Government Contracting Officer Podcast

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

All Episodes are inside Skyway Central©Click here to access the Podcast 2.0 License and start listening today!

The government buys lots of services…but not all service contracts work the same way. There are personal services, non-personal services, Service Contract services, advisory services, and so on. We have a whole podcast playlist just for service contracts.One common type of services is Professional Services. These services are defined as having a “recognized status based upon acquiring professional knowledge through prolonged study.” In other words, these are skilled services that require expertise, education, and/or time to master.  The level of expertise, education and time can impact how much a “professional” is paid for said services. How then does the government know what a reasonable rate is for these services?Enter: The Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees (52.222-46).This clause is critical for evaluating professional services. As the government continues to rely on professional expertise of contractors, both government and industry need to understand the requirement for, and applicati

Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In last week’s episode, we dug into a common misconception that gets in the way of effective communication – namely a lack of clear agreement on what is fair game (or not) to communicate about. In the FAR, the phrase “open and frank communication” is one of the phrases used to describe that effective dialogue between both sides.In the last episode, Kevin and Paul covered the things that the government does that get in the way of open and frank communication. If you haven’t listened to episode 445, please go back and listen to that one first. This one will make a lot more sense that way. In this episode, they cover the other side of the open and frank communication: meaning the things that industry does (sometimes without knowing it) that gets in the way of open and frank communications. And like in the last episode, we provide some frameworks to help both sides increase these “open and frank communication” throughout eac

Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In this episode Kevin and Paul dig into another common misconception that gets in the way of effective communication – namely a lack of clear agreement on what is fair game (or not) to communicate about. In the FAR, the phrase “open and frank communication” is one of the phrases used to describe that effective dialogue between both sides. Ok, while we can appreciate that “open and frank communication” is something we would want…what exactly does that mean? How open is too open? How frank is too frank? When can we be both open and frank. These are burning questions because the reality is that we cannot ALWAYS have open and/or frank communication about everything. In this episode, Kevin and Paul outline some of the conditions that get in the way of open and frank communication – and how to remove them. They also provide some frameworks to help both sides increase these “open and frank communication” throughout each Acquisi

If we’re going to buy something, we need to know how much it will cost. D’uh, right? The contract defines the terms and conditions of the purchase, while the price determines the value and/or cost of the goods or services being bought. Easy. This is true in GovCon as much as it is in our personal lives.In GovCon however, the pricing process is sometimes seen as a separate and often detached element of a proposal, and even of the contract. One reason for this potentially wide separation between the pricing process and the rest of contract is due to a lack of context on how these elements interact. It’s critical to understand how the pricing elements align with, and have an impact on, not just the delivering the requirement under Section C, but how the pricing impacts the entire contract.In this episode, Kevin invited Heather Teed (a proposal pricing strategist who knows this area well) to help him explain how the pricing elements inter-relate with all the sections of a contract – not just sections B, C and L.S

Kevin and Paul have covered a LOT of topics on this podcast. In each of the episodes, they map out where a particular topic fits within the Acquisition and/or Execution Time Zones®. (NOTE: For more on the Acquisition and Execution Time Zones®, check out episodes 003 and 372, respectively). Using these time zones, they explain where each topic fits between the developing of the requirement all the way through closing out the contract that delivers that requirement.But what happens BEFORE there is a requirement?What if the government has yet to define the requirement to solve a problem they have?Or what if industry has a solution to a new problem the government doesn’t know they have yet?These questions all fall BEFORE the requirement is written down. This is before the start of the Acquisition Time Zones. This is the period we refer to as “pre-acquisition” – as in, pre-Acquisition Time Zones®.This Pre-acquisition time is an ideal opportunity for open communication between government and industry. In this episo

The United States government buys a wide variety of things in a variety of ways. In this episode, we cover one of those unique ways: through Foreign Military Sales (FMS).Under FMS, the US government procures equipment and services for foreign partner nations. These FMS purchases are often referred to as “security assistance” that is part of Foreign Policy to help nations maintain their defense.FMS covers a wide variety of products and services. While this is not something every contracting officers or every contactor touches, it’s a big enough deal that it warrants its own episode. For some context, in FY 2022, FMS sales were over $51 Billion (with a B)…including contracts with both large and small businesses.Since FMS is still pretty niche, I invited Steve Lucianetti to join me on this episode. Steve is a retired US Navy contracting officer (and a long-time member of the Skyway Acquisition team of contracting officers). Steve has deep FMS experience over his career and I couldn’t imagine doing this episode w

All episodes are inside Skyway Central©.Click here to access your Podcast 2.0 license for $20/mo and start listening today!

