The Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board (Board) convened on

February 16, 2005, at 9:00 A.M. at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, DC. The General Services Administration's Office of
Governmentwide Policy is sponsoring this Board.

In accordance with the regulations that implement the provisions of

Public Law 92-463, the meeting was open under the meeting requirements
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

**Board Members Present:**

-   May Caffi, Co-Chair: Marriott International Corp.;

-   James Harte, Co-Chair: GSA;

-   Cris Collie, Employee Relocation Council;

-   Gail Davis, Ernest & Young Center for Mobility Services;

-   Tauna Delmonico, GSA, Federal Supply Service;

-   Scott Michael (substitute), American Moving and Storage Association;

-   Jack Kelly, Office of Management and Budget;

-   Ed Mahaney, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;

-   Jerome Mikowicz, Office of Personnel Management;

-   William B. Tirrell, Sr., Dept. of Defense, U.S. Army;

-   Diane Donnell (substitute), U.S. Department of Justice, Alcohol,
    Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;

-   Linda Owen, Circuit City Stores, Inc.

> Absent: Joe Harrison, American Moving and Storage Association;

Richard Trent, U.S. Department of Justice, Alcohol, Tobacco,

Firearms, and Explosives.

**Subcommittee Members Present:**

-   David Gage, Capital Relocation Services;

-   Thomas Goodkind, Prudential Relocation;

-   Tom Higgins, SIRVA Relocation, LLC;

-   Kathy Lane, Oakwood Worldwide;

-   Cal Pierce, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers;

-   Cindy Salter, Cendant Mobility Services;

-   Arthur Stoddard, Corporate Relocation Services;

-   Pat Tooman, Primacy Relocation, LLC;

-   Rod Ulrich, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Absent: Dick Powers, Aerospace Industries Association;

Karen Alderman, Joint Financial Mgmt. Improvement Program.

**GSA Staff Present:**

-   Patrick O'Grady, Designated Federal Official (DFO);

-   Ed Davis, Travel Management Policy Division;

-   Sallie Sherertz, Travel Management Policy Division;

-   Umeki Thorne, Travel Management Policy Division;

-   Devoanna Reels, Travel Management Policy Division;

-   Neva Hayslett, Travel Management Policy Division.

### Call to Order

Mr. O'Grady called the meeting to order.

**Old Business:**

Mr. O'Grady offered the certified minutes from the January 26th meeting
to the Board members for approval. The Board members accepted the
minutes as presented with no changes.

Mr. Jim Harte, Co-Chair, welcomed Board Members, Sub-Committee Members,
Private and Public Sector speakers, GSA Staff, and Federal Government
representatives to the meeting.

**[Overview: Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Budget Data
Request - Julie Blanford / Adlore Chaudier]{.underline}**

Ms. Julie Blanford and Dr. Adlore Chaudier presented a shared analysis
of the Budget Data Request.

**[Julie Blanford]{.underline}**

Ms. Blanford presented preliminary findings of the Budget Data Request
analysis. Among other things, these findings indicated that the summary
data submitted by the agencies had many inconsistencies. There were gaps
in reporting agencies -- DOD did not report for Marines; Navy submitted
an incomplete report. Some agencies reported relocation income tax
allowances (RITA) data and some did not report RITA. There appeared to
be a lot of different relocation tracking systems among the agencies.
There are four basic object classes, but not all agencies assign costs
to them in the same way.

Examples of inconsistencies of object class uses included the
designation of one object class code for different types of information
and using various object class codes to mean the same thing. In
addition, there were indications of large relocation budget estimates
with little or no relocation volume data to support them. Mr. Jack
Kelly, from OMB, pointed out that some agencies are not projecting their
budget costs for future moves. This is because some agencies are "highly
decentralized" and are not able to report data at the Department level
for all of their components across the board.

**[Adlore Chaudier]{.underline}**

The top 15 agencies with the highest volume of estimated relocations
submitted their data for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In FY 2006, there
are an estimated 6,744 authorized relocations anticipated in the State
Department alone; a significant increase between 2005 and 2006.
Additional agency data submitted and discussed covered fiscal years 2003
and 2004. The tables (described in handouts to the Board) provided the
following information:

-   Profile of recommended case study group (agencies);

-   Aggregate number of relocations authorized between 2003-2006;
    relocations completed 2003-2004 from all agency respondents;

-   Distribution of 2003 authorized relocations;

-   Department and agencies with the most authorized moved between 2003-
    2004;

-   Departments and agencies with highest volumes of estimated
    relocations between 2005-2006;

-   Budget object class variations and use (example from Dept. of
    Commerce);

-   Cost data by budget object class among all responding agencies;

-   Average and median budget per authorized transfer;

-   Departments and agencies with the highest relocation budgets between
    2003-2004);

-   Payments for relocation management company services from responding
    agencies;

-   Average payout per managed relocation.

