**[Quality Partnership Council]{.underline}**

**August 2, 2005**

**1:00 pm -- 4:00 pm**

**Doubletree Hotel Crystal City at National Airport**

**Arlington, VA**

**Chairperson: Dobbin Callahan**

More than 170 corporate partners, customers, and GSA associates
assembled for the 59^th^ Quality Partnership Council meeting. The
presentations addressed GSA's SDVOSB promotion initiative,
vendor-government relations, and trade agreement compliance. Tom Brown,
Director of the SDVOSB Initiative-Office of Regional Administrator
(Region 6), delivered a presentation on "*Operation Breakout*" and the
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses Initiative, and he also
participated in the small business panel presentation. The small
business panel of presenters included: Shaunta Johnson, Director of the
Small Business Team, NCR; Dewayne Carter, Small Business Technical
Advisor for Program Support and Small Business Office; Renee Domurat,
Acting Director of Small Business Utilization (Region 3); and Mark
Dunkim, Security and Furnishings Division, GSA/NFC, discussed small
business and responsive efforts for the SDVOSB Initiative. Robert
Streeter, Acting Deputy Assistant Regional Administrator (Region 2)-GSA,
spoke on key issues dealing with trade agreement compliance. Richard
Russell, Director, Information Sharing and Collaboration- Dept. of
Homeland Security, discussed techniques vendors can use to sell value to
the government. Bruce Spainhour, Director-Business Development, GSA,
gave a business development update.

**[Welcome]{.underline}**

-   **Jack Williams; Acting Regional Administrator, Federal Acquisition
    Service, Mid-Atlantic Region**

Williams kicked off the meeting with a welcoming address that focused on
the merger between the Federal Supply Service (FSS) and the Federal
Technology Service (FTS) to form the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).
Work currently is centered on merging funds to ease the merger and
improve customer relations. Leadership under the FAS took place on July
1, 2005, and the merger is expected to be implemented by October 1, 2005
(the start of the new fiscal year). Detailed changes have and will be
made to include more functions that will improve technical response, in
order to further GSA goal to "Get It Right" and "Get It Done." FAS will
be divided into five components: Customer Relationship Management,
Acquisition Management, Integrated Technology Services, General Supplies
and Services, and Travel and Property Disposal. Williams stressed GSA's
aim to ensure more consistency with operation procedures and practices
wherever customers are located.

Williams also announced some key appointments including Barbara Shelton,
Acting Commissioner-FAS (now located in Crystal City) and Deidre Lee,
Assistant Commissioner- Integrated Technology Services. Jon Kvistad is
returning to Region 10 to continue his role as their Regional
Administrator, and Tony Costa is replacing Joseph Moravec as Acting
Commissioner of PBS until a new Commissioner is appointed.

Williams concluded the presentation with information on the progress of
the merger, which has not been finalized. He then announced that this
meeting's focus would be on small business and small business
opportunities.

**[QPC Presenters & Topics Included:]{.underline}**

-   **Tom Brown, Director-SDVOSB Initiative, Office of Regional
    Administrator (Region 6), GSA**

***Topic: Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Initiative***

Brown discussed the various aspects of the SDVOSB initiative. He began
with a description of "Operation Breakout," which is Phase 2 of
"Operation Fastbreak" in this initiative. The effort is driven by the
Veteran's Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999,
Veteran's Benefit Act of 2003, and Executive Order
13360-Service-Disabled Veterans. The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Development Act of 1999 mandates that SDVOSBs must comprise 3%
of the total value of all prime and subcontract awards for each FY
government-wide. The Veteran's Benefit Act of 2003 establishes set aside
and sole source contracting authority for federal agencies in contracts
awarded to SDVOSBs. Executive Order 13360 establishes that results must
be produced through a developed strategy, which will be publicly
available and annually reported, and designates a senior-level official
responsible for development and implementation of the strategy. It also
orders an administrator of GSA to establish a Government-wide
Acquisition Contract (GWAC) that is reserved for SDVOSB participation,
and assist SDVOSBs in their inclusion in GSA Schedules.

Brown reported that, per GSA's Office of Small Business Utilization, GSA
has not yet reached its goal; however, it is getting there. GSA is
currently rated #3 in government for performance with SDVOSBs. The
number of SDVOSBs included on Schedules has quadrupled since the
initiative began, with most of the Schedules centered in IT, Management
Services, and General Products. In his GWAC update, Brown reported that
there were over 700 participants at the Pre-Solicitation conference, and
there was a very positive response from the veteran community.
Pre-Solicitation closed in July 2005, and awards will be rolled out
March 2006.

