NASAContracting Intern Program(NCIP) 2003 Class and still aninfant in the world of Procure-ment, I did not know what toexpect at this year’s trainingconference. Leaving fromCleveland, I knew I could counton warmer temperatures. Aftervisiting JW Marriot’s website, Iknew the accommodations wouldbe first-rate. With a bunch of myfriends going from CON101 andGlenn, I knew the off hours wouldbe a good time. The only un-known was the actual conference.I am happy to report, it was bothan enlightening and informativethree days.

The conference did have aninauspicious start as NASAAdministrator, Sean O’Keefe,was detained and unable to speakat the opening ceremonies. In hisplace, however, the DeputyAdministrator, Frederick Gregory,did a fine job. Paul Pastorek,

NASA General Counsel, spokenext and gave a fitting speechemphasizing the importance ofteamwork. It was this message ofteamwork that I found to be thefoundation of the conference.

Of all the different events, thevarious workshop sessions pro-vided the greatest benefit. In myshort time with NASA, it some-times feels as though the centersare competing against one an-other, instead of working togetherfor the greater good of theAgency. But during the work-shops the centers seemed to cometogether. It was there the great-est amount of idea sharing tookplace. Even though a few work-shops bordered on complaintsessions, overall they provided anexcellent forum for each center todescribe their strengths and howthey can be incorporated into thewhole.

Each center clearly has itsown way of doing things. The

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conference, particularly theworkshops, provided an excep-tional outlet for each center toshare its unique methods andideas. Ideally, each center wasable to take back a few newprocesses to improve its organiza-tion and create a better Office ofProcurement for NASA as awhole. As cliché as it may sound,the idea of One NASA wasevident in Orlando.

Part of NASA’s beauty is inthe differences between thecenters, procurement included.We need to embrace our diversityand use it to benefit our organiza-tion. As we move forward intothese exciting times, I look to thewords of Henry Ford who said;“Coming together is a beginning -keeping together is progress -working together is success.”The conference gave us anopportunity to come together nowlet’s keep together, and worktogether towards success.

People on the Move

Kelly Boos to GRC, Lashonda Goodwyn to HQ,Harold Coleman to KSC, Mary Stevens to HQ,James Becker to HQ, Jerry Edmond to HQ, andBarbara Hammond to EPA.

KSCCongratulations: The following KSC Procure-

ment Office personnel have been recognized invarious ways: Teri Jackson was awarded theprestigious NASA Midrange/Commercial Person ofthe Year Award at the recent Procurement Confer-ence in Orlando Florida. (See more on page 16.)Steve Parker has accepted a Congressional Fellow-ship assignment in Washington DC. Steve will besupporting Florida’s very own Senator Bill Nelsonworking space issues and policies on the senator’sstaff in DC.

New Faces: KSC extends a warm welcome toour newest employees: Bradley O’Toole joins the

Mission Support Office team from the Boeing Com-pany. Cynthia Pettiford comes to the ProcurementOffice from the KSC Press Site and joins the Acqui-sition Management Office. Emily Unbehaun is anNCIP (NASA Contracting Intern Program) partici-pant and just started a 19-month rotation at theKennedy Space Center. She just graduated from theUniversity of Wisconsin after completing four co-optours in the Procurement Office at the Johnson SpaceCenter prior to her arrival at KSC.

Farewell: Alas, we must bid farewell to thefollowing OP employees: Thomas Tokmenko relo-cated to Langley. Steven Horn returned to the KSCLegal Office. Julie Caimi left the ProcurementOffice after seven years. Her new position is in theKennedy Space Center Orbital Space Plane Office.Ember Smith left the Procurement Office after sevenyears. Her new position is in the Shuttle ProcessingDirectorate as an administrative support staff respon-sible for Employee Awards.

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The Real ValueBy Ron Sepesi, Glenn Research Center

It has been some weeks sincethe Procurement Training Confer-ence in Orlando and I believeeveryone who was present wouldagree it was a glowing success.Having attended all of the previ-ous Training Conferences inTyson Corners, the steady im-provements in each event hasbeen readily apparent. Theplanning committee should becommended. The bar has beenraised for the next event, and I ameager to see what improvementsawait the procurement commu-nity.

It strikes me that the value ofthe conference may not only be inthe sharing of procurementinformation, presentations bysenior officials, or even the highlyanticipated, sometimes biting“State of Procurement” by TomLuedtke (which somehow wentmissing during this event) butrather the real benefit is helping toremove the barriers to a “OneNASA Procurement.”

