Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary Volume 7 • Issue 26

I want to take a moment to look back on where we 

started, recognize how far we have come and 

set our sights on a promising future. I will retire 

from government service after 34 years, effective 

October 1, 2011. For over ten years I have had the 

privilege of being the HHS OSDBU Director. 

One of the first ideas that I implemented was to 

conduct the monthly Vendor Outreach Sessions, 

with the full participation of each of the Small 

Business Specialists, who supported the Operating 

Divisions of HHS. Having everyone together in one 

spot, at one time, was a huge efficiency for both the 

vendor community as well as, the internal staff. 

Seven years ago, the OSDBU office was 

consolidated under my leadership. Each of the 

Small Business Specialists, who were co-located in 

the Operating Divisions, would now have a direct 

reporting relationship to the OSDBU Director. We 

were all responsible for carrying out the small 

business program and now the business model 

was streamlined to operate with one voice. The 

consolidation improved the operation for the internal 

community as well as, the external community. The 

Operating Divisions received seamless support 

since there was always a Small Business Specialist 

available to work with them; even if someone was 

on leave. Having the specialists responsible for 

more than one Operating Division broadened their 

breadth and depth of experience at HHS. To this 

day, we are the only Executive Agency that uses 

this business model. I am very proud of what I 

was able to accomplish with the support of senior 

leadership at HHS. 

We hired an outside contractor to conduct a 

Climate Assessment of our Small Business 

Program. As such, we were able to implement 

numerous improvements which are still on-going 

and cover: improved procurement forecast of 

opportunities on the web in a single location, 

improved communications, such as this newsletter 

and improved training of both our acquisition and 

program office staff. 

The HHS OSDBU instituted a Mentor-Protégé 

Program and that is something I want to see 

prosper and expand. In FY 2011, HHS has 

generated contract awards to over 718 small 

businesses that have not had a contract with HHS 

in the past. Diversifying our vendor base is what 

makes a difference to all of us. “Small Business is 

the Heart of our Economy.” 

I leave the office on a positive note and I want to 

publicly thank and acknowledge my great staff. It 

does not happen without each and every one of 

you. Your dedication to the small business program 

is noteworthy. I also want to acknowledge the 

participation and support I have received from the 

business community. Your willing input and honest 

voices continue to help us improve. The journey 

has had its challenges but every great journey 

does. I want to wish everyone much success in 

your future endeavors! 

Reflections From The Director

-Debbie Ridgely, OSDBU Director
The U.S. Department of Health 

& Human Services (HHS), Office 

of Small and Disadvantaged 

Business Utilization (OSDBU) 

participated at the 7th Annual 

National Veterans Small 

Business Conference and 

Exposition in New Orleans, LA

on August 15 - 18, 2011. 

Besides the location, there was 

another noticeable difference 

at this year’s conference, 

VetGovPartner. VetGovPartner 

is the new Matchmaking portal 

and social network for the 2011 

National Veteran Small Business 

Conference. VetGovPartner 

is a fully-integrated web 

application designed to facilitate 

matchmaking, partnering and 

networking among attendees 

before, during and after the 

Conference. The portal enabled 

attendees to view, create, 

sign up and track conference 

Matchmaking sessions between 

small businesses, large 

businesses and Government 

partners.

New conference procedures and 

a new location notwithstanding, 

this year’s National Veterans 

Small Business Conference and 

Exposition was a well attended 

event, with approximately 4,000 

individuals registered and 400 

Exhibitors in attendance. 

The OSDBU team, consisting of 

four Small Business Specialists, 

shared the responsibilities of 

maintaining the HHS/OSDBU 

Exhibit Booth, as well as, 

counseling attendees during the 

matchmaking sessions. One 

of the added values is the HHS’ 

Specialists are able to attend at 

least one training session during 

the conference.

Representatives from the 

National Institutes of Health 

(NIH) and the Health Resources 

and Services Administration 

(HRSA), participated at this year’s 

conference. Ms. Mary Armstead, 

Director, NIH Information 

Technology Acquisition and 

Assistance Center (NITAAC), 

and Ms. Susan Nsangou, 

Senior Contracting Officer at the 

National Institute on Drug Abuse, 

participated at the conference 

by hosting training sessions and 

speaking with attendees at the 

HHS/OSDBU Exhibit Booth. Ms. 