Each presenter answered Board members' and Sub-committee members'
questions during each of their presentations. Handouts were provided
with an in-depth analysis of all preliminary findings from the agencies.
The report findings are still in draft form and have not been officially
approved by OMB and GSA.

**[Procurement Panel: Relocation Procurement Insight and Overview --
Becky Koses / Jerry Rifkin]{.underline}**

Ms. Becky Koses and Mr. Jerry Rifkin co-presented relocation procurement
and contract information.

**[Becky Koses (GSA-FSS)]{.underline}**

Identifying your needs will determine the type of contract to be used
for the procurement(s). Additional steps to follow would be to:

-   Conduct market research (through FED BIZ OPS) and evaluate offers;

-   Solicit bids;

-   Award contracts;

-   Manage performance.

GSA Schedules provides the following benefits:

-   Establishes long term contracts;

-   Prices can be fixed over a number of years;

-   Manages risk;

-   Provides latest technology;

-   Streamlines acquisition;

-   Volume discount pricing;

-   Spot discounting, on an order-by-order basis.

E-tools available:

-   On-line catalog "GSA Advantage";

-   E-buy towards services -- electronic bulletin board;

-   Agencies receive socio-economic credit for purchases.

The advantages of using schedules versus buying commercially are time,
money, and resources.

Two types of contracts were discussed, highlighting the aspects of each:
Fixed Price Contracts and Cost Reimbursement Contracts. Schedule No. 48
-- TDRS

Transportation, Delivery and Relocations Services and its process was
also discussed.

For additional information the following web sites are available:

[www.onthego@gsa.gov]()

[www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov](http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/) (search for
Schedule 48)

The services contracts established by GSA to support agency relocation
needs are fixed priced contracts. In response to Board member questions,
the primary driver for using fixed priced contracts appears to be the
anti-deficiency act that caps an agency's spending authority to the
amounts allocated by Congress. Establishing a fixed price for the
service for a specific relocation establishes an amount that can be more
clearly established in the obligation of funds and tracking
appropriations.

**[Jerry Rifkin (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD)]{.underline}**

The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity approach is used for the
Army Corps of Engineers, using firm-fixed price contracts. The Joint
Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) is followed. By using full and open
competition, the steps below are followed:

-   Measures past performance based on relevance and recency;

-   Issues task orders;

-   Not mission funded for civilians -- direct funding used;

-   Processes individual delivery orders, which go through program
    relocation office;

-   Does not have centralized funding -- funding comes specifically to
    individual relocation situation.

-   Uses source selection -- panels are used to help formulate scope of
    work.

Prudential provides services to DOD, Army Corps of Engineers, such as
transportation support by third party financing, for which the industry
is reimbursed for the financing.

Within DOD, the emphasis is on performance-based contracting (incentive
base for contractors). Firm-fixed pricing is preferred; not mission
funded, which reduces maximum costs to the Government.

Vouchers are processed by individual task orders. The paying offices are
different; act as separate contracts.

**[Human Capital: Where are the Jobs? -- The Continuing Growth of
Federal Job Opportunities -- Myra Howze Shiplett]{.underline}**

Ms. Myra Howze Shiplett spoke about the results of a February 2005 human
capital study conducted by NAPA and the Partnership for Public Service.
These organizations are interested in the hiring needs of the 24 federal
agencies that represent more than 95% of federal hiring needs for FY
2005 and FY 2006. Among the factors affecting the agencies' ability to
recruit and retain a well qualified workforce are the significant
demographic changes in the labor force. The United States will soon be
affected by "Baby Boomer" retirements, which will send a shock-wave
through the entire labor market. The Federal sector will be strongly
affected. During the last half of the 1980's and the first part of the
1990's, there was little Federal hiring; in fact, there were reductions
in overall Federal employment numbers.