Let’s be honest, there is astrong competition betweencenters! Being named “leadcenter” (a term which has re-cently been eliminated) for thehighly visible, important programsis a designation each centerrelishes. There are only a limitednumber of highly visible programsand being named lead centersupports our existence andacknowledges our competence.This competition can extend downto the procurement community.While competition is healthy, it canalso erect artificial barriers to thefree flow of information and a“One NASA Procurement.” Weall believe we write the bestcontracts; solve the most convo-luted contract administration

issues; and have identified thatunique “best practice” to expediteevaluation, selection, and award.However, I am pretty sure that Ican learn a lot from the othercenters, and they could learn a lotfrom GRC. The topic specificpresentations at the conferencereinforce the fact there are amultitude of good people and goodideas at the Agency. However,barriers in sharing those goodideas at the worker level exist dueto distance, perceptions of center/

HQ competence, finding the rightperson to talk to, etc.

The training conference canbreak down those barriers. Itprovides a name with a face, apoint of contact, a colleague whomay have solved the same prob-lem you now face. The topicspecific presentations reinforcethe fact that creative thinkingabounds in the Agency. Thechallenge is to foster the exchangeof those creative ideas and forcenters to acknowledge the factthat others may indeed know morethan me! The “not invented here”syndrome is strong within theAgency.

A strong “One NASA Pro-curement” would do as much todisseminate its success as well as

it challenges (it’s hard to use theword “failure”). It would spreadpractical information at the workerlevel where the information isneeded most. It would be morehonest with itself in acknowledg-ing those less than successfulprocurements. We often learnmore from the less than success-ful procurements.

A few years ago GRC was ina re-compete mode for two BOSSlike contracts. The initial “buzz”from Code H told of a BOSSsuccess story, and I was chal-lenged by the words “…JSC cando that, why can’t you?” So wevisited JSC! To their credit, theBOSS CO and COTR were morethan willing to share their contractchallenges. This honest feedbackinfluenced our procurementstrategy and helped make ourlocal procurements more success-ful.

It strikes me that the Procure-ment Officers interact on astructured basis with telecons andannual conferences. I may meeta branch chief counterpart at thistype of conference every twoyears. Is that enough to sharegood information? I have inter-acted with my counterparts andfriends at LaRC to discussbusiness practices often over thelast few years. I find it helps tocalibrate my thinking. I alwayswalk away with a few interestingideas. Smaller function specificsessions led by the Code Hrepresentative responsible for thatpart of the FAR could be benefi-cial. More sharing of practicalinformation at the worker level isan idea that needs to be nurturedand supported if we are to moveto a “One NASA Procurement.”

Putting names to faces during a break.

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A Closer Look:

Life as an NCIP InternBy Tasha Davis, Marshall Space Flight Center

I, Tasha L. Davis, am a nativeof Birmingham, Alabama. Ireceived my Bachelors of Sciencedegree in Accounting fromAlabama A&M University. I’mcurrently working as a ContractSpecialist at Marshall Space FlightCenter in the Procurement Officesupporting the Science and CenterOperations Support Department. Iinitially joined the Agency as anNCIP Intern in August 2003. Lifeas an intern at MSFC has beennothing short of a vast learningexperience and opportunity.

My experience as a NCIPIntern has been very positive.There were the usual mishaps forworking for the government suchas: getting situated, passwords,and finding my way around.However, the department person-nel I was working with made mefeel very welcome and comfort-able. I had a lot to learn aboutprocurement. I was fresh out ofschool. I had very little trainingand/or experience in Procure-ment. The first week with theAgency, I attended a NASAHeadquarters sponsored Contract-ing 101 Class in Virginia Beach,VA. This class provided a broadidea as to what procurement wasand defined some of the roles andduties of a contract specialist.With this training completed, I stillhad no idea of what to expectonce I began my first assignmentat MSFC.

To assist in my learning, theprocurement department managerand team lead assigned me amentor, a well skilled contractspecialist. However, as an intern Iwas very nervous about becominga burden to someone who had his

own workload to accomplish. Mymentor didn’t mind taking meunder his wing. In fact, no one inmy department was bothered bymy inquisitive spirit and child-likeexcitement. Everyone that I metat MSFC, whether in procurementor not, made sure that if I neededanything and they could help, theywould help or at least point me inthe right direction.

My primary challenge, at thispoint, was learning as much as Icould without being a burden orbeing redundant in my questions.As I continued to learn and takenotes, my mentor began letting mehandle certain actions by myself.I am beginning to feel moreconfident in the actions I am

allowed to procure and feel that Iam a contributing team member. Ihave worked on the followingprocurement actions: SATs(Small Acquisition Thresholds),modifications on various types ofcontracts, purchase orders,cooperative agreements, andgrants. I have also made severalacquisitions using GSA. Mostrecently, I have been involved inclosing out purchase orders.

