Agencies could be liable for certain costs under sequestration

by Jason Miller - Federal News Radio

Agencies will be liable for many of the costs coming from the termination of contracts, including legal fees and employee compensation costs, if sequestration happens Jan. 2 and if vendors do not issue layoff notices this fall.  The Office of Management and Budget issued guidance today detailing what types of costs vendors could charge back to agency customers under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.  CLICK HERE to see the rest of the article.  Also, letter from the letter from the  the Director of the Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy to NDIA regarding WARN Act related compliance costs was issued last week.

DOD, Nation Face Strategic Choices, Deputy Secretary Says

By Cheryl Pellerin - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2012 – Grappling with the converging forces of strategic history and fiscal necessity, the Defense Department is making choices now that will determine how the nation transitions to the coming era, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said today.

CLICK HERE for complete document.  ALSO By Tony Capaccio on September 28, 2012 from Bloomberg Business Week - Pentagon Spending Shouldn’t Slow Before Cuts, Carter Says  CLICK HERE for article   

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was established in 1958 to prevent strategic surprise from negatively impacting U.S. national security and create strategic surprise for U.S. adversaries by maintaining the technological superiority of the U.S. military.

Current are available at THE DARPA WEBSITE and for Cyber Security READ ARTICLE.

Small Business Technology Transfer Program Phase I Solicitation FY-2013 (STTR) for National Science Foundation will open in October
 

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is interested in receiving proposals for Long-Range Science and Technology (S&T) Projects which offer potential for advancement and improvement of Navy and Marine Corps operations.  CLICK HERE for the Broad Agency Announcement.

 

Department of Energy SBIR is due October 16, 2012. CLICK HERE to view the solicitation. 

 

The FY12 Air Force Defense Research and Development Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) Program Broad Agency Announcement  The initial White Paper is due Nov 17, 2012.  CLICK HERE to link to the BAA.

GSA's SAM continues to frustrate its users

Recent article from FCW CLICK HERE

 

DoD grants deviation from initial SAM registration requirements CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO MEMO You will still need an active SAM registration to get paid.

 

REMEMBER

 

·         REGISTERING IN SAM or UPDATING OF YOUR SAM REGISTRATION IS FREE.

 

·         In order to get a current SAM registration submitted, every page of SAM must go thru the update and correction process.

 

·         If you are a small business, make sure that when you reach the end of the SAM registration you select the option tthat will take you to the SBA DSBS site.

 

·         The direct link to the Dynamic Small Business System CLICK HERE

 

If you need assistance, contact WPI at 414-270-3600 or email info@wispro.org

Industrial Base - U.S. Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Manufacturers Face Period of Uncertainty as DOD Purchases Decline and Foreign Sales Potential Remains Unknown

GAO-12-859, Sep 13, 2012

TO read the GAO report CLICK HERE

DoD works to institutionalize contracting lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan

 By Jared Serbu @jserbuWFEDThursday - 9/13/2012, 6:06am EDT

 

The Pentagon doesn't deny it made major, costly mistakes when it came to service contracting in the first years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Defense leaders say they also learned valuable lessons they want to bake into the military's training and doctrine that will guide contingency operations from now on.

 

But DoD also says it's clear that the military won't ever go into a contingency operation again without a big contingent of contractors, so it needs to institutionalize contracting expertise into the way it plans operations and trains its people.

 

Read the rest of the story at CLICK HERE

OFPP keeping a close eye on struggling acquisition system consolidation 

By Jason Miller  @jmillerWFED Wednesday - 9/12/2012, 5:24am EDT

 

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the federal chief information officer's office are paying close attention to how the General Services Administration fixes the System for Award Management (SAM).

GSA launched SAM July 31 with the goal of consolidating eight acquisition databases, including the Central Contractor Registration, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System and six others. SAM immediately ran into trouble and GSA issued its contractor, IBM, a letter of concern.

To read the rest of the story CLICK HERE