GSA has developed a 5-point Strategy for SDVOSBs that highlight
communication, reduction of barriers to entry, preferential procurement
status for SDVOSBs, and the development of personnel performance
standards and awards for achieving SDVOSB goals. Brown highlighted the
extension of "Operation Fastbreak's" communication strategy,
incorporation of goal attainment in upper management performance plans,
review of FY 2005 Procurement Forecast by each service, incorporation of
SDVOSB in FY 2006 procurement planning, and an increase in the density
of SDVOSB within the GSA Schedules program. Updates can be found in the
June 6 Policy letter and the FSS Brochure, "Is Your Agency Doing its
Part for Veterans?"

Brown concluded his presentation with an explanation of the training
program and partnerships. There will be internal training aimed at
contracting officers and program managers, and a push to educate
veterans and GSA customers through regional conferences. GSA also has
partnerships with the Veterans Service Organizations (VSO), Department
of Veterans Affairs (DVA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA)
in this endeavor. He stressed that it is important for the business
community to get on board with this for affected veterans and their
families.

\*\***Additional Information:**

Nancy Goode, Director, Systems Management Center, FXA is working with
the Office of CAO to issue an acquisition letter which will enable the
updating of vendor socioeconomic status at the time of exercising of
options (every five years for MAS contractors). Once issued, FSS Online
and FPDS-NG will be modified to allow Contracting Office to align the
contractor socioeconomic information with information contained in CCR
when exercising options.

At the time of the initial migration of Multiple Award Schedule data to
FPDS-NG in October 2003, contracts were migrated based upon the
information contained in our Contract Master File, which is not subject
to change. Under the current policy, vendor status is loaded into the
system once at the time of the contract award and does not change during
the life of the contract, unless modified by novation. The Veterans
Benefit Act of 2003 has since been created and several vendors have
updated their status in CCR to SDVOSBs. Ms. Goode is requesting a
one-time correction to the Contract Master File and FPDS-NG to update
information for MAS contractors currently registered as SDVOSB concerns
in CCR.

-   **Tom Brown, Director-SDVOSB Initiative, Office of Regional
    Administrator (Region 6), GSA**

-   **Shaunta Johnson, Director, Small Business Team (NCR)**

-   **Dewayne Carter, Small Business Technical Advisor, Program Support
    and Small Business Office**

-   **Renee Domurat, Acting Director, Small Business Utilization (Region
    3)**

-   **Mark Dunkum, Director-Security and Furnishings Division, GSA/NFC**

***Topic: Small Business and Small Business Opportunities***

All of the presenters discussed their contributions to the SDVOSB and
encouraged others participation with the initiative. Johnson announced
that she will represent and advocate for GSA to complete the mission for
SDVOSBs. Within NCR, she has been successful at launching a 2003 small
business conference and doing follow-up with these companies to ensure
the government's commitment to the cause. She has also created a
database to pool resources and conducts Schedules training every fourth
Tuesday.

Domurat touched on education about and advertisement of the SDVOSBs. She
currently acts as an advocate for Small Business Communications to
educate people on ways to utilize the program and where to locate
service-disabled veterans. She also aids in the navigation of
solicitations and websites, and is located in Philadelphia. She plans to
host/attend events to publicize this effort and encourage the push for
large regional participation.

Dunkum explained that he has teamed up with Dick Maloney (The NFC's
Small Business Representative) to maintain communication with small
businesses and attend relative meetings. He made additional
announcements that Schedule 36 will be updating clauses in the
solicitation concerning the initiative, and an agreement has been made
with DoD to advertise the updated contract clauses on e-library. This
system will be updated twice a year.

Carter concluded the presentation with an announcement of his new title
as Small Business Technical Advisor. Carter formerly worked for the
National Furniture Center in the Customer Service division.

All of the speakers up to this point were available for questions and
answers during the Panel segment of the agenda and during the networking
session.

-   **Robert Streeter, Acting Deputy Assistant Regional Administrator
    (Region 2), GSA**

***Topic: Trade Agreements Compliance***

Streeter presented issues relating to Schedule 75, which includes office
supply and hardware, contract overlap, and the Trade Agreements Act. He
states the basic rule to follow when dealing with Schedule 75 is to
accept full catalog offers and individual, printed books with
predominantly office supplies, including random items (coffee,
furniture, etc.). Even though separate catalogs will be used by small
businesses in their offers, his office does not accept items dealing
with a separate schedule entirely. This is to conveniently aid customers
with purchasing assortments of supplies, and settle any contract overlap
issues.