Since joining MSFC, I havebeen given the opportunity to go toall sorts of training, one of whichwas the Procurement Training

Conference. At the conference, Iwas able to see the overall visionof NASA through the eyes ofprocurement. I met so manyindividuals that have been withNASA for numerous years, andthey were still excited to be a partof an organization so great in spiritand success.

I have enjoyed the steps that Ihave taken to get where I amtoday. My future as an NCIPintern is very promising. Theprogram is only two and a halfyears. This summer I will relocateto Johnson Space Center. I amvery excited about the move andfeel that it will be another chal-lenge awaiting me. This move willincrease my experience base andexpand my knowledge as acontract specialist. The goal of theNCIP program is to allow interns,like me, to gain a vast amount ofexperience in a variety of areas,equipping us with the tools neces-sary to one day become contract-ing officers. I have enjoyed mystay at MSFC, and probably won’tbe ready to leave this summer. Iam looking forward to an excitingfuture at other NASA centers.

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What’s It All About:

The Stennis Acquisition Management OfficeWhen Susie Marucci sent the

call for articles for this edition ofthe Procurement Countdown,there was an assignment forStennis Space Center (SSC) towrite a Group/Team/Officearticle. Rather than focus on asmaller team, this article is aboutthe entire SSC Acquisition Man-agement Office (AMO). It is agreat example of this categorybecause of the broad and diverseduties that this group of employeesmust accomplish to support theNASA mission.

The AMO is part of a largerorganization, the Business Man-agement Directorate (BMD).The BMD provides key businessservices to the center organiza-tions and resident agencies. It wasformed during the Center’sreorganization in 2002. The BMDconsists of the Office of the ChiefFinancial Officer, the AcquisitionManagement Office, and theBusiness Support Office. TheAMO consists of three groups:the Operations ContractingDivision, the Support ServicesContract Division, and Policy andPricing. Each reports to theProcurement Officer, RebeccaDubuisson and the Deputy Pro-curement Officer, Nick Etheridge.The Operations ContractingDivision, led by Jim Huk, procuresprimarily the large commodityitems, equipment, selected grants,cooperative agreements, construc-tion, and some other service typerequirements. The SupportServices Contract Division, led bySusan Dupuis, supports the largefacilities, technical, and othersupport service contracts for thecenter. These include the FacilityOperating Services, Test andTechnical Services, Hardware

Assurance Testing, and SecurityServices Contracts.

The organization is staffed bya total of eighteen employees.We also have two NCIP internsassigned to SSC, as well asseveral support contractorsproviding processing invoicing,data entry, and closeout support.Because the organization is small,all employees are key to success-ful mission support. AMOemployees are highly educated,with a significant number ofemployees holding postgraduatedegrees. The opportunity toexperience all facets of thecontracting process is available toAMO employees and provides usa mechanism for developingseasoned, well-rounded procure-ment professionals. These diverseopportunities create an interestingwork environment because itallows each of us to bounce ideasoff of each other when the morechallenging day-to-day events areunfolding. It also is a necessitydue to the ever-changing roles thata person can hold during a “nor-mal” business day.

Each person in the AMOwears several hats. This isdefinitely not an office where youdo the same thing over and over.Each person is integral andnecessary to the successfuloperation of the office. When youhave a few people in an officethat covers as many differentareas and programs as NASArequires it to cover, it becomesdifficult when details, TDYs, sickleave, vacations and other out ofoffice experiences occur. Ourfolks are cross-trained andversatile in several areas so theyare prepared to step in whennecessary. It is not uncommon to

be on a telephone conference callone minute and then walk immedi-ately into the PO’s office todiscuss any update that you justreceived. Because we haveready access to our leaders,decisions can be made quickly.

While the AMO is small, wehave a large mission in supportinga variety of NASA programs. Forthose of you that have never beento SSC, it is a diverse center thathas thirty-eight different residentagencies and nearly 60 technol-ogy-based companies housedhere. SSC is the host to the otheragencies. This synergy leads tothe sharing of costs, services, andtechnical capabilities that makeStennis a national model ofteamwork and government costeffectiveness. SSC has aworkforce of 4,600 including 1,700scientists and engineers engagedin rocket propulsion testing, earthscience applications, and nationaldefense programs.

This sums up a typical work-day at SSC AMO: “It is like amerry-go-round constantly spin-ning. You jump on in the morningand sometimes you do not knowexactly where it will take youduring the day.” To work here,you have to be ready to adapt,flex, and roll with the flow.Working in this situation reallystrengthens you for the future.Working at SSC is a very interest-ing and huge learning experienceevery day.

The AMO is a small butmighty organization of acquisitionprofessionals who exemplifyteamwork and a positive customercare attitude and stand ready totackle any acquisition issue or taskin support of our customers.

