Gsa Releases Final Plan For Federal Acquisition Service
Details of a new organizational structure which will combine the Federal Technology Service and Federal Supply Service into a single Federal Acquisition Service, with six regional offices were announced by the General Services Administration (GSA) last week. The FAS national office will set policy and take the lead on agency initiatives.
Proposed changes include:
Creation of the Commissioner of the FAS Position
The Commissioner of the FAS will be responsible for setting the overall direction of the FAS, executing policy, establishing standard operating procedures and resource allocation.
Creation of Five National Program Offices
* Customer Accounts and Research – The National Customer Accounts and Research office will focus on customer strategic planning, opportunity management, and marketing.
* Acquisition Management – The National Acquisition Management office will ensure the consistent application of acquisition policy across FAS, conduct acquisition vehicle reviews, develop training requirements, and work on acquisition vehicle rationalization.
* General Supplies and Services – The National General Supplies and Services office will offer general products, supply chain and distribution services, and facilities maintenance and assist customers with general supply buying needs and donation and sale of excess personal property.
* Integrated Technology Services – The National Integrated Technology Solutions office will provide information technology, professional, and telecommunications services and procurement assistance through government-wide acquisition vehicles.
* Travel, Motor Vehicle and Card Services – The National Travel, Motor Vehicles, and Card Services office will provide travel, relocation, freight management, and card services.
Creation of Six Zonal Offices for Local Customer Service Delivery
The new FAS organization will include six zones within the 11 existing GSA regions to provide direct customer services. The zones will be organized as follows:
* Zone A – New England Region and Northeast and Caribbean Region
* Zone B – Mid-Atlantic Region and National Capital Region
* Zone C – Southeast-Sunbelt Region and Great Lakes Region
* Zone D – Greater Southwest Region
* Zone E – Heartland Region and Rocky Mountain Region
* Zone F – Pacific Rim Region and Northwest/Arctic Region
“We are cautiously optimistic about the ‘new and improved’ GSA,” said Chris Jahn, President of the Contract Services Association (CSA). “The direct reporting to headquarters, as well as a consolidation of the regional offices, is a tremendous improvement under the new structure. This will improve efficiencies and consistency with policy guidance and operations.”
“In the past, customers and industry were frequently confused about what was being done or how things were done, how they were priced, and what they were paying for. These inconsistencies have long been a major source of problems identified by GSA-initiated audits of the various regional contract service centers and they often led to ‘answer shopping’ across Regions until one found an answer he liked. The new organizational structure should address that concern,” says Jahn.
Jahn sounded a cautionary note, however, over language included in the Senate’s version of the FY06 Treasury and Transportation Appropriations bill, as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee approved bill would prohibit GSA from using FY06 funds to implement its reorganization structure. “Should that language ultimately be enacted, then the GSA plans will never come to fruition,” he says.
CSA has participated in several congressional hearings and GSA “Industry Days,” providing comments on issues that GSA should consider as it reorganized. CSA also is a founding member of the “One GSA Coalition,” which was formed to facilitate vendor communications with GSA, and is comprised of associations representing thousands of GSA Schedule and Multiple Award Contract Holders.
Association members are service contractors representing over 200 companies that provide a wide array of services to Federal, state, and local governments. Members perform over $40 billion in Government contracts and employ nearly 500,000 workers, with two-thirds of CSA companies using private sector union labor.
The companies represent the diversity of the government services industry and include small businesses, 8(a)-certified companies, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned, HubZone, Native American owned firms and global multi-billion dollar corporations.