Armstead held two sessions on 

the NITAAC Government-wide 

Acquisition Contracts vehicles 

while Ms. Nsangou hosted 

a session on taking steps to 

communicating with program and 

contracting officials.

Mr. Steve Zangwill, the Senior 

Advisor to the Head of the 

Contracting Activity for HRSA, 

participated at the conference, 

speaking with attendees at the 

HHS/OSDBU Exhibit Booth.

7th Annual National 

Veterans Small 

Business Conference 

and Exposition

VetGovPartner is a 

fully-integrated web 

application designed to 

facilitate matchmaking, 

partnering and 

networking among 

attendees before, 

during and after the 

Conference.

HHS Pulse Page | 2
ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP

The U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), Office of the Secretary 

(OS), Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

Business Utilization (OSDBU) provides 

information for organizations interested in 

doing business with the Federal Government. 

A series of government contracting (govcon) 

workshops are being held in a variety of 

locations throughout the United States to 

provide information to Minority Institutions 

of Higher Education (MIHE) staff and 

Minority Owned Small Business (MOSB) 

representatives to 1) become familiar with 

processes and procedures associated with 

federal government contracting; and 2) to 

identify and pursue contract opportunities 

with HHS. The objective of these workshops 

is to engage, equip and inform the MIHE and 

MOSB participants of the federal procurement 

process so that they become more effective 

in pursuing contracting opportunities at HHS.

COST: FREE

WORKSHOP DATES & LOCATIONS

Please check OSDBU’s website for upcoming 

dates and locations.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/

REGISTRATION

For more information and to register, 

visit http://fedgovconworkshops.com/. 

For businesses, there is a limit of 

two representatives per company per 

workshop.

If you have questions regarding the event, 

please contact us at fedgovconworkshops@

d2dinc.com.

AGENDA

The synopsis of the agenda is below. The full 

agenda is available on the website.

Day One

•	 Introduction to Government 

Contracting

•	 Understanding Procurement Methods

•	 The Government’s Internal Process

•	 Small Business Classifications & 

Certification Programs

•	 Guest Speaker

•	 Other Business Opportunities

•	 Marketing to the Government & HHS

Day Two

•	 Introduction to FAR and Compliance 

Issues

•	 Contract Pricing & Cost Proposals

•	 Guest Speaker

•	 Technical Proposals

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

MOSBs and MIHEs that are interested in 

pursuing government contracts or who have 

initiated the process, but have not yet been 

successful should attend a workshop. This 

includes business owners, MIHE faculty and 

staff.

I work for a MIHE. Why Should I Attend?

In this economy, Institutions need additional 

sources of funding. The Federal Government 

is an excellent resource to fund and get grants 

for research projects. MIHE faculty and staff 

should attend a workshop so they understand 

the government contracting environment and 

have the tools necessary to navigate the 

government processes.

This is a Two-Day Event. I’m a Teacher and 

Can’t Afford to Miss Classes.

We understand that class schedules may 

overlap with the workshop schedule. There is 

no requirement to attend the entire workshop. 

Come to the session(s) that are convenient 

for your schedule.

I already know the basics of government 

contracting. How will this workshop help 

me?

You may be familiar with the basics; however 

this workshop will develop deeper. You 

will also gain insight about the proposal 

development process, which will position you 

to submit compliant proposals.

MINORITY INSTITUTIONS OF 

HIGHER EDUCATION & MINORITYOWNED SMALL BUSINESS

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING WORKSHOP

Submit your small business success story and 

you may be featured in an upcoming issue of 

HHS Pulse. Please email us at: sbmail@hhs.gov

To Unsubscribe to the HHS Pulse simply 

email us at sbmail@hhs.gov. Please include 

Unsubscribe in the subject and add your 

name and email address in the message.

Visit our newly re-designed website

http://www.hhs.gov/smallbusiness/

Have a question?