All episodes are inside Skyway Central©.Click here to access your Podcast 2.0 license for $20/mo and start listening today!

Is federal contracting really that different from state and local contracting? In this episode, Kevin welcomes Troy Francis to the podcast to help answer that question. Troy knows the nuances of both Federal and State/Local contracts because he been both a Federal Contracting Officer and now is a Chief Contracting Officer in the Office of Procurement for the District of Columbia.However, State and Local contracting is a huge topic. So for this episode we focused on 3 key areas:1.      A side by side comparison of the specific regulations, processes and guidance for Federal vs State/Local.  How different are they, really? If you know the rules in one, can you operate in the other?2.      As a buyer, is one “better”, “easier”, “simpler” than the other? We weigh the pros and cons from a government point of view.3.      As the seller, is one “better, easier, simpler” than the other. We weigh the pros and cons from the contractor point of view.Bottom line: If you’re ever wondered if and how federal contracting is

Chess is one of my favorite games. It’s simple, yet maddeningly complex. Chess is a game in which it’s easy to get the basics: there are only 6 types of pieces. However, the game gets complicated fast once we start moving the pieces.Now imagine playing chess without knowing how the pieces move…GovCon is like Chess.GovCon is not overly complex at its base. Once you understand the basics: buyer, seller, contract type, 3 Deciders, Acquisition and Execution Time Zones, building acquisition plans, targeting, writing and evaluating proposals, etc), then you can generally understand it.However, it can get complicated fast once the pieces start moving.Now imagine trying to navigate GovCon without knowing how these pieces interact?If we don’t know how the elements interact, then government contracting can be like playing chess without knowing how the chess pieces move.In this episode, we review 6 key “conventions” in the FAR that help us understand how the pieces move.*The first 400 episodes are still free*Episodes 40

There are several places in the FAR that direct contracting officers to award products and services against existing contracts BEFORE establishing new ones. There is even a specific provision that acquisition planning include consideration for the “use of pre-existing contracts.”  That’s logical, use existing contracts before awarding new ones. There is a LOT of data on government contracts so finding those contracts should be easy, right? Well, maybe. But even once we find them, how do we determine that awarding against the existing contract is the right fit to meet the mission? For government, knowing where and how to find those contracts can streamline your process to award.For industry, knowing where and how to find those contracts is an other avenue to support you current and future government customers.In this episode we review 4 free government sources to find those contracts, as well as the the pros and cons of  that go into the considerations to use existing contract versus awarding a new one.*The fi

Wanting to award a contract and having a path to make award are two different things. The government needs to acquire goods and services. Even when the government customer clearly knows what they need, just knowing that something is needed is not enough. Even when there is funding to meet that requirement, that’s still not enough.They still need the HOW. The government team still needs a path to actually buy the product or service.In GovCon, that path is referred to as the Acquisition Plan. The Acquisition Plan is how the government will actually buy something. In this episode, we break down the 4 basic elements required in an acquisition plan, along with the factors that impact that planning. We outline why both industry and government care about acquisition planning and what both sides can/would/should do to focus on making acquisition plans as simple as possible, but no simpler.*The first 400 episodes are still free*Episodes 401 and beyond are inside Skyway Central©.Click here to access your Podcast 2.0 li

A Sole Source contract award is when the government awards a contract without competition. The standard procedure in GovCon is to use competition to compete requirements, therefore awarding a sole source contract is a “non-standard” procedure.   There are a variety of factors that impact the decision to use a sole source strategy to acquire goods and services. To effectively use this sole source authority, it's critical for both government and industry to understand when a sole source contract would/should/could be the best option to meet the government’s mission.Since this is a “non-standard” procedure, the government team has to justify why awarding a contract without competition makes sense in a specific acquisition. In this episode, we outline the basic regulations around how that justification is made. We also describe how and why the government team, and the contracting officer in particular, can determine a “reasonable basis” for a sole source award.*The first 400 episodes are still free*Episodes