Spring 2004 page 8

Enjoying the ConferenceBy Claudia Womble, Goddard Space Flight Center

Sunny, warm, luxurious,organized, informative – all ofthose describe NASA’s Procure-ment Conference 2003, whichwas held December 2 - 4, 2003 inOrlando at the JW MarriottOrlando, Grande Lakes – abrilliantly designed facility withtropical landscaping. Afterleaving the cold weather of theWashington DC Metro area, thelocation of the facility was breath-taking. The facility was awesomeand was a more than pleasurableenvironment to stay in when awayfrom home for four days.

The registration was quickand organized where the nametags with the respective centerswere ready for pick-up. Theleather portfolios containedinformation about tourist attrac-tions to Orlando and even theschedule of workshop sessions;idea markets and the awards

banquet for the week.Yolande Harden, Code HK,

opened each morning session withbrief announcements of confer-ence logistics for that day andintroduced the morning speakers.The speakers for the morningsessions included Deputy Admin-istrator Fred Gregory; RobertCobb, NASA Inspector General;and James Jennings, AssociateDeputy Administrator for Institu-

tions & Asset Management. Thespeakers briefed us on thecurrent issues for the Agencywhich included the CAIB report,moving from tragedy to triumph,and how procurement is vital toNASA’s success as an Agency,(40 percent of the attorneys at

NASA work for procurement),transitioning to One NASA, GAOprotests, NASA’s organizationalstructure, NSSC and its impactand scheduling, and how progress-ing to the SES rank within theAgency now requires service tomore than one center.

The conference provided avariety of methods to deliverinformation to all of the attendees.All of the sessions were veryinformative. There was one thatto me stood out as being ex-tremely informative and interest-ing. It was the session entitled,“Successful Debriefings & SourceSelection Statements” with JeffCullen, Jim Huk, David Sudduthand Sumara Thompson-King asthe presenters. There was anexcellent discussion regardingdebriefings focusing on dissemi-nating “all” information versusonly “major deficiencies.” Ms.Thompson-King handed out theproposed “Drafting the SourceSelection Statement: A PracticalGuide” and the proposed “NASA

Procurement Debriefings Guide:A Practical Guide for ConductingNASA Debriefings.” The mes-sage from Ms. Thompson-Kingwas to clearly communicate anddisclose “all” deficiencies whenconducting debriefings to unsuc-cessful offerors. This, she said,ultimately minimizes the number ofprotests to the Agency. Inaddition, it is not just the history ofthe procurement in the sourceselection statement that is impor-tant; but, clearly explaining in thedocumentation the trade-offanalysis that was done. This wasa key point of this session.

The idea market summariesprovided an opportunity for

brainstorming on different topicsto voice concerns, raise issues,and offer recommendations oncurrent issues. The idea marketsaddressed the issues of acquisitionworkforce, Headquarters/centerrelations, subcontract consentprocess, cost performance evalua-tions, oral proposals-practicalapplications, conducting effectiveEVM analysis, analyzing the 533reports, effective subcontractsurveillance/management, bestvalue evaluations, service con-tracting and effective fee evalua-tions. These sessions were held in

IG Robert Cobb

Jim Jennings

The Morning Audience

Spring 2004 page 9

the late afternoons for the firsttwo days of the conference withthe third day reserved for thereporting of the results of thesessions.

During the evening of thesecond day of the conference wasthe Procurement Training Confer-ence Awards Banquet. Awardswere presented to various employ-ees across the centers in thefollowing categories: ContractManager of the Year, ContractSpecialist of the Year, SimplifiedAcquisition Specialist of the Year,Mid/Range/Commercial Person ofthe Year, Grants Specialist of theYear, Procurement Analyst of theYear, Procurement SupportPerson of the Year, ProcurementSupervisor of the Year andContract Officer’s TechnicalRepresentative of the Year, (seepage 16 for more detail). As aGSFC employee in HeadquartersProcurement Office, 210.H, thehighlight of the awards banquetand conference was to congratu-late the Grants Specialist of theYear, Tracey Jones, who is frommy office! As her name wascalled, the GSFC attendeesresoundingly cheered (and bangedon the table) for our colleague. Atthe end of awards banquet, wetook a group picture and oursmiling cheese word was“Tracey.” Tom Luedtke pre-sented his state of procurementaddress, which was succinct,timely, and informative. YolandeHarden gave closing remarks.

The opportunity was madeavailable to those wanting to tourthe Kennedy Space Center. Forthose of us at GSFC, the immi-nence of a snow storm in the

Department of Labor Unveils NewWage Site

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently unveiled a newwebsite, www.wdol.gov. It provides federal contracting officers witha single location for obtaining labor standards as well as ServiceContract Act (SCA) and Davis-Bacon Act wage determinations.The laws generally require federal contractors to pay their employeesthe wage set by DOL for each job category and location. Thewebsite is also available to the general public.