Please visit our FAQ page for answers:

http://answers.hhs.gov/categories/962

HHS Pulse Page | 3
Federal Business Opportunities 

http://www.fedbizopps.gov 

General Services Administration

http://www.gsa.gov 

SBA Government Contracting and

Business Development. 

http://www.sba.gov/gcbd/ 

Small Business Administration

http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov 

Central Contractor Registration 

http://www.ccr.gov 

Government Agency Links 

http://www.usa.gov/Agencies. 

shtml 

Excluded Parties List System

http://epls.arnet.gov 

Women-Owned Businesses Links: 

National Association of Women

Business Owners 

http://www.nawbo.org 

Small Business Administration: Contract 

Assistance for Women Business Owners 

http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/ 

sbaprograms/onlinewbc/index. 

html 

Women’s Business Centers 

http://www.awbc.biz 

Women Impacting Public Policy

http://www.wipp.org

Web Sites to 

Bookmark

October 6, 2011

(DC Area) The Society of 

American Military Engineers is hosting 

a Small Business Conference

Fort Belvoir Officer’s Club 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Please visit http://www.samedcpost.org or contact Ms. Tawania Mcfadden at (301) 661-4018 or 

via email at tawaniamc@gmail.com for additional 

information.

October 18, 2011

American Express OPEN’s Government Contracting Program will host 

a government procurement event

Dallas Marriot City Center

Dallas, TX.

Please visit http://www.openforum.com/governmentcontracts.com for additional information. 

October 20, 2011

The 6th Annual Veterans Business 

Conference, sponsored by Congressman Silvestre Reyes & the El Paso 

Small Business Consortium

El Paso Community College

El Paso, Texas

Please contact Mr. Joseph R. Conway at (915) 

831-7748 or via email at jconway@epcc.edu for 

additional information.

October 30 - November 2, 

2011

2011 National Minority Supplier 

Development Council Conference & 

Business Opportunity Fair

Georgia World Congress Center

Atlanta, Georgia

Please visit http://www.openforum.com/governmentcontracts.com for additional information.

November 10, 2011

The Virginia Gateway Region Economic Development Organization, 

in cooperation with the SBA & others will be sponsoring a Veterans & 

Small Business Conference

Location TBD

Washington, DC

Please contact Ms. Joanne W. Tompkins at (804) 

861-1667 or via email at jtompkins@cpd.state.

va.us for additional information.

Mark your calendars and review the ongoing 

procurement events sponsored by Showorks, 

Inc., for calendar year 2011. Please visit http://

www.allianceforbiz.com for additional information.

Mark your calendars and review the ongoing 

procurement events sponsored by the National 

Black Chamber of Commerce for calendar year 

2011. Please visit www.nationalbcc.org for additional information.

Office of Small & Disadvantaged

Business Utilization 

200 Independence Ave., SW

Room 537H - HHH Bldg. • Washington, DC 20201

Phone: (202) 690-7300 http://www.hhs.gov/smallbusiness/

Subscribe to “The HHS Pulse” here
HHS Pulse Page | 5

SCG Small Business 

Success Story:

Signature Consulting Group, LLC 

(SCG) is a Health IT managementconsulting firm, which provides policy, 

operations, and system management 

consulting and delivery services 

to Government and Not-for-Profit 

Organizations. 

SCG has been awarded key 

contracts in all three of the major 

health legislative acts to impact the 

US Healthcare System over the past 

decade; the Medicare Modernization 

Act (MMA) of 2003 for the Medicare 

Advantage Prescription Drug 

(MAPD), the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 for 

the Health Information Technology 

for Economic and Clinical Health 

(HITECH), and the Affordable Care Act 

(ACA) of 2010. SCG is responsible for 

developing and managing the national 

meaningful use of health information 

technology audit and data validation 

strategy for the HITECH program. 

SCG developed the quality measures 

system, which tracks and reports 

quality metrics and performance 

results from the implementation of the 

ACA health reform legislation to White 

House and HHS Leadership.

SCG has worked extensively with the 

Center for Medicaid and Medicare 

Services (CMS) in the areas of 

financial management; fraud waste 

and abuse detection, auditing and 

operations evaluations, business and 

data analysis, project management, 

and system integration. CMS has 

awarded SCG eight prime contracts. 

SCG has also been a subcontractor 

to more than twelve contracts at 

HHS, CMS, and the Office of National 

Coordinator (ONC).