The NAPA study considers Federal hiring needs and hiring projections by
occupational category with comparisons to projected private sector
demands. The study looked at 24 agencies: 15 executive departments and 9
independent agencies, which together represent 95 percent of executive
branch employment. Each of these agencies has a Chief Human Capital
Officer (CHCO) and has focused on the strategic management of human
capital. Study data covered mission critical or predominant positions
for FY 2001 -- 2003, including the number of employees who were leaving
for retirement or for other reasons and the number of employees hired in
these categories, as well as anticipated hiring needs for FY 2005 and
2006.

The study revealed that there will be a great number of positions
opening at all levels. In terms of relocation, there will be relatively
little interest in relocations at the entry level, but much more at the
mid level (General Schedule (GS)-11-14) and senior (GS-15 and Senior
Executive Service (SES) or equivalent positions) levels. In fact,
mobility is a critical ingredient in what agencies are looking for in
their senior staff hires. The ideal profile would be a candidate who had
occupied a series of different positions across the country in both the
public and the private sectors.

As agencies shape and reshape their workforces, they will move employees
both organizationally and geographically. The relocation policies and
procedures will need to be more flexible and less cumbersome. Examples
include:

-   The ability to pay for some but not all relocation expenses;

-   The ability to tailor the benefits offered to employees based on
    their individual interests or needs (e.g., relocation costs,
    repaying student loans, finding a new home, or other individual
    needs).

In an increasingly mobile and competitive world, relocation becomes an
additional tool to assist both the agency and the employee in achieving
the organization's strategic objectives, while meeting individual
employee needs more directly.

**[Human Capital: Office of Personnel Management Perspectives on the
Human Capital Environment -- Mark DoBoga]{.underline}**

Mr. Doboga discussed OPM's perspectives on the Federal sector's current
human capital environment and the implications for the relocation
allowances program by defining "Human Capital" as the sum total of human
resources owned, leased, borrowed or exchanged. OPM believes that *the
strategic management of human capital* calls for a transformation in the
employment, deployment, development and evaluation of the Federal
workforce with [results]{.underline} in mind.

A results focus will cause us to inquire about the return on investment
of any activity we undertake. In terms of relocation, the return on
investment can take many forms. Relocation is not just a recruiting
strategy; it can also be a development strategy. Relocation is not just
a change in permanent duty station -- it can also be temporary, it can
be for schooling, it can be an integral part of learning and
development.

The current status of the workforce has changed over the last few
decades. Some of these changes include the increase in average age of
the Federal employee, increase of minority representation, increase of
employees covered by FERS, the increase of women in workforce, more
technical white collar workers, and higher GS (general schedule) grades.

Due to upcoming retirements, and the lack of hiring in the 1990's, a lot
of specific skills will be lost in the Federal workforce. Employees in
the same age brackets may retire at the same time, with very few in the
mid-career positions to fill those positions.

**[Public Speaker: UniGroup, Inc. -- Mike Engle]{.underline}**

Mr. Engle introduced UniGroup as the parent company of six which
provides transportation/transportation-related services to:

-   United Van Lines;

-   Mayflower Transit;

-   UniGroup Worldwide;

-   Allegiant Move Management;

-   Vanliner Insurance;

-   Total Transportation Services.

The two flagship transportation companies of UniGroup (United and
Mayflower) provide transportation (of all types and commodities) to
commercial and government customers, both domestically and
internationally.

The demographics of the household goods market collected by the census
department and validated through UniGroup's own independent research
shows the following:

-   40 million Americans relocate each year, which equates to 16 million
    actual relocations;

-   Each relocation has multiple components which include unaccompanied
    baggage shipment, shipment to storage, main household goods shipment
    with or without temporary storage;

-   Of the 16 million relocations, the property owner handles the
    transportation without using the transportation assets of a
    household goods carrier 82.5% of the time.

In the area of data collection, there appears to be a need to structure
the capturing of data to ensure prompt and accurate reporting as well as
data analysis to support traffic management and budget decisions. Due to
the anti-deficient rules, the Government is not spending more than
allowed from the individual accounts. Streamlined data can be
accomplished without disrupting organizational alignment.

Closing

Jim Harte thanked all for attending.

**Adjournment**

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 P.M.

I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the foregoing
minutes are accurate and compete.

James L. Harte

Co-Chair

Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board

Date:

The Board will formally consider these minutes at its next meeting; any
corrections or notations will be incorporated in the minutes of that
meeting.