October 27, 2009
Buyer Brings Industry Experts Together for VA Acquisition Roundtable
For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence (202) 225-3527
Washington D.C. — Today, Congressman Steve Buyer held a roundtable discussion with organizations representing veteran entrepreneurs and other groups with expertise on government contracting to identify ways to improve Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acquisition.
Buyer, who serves as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, held the second in a series of meetings to discuss procurement issues and coordinate efforts to improve businesses’ opportunities to obtain VA contracts.
“I greatly appreciate the counsel of our participants in this important meeting. As vendors, they are well qualified to offer a front line perspective on ways to achieve improvements in VA’s acquisition system because they deal with it every day,” Buyer said. “We also want to know the areas in which VA is doing well so we can identify and expand best practices.”
“Last week, I held a similar meeting with VA and the General Services Administration to identify ways to improve small businesses’ ability to bid on VA procurement contracts by expanding their access to the GSA schedule.”
“In response to my concerns about the number of contract applications pending over 90 days, GSA has designated two contact points for industry to raise concerns and obtain information about the offer process for either of its two schedules. Those contacts are posted on our website.” (To view a press release of this meeting please click HERE)
“Through these meetings, I hope to ensure that open lines of communication exist between the agencies and the businesses seeking federal procurement contracts, and that it’s a transparent, open system that will allow fair competition.”
“Doing so will ensure efficient use of tax payers’ money, it will also ensure that veteran and disabled veteran entrepreneurs are given the priority they deserve in the acquisition of federal contracts.”
The Acquisition Support representatives are: Nancy Goode who can be reached via email at nancy.goode@gsa.gov and Walter Eckbreth who can be reached at walter.eckbreth@gsa.gov
For more news from House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Republicans, please go to:
http://republicans.veterans.house.gov/
###