The GSA Acquisition Policy Federal Advisory Industry Partnerships Subcommittee convened for a public meeting at 3:00 PM on April 16, 2024, virtually via Zoom, with Kristin Seaver, Chair, and Farad Ali, Co-Chair, presiding.
In accordance with FACA, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App 2, the meeting was open to the public from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM EST.
Meeting agenda
| Allotted Time |
Topic |
Presenter(s) |
| 3:00 PM - 3:05 PM |
Call to Order
|
Stephanie Hardison, Deputy Designated Federal Officer |
| 3:05 PM - 3:10 PM |
Introductory Remarks
|
Kristin Seaver, Chair
Farad Ali, Co-Chair |
| 3:10 PM - 4:50 PM |
Subcommittee Business |
Subcommittee Members |
| 4:50 PM - 4:55 PM |
Public Comments |
Public Participants |
| 4:55 PM - 5:00 PM |
Closing Remarks
- Summary
- Next Steps
- Adjourn
|
Kristin Seaver, Chair
Farad Ali, Co-Chair
Stephanie Hardison, Deputy Designated Federal Officer |
Committee Members Present:
Kristin Seaver, Chairman — General Dynamics Information Technology
Farad Ali, Co—Chair — Asociar LLC
Nigel Stephens — U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce
Keith Tillage — Tillage Construction LLC
Absent: Denise Bailey, Gail Bassette, Susan Lorenz—Fisher, Mamie Mallory, Deryl McKissack, Stacy Smedley, David Wagger, Kimberly Wise White
Guest Speakers & Presenters: n/a
GSA Staff Present:
Boris Arratia — Designated Federal Officer
Stephanie Hardison — Deputy Designated Federal Officer
David Cochennic — GAP FAC Support
Bianca McIntosh — GAP FAC Support
Skylar Holloway — GAP FAC Support
Katie Arioli — Closed Captioner
Jason Chang — ASL Interpreter
Karrie Jo Favro-White — ASL Interpreter
Call to order
Stephanie Hardison, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, opened the public meeting by welcoming the group before reminding the public that there will be time for comments and statements at the end of the meeting. Roll call was performed before the meeting was turned over to Chair, Kristin Seaver and Co-Chair Farad Ali.
Welcome and opening remarks
Kristin Seaver opened by stating that the recommendation for GSA to possibly assess the full lifecycle of a new entrant and identify opportunities to streamline or centralize core aspects of that offering is still being adjusted.
There is a matrix that has been created for the phases of the life cycle. For each phase, there were several discussions around it and to identify movements across GSA and the government. There were also weaknesses or areas of improvement that were identified. Lastly, she stated that the committee was starting to formulate recommendations and identify areas where some findings point back to recommendations already made.
Subcommittee business
Kristin Seaver recommended exploring how GSA markets at trade shows and how they choose to engage with certain academic institutions.
Borris Arratia suggested highlighting the GSA fleet as a good example of engagement.
Kristin Seaver mentioned using this framework to conduct a level of assessment to identify where there are gaps in this process.
Nigel Stephens mentioned to review the existence of outreach efforts like the community navigator program to help enhance engagement. He also highlighted that there are many examples of existing programs through SBA or commerce or other agencies that are trying to perform that outreach.
Borris Arratia made a recommendation to engage with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) to get familiar with the process of outreach.
Kristin Seaver stated that GSA’s mission when attending trade shows, is targeted and domain specific. She recommended a method called “Reverse Marketing” that has a broader, stronger demand signal, to identify and let entrants come to the government.
Nigel Stephens suggested implementing an onboarding process with an introduction that includes the entities that provide that type of technical assistance similar to EPA, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation. He also recommended for GSA to build in authority to bring new entrants to the table to better understand the challenges/problems of agencies and product categories.
Nigel then recommended having a resource kit with SBA or federal government partner entities like small business development centers, women centers, minority business centers, or anyone who obtains federal funds to direct these companies in the right direction. Further, GSA would be the convener and facilitator of that toolkit.
Farad Ali agreed with the recommendation for a resource toolkit as a partnering method for regional outreach. He also was in agreement with the subcommittee on having these resources for grants and technical assistance providers.
Kristin Seaver mentioned that the key is to identify and connect all of these different organizations and agencies into a resource kit for innovative entrants.
Stephanie Hardison recommended ensuring that GSA has an office that is dedicated to support incoming vendors similar to AP tech or P tech which is a DOD sponsored program. This will allow the potential vendor to have a proper proposal and make it easier for the contracting officer to be informed of the new potential vendor in this space. This office would be similar to a vendor relations management office where the contract vehicle will have a point of contact similar to P tech but within GSA.
Borris Arratia suggested creating a coordination group within GSA that can allow for the discussion of best practices, innovative ideas, and providing status updates.
Nigel Stephens recommended incorporating GSA within the education aspect of pre contract development. GSA should be given the ability to address an agency problem and bring new entrants to the table to learn about the challenges and opportunities to create a solution.
Borris Arratia mentioned that GSA has two tools, market research/RFI and the industry day which can be leveraged.
Stephanie Hardison stated that it would be helpful to have someone from the group that does RFI and market research to share the depth of their market research service to help fill in gaps.
Nigel Stephens states one concern is that there are plenty of access points. There needs to be a way for GSA to leverage AI and search tools to strengthen and identify which office is the right to coordinate moving parts and different agencies. He then recommended having a Sherpa to help navigate through access points, various technical assistance, and all aspects to achieve the end goal of direct communication with the potential client.
Farad Ali agreed that a Sherpa would be an incredible asset to the Federal government that would address a series of questions to help them navigate. He also mentioned that this tool can save time and money.
Kristin Seaver mentioned that this would help avoid losing a human element. She recommended making the job of the Sherpa easier by using a technology driven navigation tool.
Nigel Stephens mentioned his vision for GSA as being a centralized body or shared service provider for the agencies that are specialized in delivery. He also mentioned that this was a great way to have an access point to the government. This shared service would be a general service that can help gain access to the more specialized tools, utilization, capabilities, and objectives of the other agencies. Nigel also recommended this service would help the credits toward the scorecard for utilization of new entrants.
Kristin Seaver recommended that GSA adopt a lifecycle approach to evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of the vendor program. She also mentioned that it would be beneficial to identify areas of improvement and solicit information from small businesses. In regards to climate that is the focus right now for GSA. It drives the sense of urgency on GSA and the government to be more engaged with the academic institutions and incubators.
Nigel Stephens lastly recommended that according to a 2021 Congress report, there is a need for more companies to compete for supplier diversity and also regional resilience, and backups for essential items. This relates to climate change and sustainability where backup items are needed and resilience throughout supply change in order to have competition for innovation or lower costs.
Public comments
The subcommittee opened the discussion to the public however there were no comments or questions.
Closing remarks
Stephanie adjourned the meeting at 5:00 P.M. ET.
I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the foregoing minutes are accurate and complete.
Digitally signed by Kristin Seaver 8/26/2024
Kristin Seaver
Chairperson
GAP FAC Industry Partnerships Subcommittee
Digitally signed by Farad Ali 8/23/2024
Farad Ali
Co—Chairperson
GAP FAC Industry Partnerships Subcommittee
U.S. General Services Administration