There is a User’s Guide to help in selecting wage determinationsfrom the website. The site also provides contracting officers withdirect access to the DOL’s “e98” website to submit requests forSCA wage determinations. DOL will respond with SCA wagedeterminations through the e98 system.

The new website was rolled out under OMB’s IntegratedAcquisition Environment, an eGov initiative.

Washington, DC area changedflight plans to safely return home,so we missed the tour. I enjoyedthe weather and amenities of thehotel and Orlando. However,flying to Baltimore-WashingtonInternational airport and having to

wait in the air while they de-icedthe runway, I was glad to safelyarrive home. This conferencewas well organized and informa-tive. The diversity of the delivery

of the information was effective –speakers, workshops, and ideamarkets. It was very timely to meas a new employee to NASA, tohave an opportunity to see theprocurement function as a wholefor the Agency. I met peoplefrom GSFC as well as employeesfrom other centers. I also had anopportunity to introduce myself tothe Assistant Administrator forProcurement. Hats off toYolande Harden for a great job inorganizing and executing such aneffective conference, for sharinginformation to meet an Agency’sgoal of creating a “One NASA.”

Tom Luedtke presides over the awardsbanquet.

Spring 2004 page 10

Buying “Green” For The Government:The Affirmative Procurement (AP) WorkshopBy Chris Pino, Kennedy Space Center

Because of NASA’s role as aleader in earth and space science,the American public should regardNASA as one of the principalagencies for safeguarding ourenvironment. That was themessage from NASA Administra-tor Sean O’Keefe in a newtraining film on EnvironmentalManagement Systems. Partici-pants at the Procurement Confer-ence 2003 Workshop for Affirma-tive Procurement (AP) viewed thefilm and participated in the work-shop led by Patrick Flynn (CodeHK) and Mike McNeill (Code JE)from NASA Headquarters. Themessage is clear – the entireacquisition team must be seriousabout using the purchasing powerof the federal government toreduce the environmental andhuman health impacts of theproducts we procure. Because ofthe billions of dollars in suppliesthat the US government purchaseseach year, the impact of switchingto recycled content and environ-mentally friendly products isconsiderable.

One important topic discussedduring the workshop was the issueof responsibility for initial identifi-cation of items being procured asEnvironmental Protection Agency(EPA) designated products. TheEPA Comprehensive Procure-ment Guidelines (CPG) specifythat government purchases ofdesignated items must containspecific amounts of recoveredmaterials at a minimum, unless arequest for waiver or justificationdocumentation has been pro-cessed. Although it is the duty of

the requiring official (procurementinitiator) to indicate on the pro-curement request that an item isan EPA designated item, contract-ing officers need to be familiarwith these items as well in orderto accurately perform marketresearch and buy the correct item.EPA maintains the list of theseproducts in its CPG, which can beaccessed at http://www.epa.gov/cpg. Contracting officers are alsoresponsible for ensuring supportservices contracts at NASA sitescontain the proper clauses and

specifications. Refer to PIC 01-27 for details.

One challenge for the NASAacquisition team is to gain athorough understanding of APregulations. To this end, newSOLAR training is being devel-oped for release next year. In themeantime, plenty of websites areavailable. Since KSC is theprincipal center in recycling andAP for NASA, a good place tobegin is the KSC website at http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/recycle/intro.cfm. A list of perti-nent regulations is just one of thelinks available on this website.

A recent advance for Affir-mative Procurement is the incor-poration of EPA guidelines intoSPECSINTACT for constructioncontracts. SPECSINTACT issoftware used to generate specifi-cations for construction projects.SPEC writers can now automati-cally generated specifications thatcomply with the most up-to-datefederal procurement regulationsfor Affirmative Procurement andEPA requirements.

The Workshop on AffirmativeProcurement conveyed themessage that NASA must meetthe challenge of training itsacquisition team on AP. Re-sources and support to helpexecute this program are nowavailable. As key members of theacquisition team, we serve a vitalrole in steering suppliers toprovide more environmentallyfriendly products. That’s some-thing we can all feel good about!

Patrick Flynn presents during theAP Workshop

Did you know?The Procurement

Conference charts, agenda,photos and more are on theProcurement Librarywebsite?

They can be found at:http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/hq/library/conf2003/confindex2003.html

Spring 2004 page 11

Participating in the NCIP Functional Breakout SessionBy Christopher J. Grubbe, Kennedy Space Center

As a new contracting officerto NASA and taking part in myfirst NASA Procurement Confer-ence, I was surprised at thenumber of talented and respectedcontracting personnel, the varietyof guest speakers, and lastly thevast opportunities offered toparticipate in training that wasdesigned around real-worldevents.

