Econometrica attended the Lunch & Learn session held by National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Woodlawn Chapter at beautiful Martin’s West on September 20. The very successful session, headlined by Benjamin Simcock and Robert Burton, included discussion topics such as Office of Acquisition and Grants Management (OAGM) accomplishments in the phased proposal evaluation approach now used in the IT field, current Administration acquisition priorities, the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), and acquisition-related executive orders and policies and their impact on the federal contractor community.
There was great news to go around. OAGM is looking to focus on strategic hiring practices that will increase spending for small, disadvantaged businesses by 15 percent by 2025. For IT contracts, there will be a focus on normalization in solicitations, language, and evaluation criteria. We were encouraged to hear that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid listened to contractors’ concerns at industry day. We also enjoyed learning of President Biden’s PMA. Hearing that the agenda would be a new roadmap for ensuring an equitable, effective, and accountable federal government was reassuring. Biden’s PMA has three priorities:
- Strengthening and empowering the federal workforce.
- Delivering excellent, equitable, secure federal services and customer experience.
- Managing the business of government to build back better (i.e., advancing equity through procurement).
“We commend NCMA for a great learning session. There were many encouraging revelations, and we are eager to attend the next Lunch & Learn. We would also like to give a special thank you to Anita Allen, a true champion for small businesses – thank you for all you do! Thank you to NCMA for a wonderful event!” — Omeed Baghelai