SCG had its start working with 

several BlueCross BlueShield 

(BCBS) Plans providing Health 

Specialist and project support. SCG 

combined Healthcare expertise and 

information systems knowledge 

to provide broad and adaptive 

operational and system solutions to 

BlueCross BlueShield Health plans. 

Working with mid to large size Health 

Plans, SCG further developed its 

health operations expertise along 

with technical Health IT capabilities. 

By applying the experience and 

expertise gained in its work with 

the BCBS plans including plan 

operations, health administration, and 

system integration, SCG successfully 

transitioned from the private sector 

into government consulting. SCG 

now plays an integral role supporting 

Health and Human Services (HHS) 

with the implementation of major 

health legislation.

“At Signature Consulting Group, we 

have the expertise to be able to treat 

both the problems and the solutions 

as a whole,” states Corey Cooke, 

President of SCG. “With a multifaceted approach to each problem, 

we are able to build the best solution 

thereby providing tangible results to a 

project.” With SCG’s unique ability to 

fully understand aspects of both the 

health operations and the systems 

side of problems, it can effectively 

develop solutions to both. 

SCG’s dual health and system 

expertise assisted CMS in the 

analysis of premium withhold data 

in the Medicare Program to develop 

a business intelligence solution 

across 70 databases, which provides 

CMS users with a consolidated 

and acute view into plan payment 

activity. Chellam Manickam, SCG’s 

Vice President of Technology, has 

been instrumental in setting up 

practice areas that ensure technical 

solutions are rooted in practical 

business objectives and effective 

health operations. Combining health 

management and clinical expertise 

with the latest in technology and 

system integration has allowed SCG 

to stay at the forefront of Government 

Health IT efforts to modernize and 

improve healthcare delivery.

SCG has continually been awarded 

prime contracts with CMS due 

to its ability to stay current on 

Federal healthcare initiatives and 

IT strategies. Mr. Cooke’s vision for 

SCG has been to develop a company 

dedicated to providing businessfocused management consulting in 

health management and information 

services to clients. Mr. Cooke 

attributes SCG’s ability to provide 

value to its clients through a number 

of key internal measures: 
•	 Continual employee learning and 

development through training and 

establishment of company industry 

knowledgebase in the areas of 

health and IT management, which 

has in turn attracted and retained a 

high caliber of health and technical 

employees, providing them with 

a broader base of expertise in 

problem solving and serving clients

•	 Partnering with established and 

proven organizations to learn from 

and fill in gaps in capabilities and 

expertise

•	 Clearly defined practice areas 

of services: Governance and 

Program Management; Quality 

Management and Validation; 

Financial Management; Health IT 

and Interoperability; and Business 

Intelligence and Data Management. 

•	 Established processes and 

reusable methods.

With internal measures in place, SCG 

looks to establish highly productive 

partnerships with companies in the two 

worlds of contracting: the healthcare 

support companies that provide 

regulatory, policy and clinical expertise; 

and pure play IT companies that supply 

system development services. Working 

with partners broadens not only SCG’s 

qualified resource pool, but also the 

company’s capabilities. “Signature 

Consulting Group understands 

that the client directly benefits from 

partnering with the correct company 

on any given project. We are very 

successful at creating these productive 

alliances, because we consistently 

strive to establish positive ongoing 

communication, awareness, and 

knowledge of peer companies in the 

field,” says Sam Elias, SCG Vice 

President of Business Development. 

SCG has successfully partnered with 

Accenture on HITECH auditing to 

provide structured and proven process 

for strategy development and has 

partnered with Logistics Management 

Institute (LMI) for technical 

management of the largest Federal 

Taradata implementation of a fraud 

waste and abuse detection system with 

users across federal law enforcement 

agencies.

SCG is dedicated to defining and 

using flexible processes that can be 

tailored to most types of analysis 

project in healthcare administration 

or system development. SCG library 

of frameworks include: Project 

Management; Analysis solutions 

(requirements, business, information, 

and system architecture); Quality 

Assurance; Procurement Management; 

and Security Management. 