I selected to participate in theNCIP Functional BreakoutSession because I took part in asimilar program at the Departmentof Veterans Affairs, and wantedto see how NASA was preparingtheir interns to be the contractingspecialists/officers of the future.NASA NCIP program is by farthe better of the two programs.However, I am not saying that theintern program I graduated frommany years ago was not good, butin my opinion NASA’s program isthat much better. The NCIPprogram is designed to maximizediversity in training to allow theintern more opportunities toparticipate and be part of realworld contracting issues.

The session was outlined witha very straightforward agenda,and was open for some very gooddialogue between center represen-tatives and the interns. I enjoyedthe fact that the interns them-selves were granted the opportu-nity to be located at the sameplace and at the same time tomeet each other, and voice theiropinions on a program that effectsboth their personal and profes-sional development. I found thatsome of the agenda topics seem tobe presented with little or nocomments and/or discussion, and

that one or two topics seem to geta severe hold of the intern’sattention. All of the interns gaveme the impression they were veryinterested in topics that discussedtheir future assignments, programimprovements for the future, andhow they would like to haveaccess to more complex workloadat their training center.

In addition, I was impressedwith the presentation made byDaniel Burk graduating intern at

Langley Research Center. Mr.Burk presented an idea that eachintern should rotate through aresearch and development centeron the first rotation, and thenmove onto a mission or spacecenter for the final rotation. In myprofessional opinion, I thought thisto be an excellent training proposalfor both the intern and NASA as awhole. It would allow NASA totrain and develop future contract-ing professionals that will have avery well rounded education in alltypes and aspects of the procure-ment process. Working at asmaller center shall allow moretime to hone and develop therequired skills needed to becomean active member on morecomplex procurement actions.

In writing this article, I wantedto get some comments from theinterns themselves to see if theywere as impressed as I was in theoverall outcome of this session ofthe procurement conference.Thanks to Yolande Harden, I wasafforded the opportunity to solicitcomments from a diverse group ofinterns who took part in thissession. Although I receivedseveral distinct remarks from theinterns questioned, there was onetheme that was continuous in all oftheir comments: This session wasextremely helpful, informative, andvaluable in their professionaldevelopment.

In looking back, I found thissession to be a very satisfying andworthwhile experience for all whoattended. However, I believe thatfuture NCIP sessions could beeven better by addressing someminor issues that were raised as aresult of my survey of currentinterns. There should be moretime allotted to discuss key agendatopics, more center representa-tives to discuss roles and responsi-bilities, and additional representa-tion from each center involved infuture programming changes.

In closing, I would like to statehow very impressed I was withthe diversity in personnel withinthe NCIP program, its leadership,and all of the interns that werepresent. Furthermore, I lookforward to working together withall of my future colleagues on allaspects of contracting and pro-curement functions.

The NCIP Breakout session

Spring 2004 page 12

(continued on page 14)

A Great Conference, A Great PlaceBy Lisa Rea Phillips, Johnson Space Center

When the request came out tosee who would be interested inthis year’s procurement confer-ence, I thought I might actuallypick up some useful information,so I sent my name in. My officewill be doing our first solicitation/contract award using oral propos-als this spring. I thought I mightpick up some information aboutthat process, if nothing else. Thenwhen I got the note about thelocation of the conference, I wasREALLY interested. Fortunately,I was lucky enough to be selectedto attend, and felt especially lucky

when I actually arrived and sawhow nice the hotel was!

I attended the sessions withthe keynote speakers and enjoyedhearing about what is going on atthat higher level of NASA, whichwe don’t always get insight into atthe working level. While thekeynote speeches were interest-ing, I really enjoyed and learnedthe most from the subject matterbreakout sessions. The smallerformat allowed a more livelyexchange of ideas and points ofview than the larger sessions. Iattended quite a few of thebreakout sessions – pricing, careerdevelopment, the policy breakoutsession, IDIQ lessons learned,major acquisition strategies,source selection/debriefing

process and, of course, oralproposals. The two that weremost useful to my immediate workneeds were the source selection/debriefing and the oral proposalsessions.

In the source selection anddebriefing session, they discussedthe upcoming changes to the regswhich will require a different wayof writing the source selectionstatements and of conductingdebriefings. It was great to get areal-time explanation of theguidance as it was coming out,and get some insight into thebackground of the changes beingmade to this procedure. So manytimes, you get new guidance andcan’t understand why on earth achange is being made.

The most important points thatI gathered from Sumara Thomp-son-King’s comments were thatwe need to spend more time onthe reason why a decision wasmade and describe in detail thethought processes that went into aselection. This is in lieu of thecurrent tendency to describe thebackground information in eyewatering detail, and then giving therational for the selection decisionshort shrift. And then indebriefings, she said that moredisclosure is better than less. Therequirement to debrief the winneris going to be a really differentway of doing business! Thesechanges did cause a lot of discus-sion among the attendees of thesession, and not everyone wascompletely happy with thechanges. It’ll be interesting to seewhat happens with this over time.