As for the Trade Agreements Act issues, the basic rule is that for any
solicitation valued over \$175,000, the Trade Agreements apply. This act
specifies that products can only be supplied from the designated
countries and that where the item is substantially transformed.
Signatories of the World Trade Agreement include: South Korea, Hong
Kong, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. Additionally, (acceptable)
least-developed countries include Afghanistan and the Caribbean-Basin
countries. Countries not designated are China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and New
Zealand.

Streeter stated that they are in a point position when it comes to
enforcing compliance. In addition to a certification, an updated
separate offer is required for every separate item, in addition to the
country of origin. Currently, partnerships are being made with larger
wholesalers for accurate information about and documentation of the
country of origin. He stressed severe penalties for non-compliance, and
emphasized that matters would get worse until China becomes an accepted
country. He stated that there are possibilities of waivers but they are
still questioning them in commercial acquisitions. They have to find
compliant products that would be applicable to a waiver.

-   **Richard Russell, Director, Information Sharing and Collaboration,
    Department of Homeland Security**

***Topic: Selling Value to the Government***

Russell opened with an example of how GSA helped to keep his design of
the Missile Intelligence Center in Huntsville, Alabama under budget, and
then went on to explain the importance of selling value to the
government. He stated that in order to overcome looming deficits and
personnel issues, everyone must face the future with courage, integrity,
and innovation. By developing partnership relationships between vendors
and the government, a common understanding is developed that aids in
completing the project under time and budget. Utilizing organizational
performance, benchmarks could be used to present a better product to the
government, and investing in the ***Value Proposition (Right Benefits at
Best Value = Real Value)*** could help to see obstacles as opportunities
to gain the best advantage and produce rapid results. Russell stressed
conducting background research on the organization vendors are marketing
towards to create a connection. He also stated that commonality and
interchangeability of products is a highly beneficial competitive
advantage.

Russell's final statements focused on going through the entire cost
analysis to determine economical efficiencies, and accommodating
individual (and unusual) requests from customers with innovative
solutions.

-   **Bruce Spainhour, Director, Business Development, GSA/NFC**

***Topic: Business Development Update***

Spainhour explained his involvement with this QPC meeting as the
overseer of the event, and spoke on his return to the National Furniture
Center and Marketing from working at the Services Acquisition Center and
with the SmartPay program. He is currently seeking to improve areas to
make/create better customer service and contracting partners.

Spainhour also announced upcoming key events, which included:

-   ***"Opening Doors"---a Small Business Procurement Conference***

> ***Office of SBU, Regions 9,10***
>
> ***Scottsdale, Arizona***
>
> ***September 9-10^th^, 2005***
>
> ***\*\*Open to all small businesses**.*
>
> [***www**.gsa.gov/azevent.com*](http://www.gsa.gov/azevent.com)

-   ***Training Session for NEOCON East***

> ***"Correctly Preparing Furniture Packets for Customers"***
>
> ***Baltimore Convention Center***
>
> ***Baltimore, MD***
>
> ***Hosted by: Juanita Blassingame, Director, Systems Furniture
> Division, NFC***
>
> ***Jennifer Marzouk, Business Development Specialist, NFC***
>
> ***Time: 1:00 pm-4:00 pm***
>
> ***September 13, 2005***

\- ***NEOCON EAST Conference***

***September 14, 2005***

\- ***Hispanic Small Business Conference***

***Ronald Reagan Building, Washington D.C.***

***October 13, 2005***

Currently, Business Development is in the process of developing an
online dealer/showroom listing. At the end of his presentation, he
emphasized that the QPC surveys included in the handouts needed to be
completed. The results of these surveys will be used to improve future
QPC events.

-   **Skip Duncan, Director, GSA/NFC**

***Concluding Remarks***

Mr. Duncan expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the presenters
and the sponsors for the Networking Session, namely Jami Inc- Harter,
Zoom Seating, and Fixtures Furniture. He informed everyone that all of
the questions posed during the meeting will be on the website, with a
special focus on the more technical questions. The Evergreen Awards will
be presented at the December QPC in the Technologies and Electronics,
Furniture, and Furnishings category. Applications for the award are due
by Wednesday, August 24, 2005 (cutoff date extended). Details can be
found on the National Furniture Center's website
<http://www.gsa.gov/furniture>.

As far as the reorganization is concerned, Mr. Duncan does not foresee
any changes with GSA or affecting how business is conducted with
business customers, per his involvement with the reorganization team.

**The next (scheduled) QPC meeting is on December 8, 2005 in Arlington,
VA, but PLEASE keep an eye out for the QPC meeting that will be
scheduled in between. See you there!**