SCG’s success can be attributed to 

the founder’s established vision for 

the company and by its adherence 

to the proven measures for 

organizational improvement and client 

satisfaction. SCG was established 

in 2004 and is a designated Small & 

Disadvantaged 8(a), Minority Owned 

Small Business located in Maryland. 

http://www.sghealthit.com

Go to http://www.hhs.gov/smallbusiness/ for more information or to register.
Contracting Opportunities

OPDIV Product/Service

Description:

Dollar 

Range:

Contact 

Person:

Contact 

Information: ESR*: Acquisition Strategy:

Procurement 

Category: NAICS:

CDC 

Geospatial Science Consulting Support for Public Health 

Applications for GIS  

$5,000,001 to 

$10,000,000  Andrew Dent  (770) 488-3861  1st QTR 2012  GSA Schedule  IT Services  541511 

CDC  SIMAN Development Contract   $500,001 to 

$1,000,000 

Gretchen 

Floreno  (404) 639-1534  1st QTR 2012  GSA Schedule  IT Services  541511 

CDC  ORISE Sharepoint   $100,000 to 

$500,000 

Ronald 

Ottem  (404) 639-2576  1st QTR 2012  GSA Schedule  IT Services  541511 

CDC 

Division of Strategic National 

Stockpile (DSNS). Exeternal 

Consultants - Evaulation 

Program - OD-BC  

$1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000 

Steven 

Adams  (404) 639-0692  1st QTR 2012  GSA Schedule  Technical Assistance  541990 

FDA 

Project Management 

Team - Task order under the 

CDER-wide IDIQ contract to be 

awarded in FY11 for quality 

management systems 

$10,000,001 

and above 

1st QTR 

2012  TBD Business Services  56 

FDA 

Program Management 

Team - Task order under the 

CDER-wide IDIQ contract to be 

awarded in FY11 for quality 

management systems 

$10,000,001 

and above 

1st QTR 

2012  TBD Business Services  56

FDA

Decision and Social Science, 

Outcomes Research and other 

Disciplines Contract (new Task 

Order 8 - Patient Focused Drug 

Development) 

$1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000 

1st QTR 

2012  TBD Business Services 56

FDA Canon Copier Maintenance 

Contract 

$1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 56

FDA

CDRH to discuss seasonal 

concept of program analysts to 

assist in development of complex full and open acquisitions 

requirements for six month 

temporary services. Projects 

range from R&D to IT. 

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 56

FDA

This is for Peer Review Support 

for Scientific Information Disseminated by CFSAN/FDA.

$500,001 to 

$1,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 81

FDA Campaign Evaluation Services $10,000,001 

and above

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 81

HHS Pulse Page | 7
OPDIV Product/Service

Description:

Dollar 

Range:

Contact 

Person:

Contact 

Information: ESR*: Acquisition Strategy:

Procurement 

Category: NAICS:

FDA Technical Assistance for Data 

Management

$1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA Purchasing of Marketing Data $1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA

Development of standards for 

track and trace and authentication through research and 

analyses of current systems 

and assessment of data carrier 

technology. These standards 

will provide a means to standardize the

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA

Contract a study to compare 

foreign and FDA labeling for 

possible eligible drugs and determine significant differences

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA FY12 User Fee Assessment/Cost 

Analysis

$10,000,001 

and above

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA New procurement for UFMS 

site support for FDA

$10,000,001 

and above

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA Escendent- I-Procurement 

Support

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA Escendent- User Fee Consultant $100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA UFMS Testing and Change 

Control Support (BTT TO #__)

$10,000,001 

and above

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA OFO Business Continuity Plan 

(BTT TO #__)

$10,000,001 

and above

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

FDA

Competitive Sourcing Services 

to include Post Study Accountability & Modification of FY07 

& FY08 FDA MEOs Exercise 

Option Year of MAI Contract 

#GS23F8056H

$1,000,001 to 

$5,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA

Janitorial Services for Dauphin 

Island, AL. w/ Unique Cleaning 

Services

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA

Janitorial Services Contract 

# HHSF22320101171P for 

Dauphin Island, AL. w/ Unique 

Cleaning Services

$100,000 to 

$500,000

1st QTR 

2012 GSA Schedule Business Services 54

FDA

San Juan Operations and 

Maintenance Contract for New 

Award

$500,001 to 

$1,000,000

1st QTR 

2012 TBD Business Services 54

Contracting Opportunities cont.

HHS Pulse Page | 8