The oral proposal session wasgood for several reasons. First,there were folks in attendancewho had actually completed this

process; so it was good to getsome “real life, here’s what towatch out for” type feedback.

We discussed the pros andcons of various approaches likegetting all information in an oralformat, some of it in writtenformat, and whether or not torecord presentations. The folks inmy session had some goodthoughts on what might work, andwe agreed that how much infor-mation you get in the verbalpresentation depends on what sortof hardware or service you arebuying. It seemed like the best

results were achieved when theitem being purchased wasn’t toocomplicated. In those cases it lentitself to full description in a chartformat. Very complicated, stateof the art, technical type procure-ments didn’t seem to lend them-selves to this style of proposaldevelopment. It also turned outthat someone who had conductedthese type of procurementsseveral times works just down thehall from me, but I didn’t realize itbecause he had gained thisexperience through other jobs hehad held. So it was kind of funny

Jeff Cullen presents at the SourceSelection Breakout session Conference attendees learning and

enjoying it

Spring 2004 page 13

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So You’re Going To OrlandoBy Pam Taylor, Wallops Flight Facility

One afternoon on a day in November…It’s one day of many I’ll always remember!Bernie said, “See me! For you I have news.”OK, should I smile or be singing the blues!?!

I walked in and sat down and he sat down too.He stated I have good news and bad news for you.I said give me the bad news. I want the worst first.The good would be better if I first heard the worst.

He said, “A presentation is what you must give.”Well, if that is the bad news, I surely will live.The topic is contracts with Award Terms in themYou bet, I can talk about all the WICC mayhem.

So if that’s the bad news, what is the good?I might be much happier than maybe I should.So I braced myself like an Army commando.He says, “You’ll give that speech in Orlando!!”To Florida??? In December??? I’ve gone to Heaven.My ticket said: From Salisbury—Leaving at 11.

I got to Orlando and pulled off my coat.I saw palm trees, a Disney bus, even a boat.A van picked me up and went to the hotel.I tell you the J.W. Marriott is swell!!!!I went to my room on Floor 23.The sun was setting. A view just for me!!

I know with Disney, warm weather and allYou think all we did there was have a big ball.But work was on the agenda for usAnd it started on Tuesday without any fuss.

Yolande was “hostess” for all the events.She fixed all the problems and made stuff make sense.Tom Luedtke stepped up to greet us in turnHe said “Are you ready? There is much we will learn.”He stated the speakers would all be the best.He said to enjoy but there’s no time to rest.

Sean O’Keefe could not make it, so insteadHe sent Mr. Gregory who filled up our headWith ideas and thoughts about where we are nowAnd where we are going, with who, when, and how.

Then came the workshops—Oh! which ones to choose?Information was all ‘round. How could you lose?IDIQ was the first place I went.It was great to hear all the other folks vent‘Bout solutions they tried and what they found.With these contracts I learned, we are making ground.We are learning to manage to our best ability.As lessons learned add to their greater utility.

SAP: Tips and Tricks and WorkaroundTold us don’t get discouraged, solutions abound.Some things will go and some things will stayAnd some things will just remain that way.New systems and changes—to these we adjust.It’s onward and upward—LEARN SAP OR BUST!!!

One of my favorites was Surveillance Plans.The speaker, a friend, held change in her hands.She is one of the people who had to adjustAs a result of the shuttle crash, it is a mustFor the government to take more active rolesTo oversee shuttles carrying Astronaut Souls.

Affirmative Procurement and the Environment tooIs a great way to help Mother Earth to pull through.We are in times that use up Her natural resourcesTo pull Her through will need all of our forces.We must act in ways to preserve and conserve.We will need to think globally and try to reserve.We need the trees, the air and the waterFor our children, and ourselves, conserve we outter!!

The Shared Service Center was next on my list.An interesting concept, if I got the gist.Similar functions that all NASA doesPut all in one central place becauseIt is much more efficient and it costs less too.I wonder, will the center be near me or you?

Last, but not least, the last day of my stayTo Kennedy Space Center we made our way.We saw a launch pad and the shuttle itself.We went to the Gift Shop, cleared more than one shelf.We stood and we walked where the Astronauts do.

Spring 2004 page 14

We saw pay loads from Italy for the Space Station too.We thought our own thoughts, with lots on our mind.NASA moves toward a future for all of mankind.We stopped and we ate as we went on our way.I tell you it was just a “Sweet, awesome day.”

We worked very hard, the days flew on by.But I have a confession so here I will tryTo name just a few of some other eventsThat we also could choose—now NO rude comments!We swam and we sat in the hot tub to rest.

