TACG Director, Keith Harvey, recently participated in the FAS R9 Navy/USMC Virtual Industry Forum held on 18 May 2021 as an Industry Panel Member representing GSA STARS II. The link to the website and video recording of the event is https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/regions/welcome-to-the-pacific-rim-region-9 .
AS Region 9 recently hosted its second virtual industry forum of Fiscal Year 2021, bringing together government and industry partners with the goal of strengthening the relationship between FAS and private businesses.
This event was a follow on to a similar forum held in December 2020, where the Assisted Acquisition Service (AAS) presented their program to industry partners, and also launched a new website and dashboard highlighting upcoming contract opportunities. This second event focused on introducing the Customer and Stakeholder Engagement (CASE) team to the over 250 attendees, with a focus on Department of the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps opportunities.
The event kicked off with opening remarks from FAS R9 Regional Commissioner Casey Kelley. “This event is a continuation of leveraging the positive outcomes that synergy creates, when government and industry collaborate,” said Kelley. “We are working together as one, sharing information and intelligence, to provide acquisition solutions. Our goal is to help the Department of Defense and federal civilian agencies achieve their respective missions by using GSA government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) and OASIS contracts directly and/or through the GSA AAS regions and FEDSIM.”
The forum was divided into two panel discussions, followed by tailored breakout sessions. The first panel of GSA officials included Erville Koelher, Assistant Commissioner for the national Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement, Acting CASE Regional Director Jennifer Krook, and Mark Carico and Kathleen Carroll, the National Account Managers for the Department of the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Together, they provided an overview of the CASE office and how their organized network supports vendors and government customers by matching a company’s capabilities with government needs.
Following the government panel, I was among the group of private sector experts who spoke on a variety of contract vehicles and their interactions with CASE and other GSA offices. Once that panel wrapped up, attendees were broken out into groups based on their primary contract type: Alliant 2, 8(A) Stars II, VETS 2 GWACs, and OASIS Unrestricted, OASIS Small Business Multi Agency Contracts (MACs). Each group was given the opportunity to learn from and to interact with different facets of the CASE organization, before reconvening for closing remarks.