The fella who brought us our drinks was the best.We could exercise, golf and walk till we hurt.We could eat, O BOY, the best was dessert.

Now this is the place where my story ends.We worked and we played and we made some newfriends.So from now on when there is bad news and good.You know what to do or at least you should.Don’t hesitate, don’t fear, my friend, you can lick it!!Just smile and say thank you and go get your ticket!!!

that I had to travel four hours by plane to find some-one that works just around the corner!

The other session that provided good informationto use in the future was the career developmentsession. The requirement that SES level employeeshave experience at multiple centers and completerotational assignments was discussed vigorously. Itcame out during the discussion that there is an effortongoing to improve the education with industryexperience by finding companies closer to the variouscenters. That way people could experience a rota-tional assignment without uprooting their entirefamily. Deborah O’Neill said that they have veryfew applicants to the education with industry pro-gram. So if you submit an application, you might havea good chance of getting in! We also talked aboutchanges to the CON training which many of the folksin the session wanted to know about.

All in all, I learned quite a bit during the three-dayevent. And I did enjoy the facility, which was quitesurprisingly luxurious considering this was, after all,

(continued from page 13)

Orlando Poem

A Great Conference, A Great Place(continued from page 12)

Hanging out at the hotel

an event paid for by the government. So, I woulddefinitely go again to a future procurement confer-ence, if I had the chance.. . . .

Especially if I get a note saying it’s in a reallynice hotel in a sunny location.

Spring 2004 page 15

GRC’s 2003 Procurement Award WinnersTim Pierce

Tim was awarded Contract Manager of the Year for his assignment to support the procurement needs ofthe Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) Program, a major Agency initiative. Tim has shownexceptional creativity and perception in conducting two back-to-back contract restructures. He has effec-tively managed these contracts and projects, by establishing good working relationships with the CO andCOTR’s at other centers, obtaining their confidence in his abilities to represent them in dealing with contrac-tors. Tim is to be commended for effectively performing CO management functions, without having formalsignatory authority due to the program structure.

Ron SepesiRon was awarded Supervisor of the Year for his outstanding support to his Branch customers, the

Procurement Division, the GRC, and the Agency. During this period, the Services and Construction Branchlost 25 percent of its staff because of promotions or developmental assignments. He became personallyinvolved in three critical re-procurements, assumed additional contract administration responsibilities, redistrib-uted workload to take advantage of his staff’s individual areas of expertise, and obtained increases in produc-tivity from various individuals through frequent, direct, and personal interaction. In addition, Ron was anactive and respected member of the Agency’s NSSC Procurement Team, a major supporter of the Center’sSocio-economic goals, and the lead in the division’s office space downsizing effort.

Kurt StraubKurt was awarded Procurement Analyst of the Year for his dedication, initiative, analytical and problem

solving skills, and cooperation and leadership as a GRC Core Financial Module Super User. He is a recog-nized center and Agency expert in matters pertain to the structuring of large complex multi-year, multi-taskcontracts in post-IFMP implementation era and has worked with several other centers in explaining theprocess GRC uses. Kurt has demonstrated his willingness to do whatever it takes to get tasks done and hasshown the initiative necessary to tackle a number of testing, conversation, and training problems as well asdaily problems with the system after implementation.

The GRC winners, from left, Ron Sepesi,Tim Pierce, and Kurt Straub.

Enjoying the awards banquet dinner.

Spring 2004 page 16

Procurement Countdown is publishedby NASA’s Office of Procurement.

Editor................Susie Marucci (202) 358-1896 susie.marucci@nasa.gov

Procurement Countdown

Award DinnerBy Kathleen J. Huddleston, NASA Management Office, JPL

One of the big highlights of the Procurement Training conference was the award ceremony and dinner.How exciting to be honored at such an event! NASA is known for the quality of its personnel; however,procurement has its own over-achievers! Congratulations to the following awardees of the year:

Glenn Research Center: Timothy C. Pierce for Contract Manager; Kurt A. Straub for Procurement Analystand Ronald W. Sepesi for Procurement Supervisor. (See more about their awards on page 15.)

Ames Research Center: Deborah E. Glass for Contract Specialist; Rachel R. Khattab for Contract Specialist.

Johnson Space Center: Marie D. Kliment for Simplified Acquisition Specialist

Kennedy Space Center: Teri Jackson for Mid-Range/Commercial Person

Goddard Space Flight Center: Tracey Jones for Grants Specialist

Langley Research Center: Randy A. Manning for Procurement Support Person

Marshall Space Flight Center: Robert H. Champion for COTR

Award winners from upper left are, RandyManning, Teri Jackson, Robert Cham-pion, Deborah Glass (with ConnieCunningham holding the award forRachel Khattab), and Tracey Jones.