Acquisition Excellence 2024 Awards

Acquisition Excellence Individual Award

David Capone, Acquisitions Program Manager, HQ USAFE-AFAFRICA/A8I

USAFE-AFAFRICA had to replace its 30-year-old air traffic control radars with a modernized system capable of adapting to the growing presence of China and an evolving security landscape in Africa. The traditional acquisition approach had delayed progress by three years – a new approach was needed. Mr. Capone was open to innovation and utilized strategies from the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations: he communicated affordability constraints to vendors, had one-on-one meetings with the vendors who could meet the budget and technical requirements, utilized a show-me, not tell-me approach with demonstrations, implemented an innovative self-scoring evaluation approach, and simplified the documentation requirements. Using these techniques, Mr. Capone achieved successful mission results within budget and delivered critical radar capability to the warfighter in record time.

Acquisition Excellence Team Award

Mohammed Huda and team, Program Manager, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Office of Strategic Facility & Master Planning

Team: Kayla Walker-Heltzel 

Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles was in crisis in 2020 when many veterans were forced onto the streets in an unsafe encampment that was a public health hazard. VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) embarked on a groundbreaking endeavor – the Care, Treatment and Rehabilitative Services Program (CTRS). Because VA has no authority to purchase or build housing on its own, it had to get creative and the VAGLAHS team created a partnership with community stakeholders who donated a number of permanent, climate-controlled tiny shelters where veterans could stay. This was just the beginning. A productive relationship with the Network Contracting Office facilitated collaborative program management and facility coordination which was critical in achieving successful contract execution and oversight. The role of contractors and community partners for procurement has become increasingly important in this program. These critical partnerships provide access to bathroom, shower and laundry facilities; regular meal service and common areas for dining and community building; case management and direct connection to VA services; 24/7 security; and more with further improvements to the site being added on a regular basis. Due to the successes of this innovative initiative, VA is looking at implementing CTRS in other communities across the U.S. as part of its efforts to end veteran homelessness nationwide.

Program Management Excellence Award

Dana King, Chief of Contract Operations, DFAS

The Department of Defense Overseas Military Banking Program (OMBP) requires a U.S. financial institution to operate 60 overseas banking facilities located on U.S. installations outside of the United States.   This critical program not only provides banking services to U.S. service members overseas but operates as an important element in the department’s disbursing network.  For nearly 60 years, one contractor performed this service.  Two years ago, the incumbent notified the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) contracting activity that it would no longer be supporting this billion-dollar program. Ms. King utilized creative techniques to mitigate the risk of a gap in mission-critical services, minimize cost increases associated with transitioning to a new contractor, and capitalize upon resources to reduce the learning curve associated with the transition. For example, she simultaneously negotiated a contract extension with the incumbent contractor and a Phase 1 award with the successor contractor. During the Phase 1 award, the successor contractor gained a better understanding of several aspects of the service operations that allowed for a reduction in costs. Ms. King also brought in the Navy Price Fighters for pricing support. As a result of her efforts, Ms. King saved $286M in contract performance costs, $34.3M in appropriated dollars in fixed fee, and ensured the successful transition of the Overseas Military Banking Program for thousands of service members worldwide.

Small Business Individual Award

Derek Beavers, Director, Acquisitions, USDA - Farm Production and Conservation Business Center

USDA asked the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area to increase small business (SB) goaling by 38% to enable the department to meet overall SB goals. As the FPAC Director, Acquisitions, Derek Beavers needed to find unique and creative ways to increase awards to Small Businesses. Derek’s efforts included piloting the expanded use of the Government Purchase Card for certain eligible purchases up to $25K, including easement title search reports, which reduced the time to complete title searches by 50% and expanded the pool of expert reviewers; establishing an FPAC Marketplace on the NASA SEWP website which expedited computer monitor purchases from four HUBZone SBs, transitioning the work for environmental database searches to SBs, and establishing an SB coordinator, which has increased both outreach and awards to SBs. During FY 2023, FPAC exceeded all Department SB goals and sub-goals by as much as 68%. The SB coordinator received the USDA Secretary’s award for innovative approaches to constantly evolving business practices resulting in exceeding the SB goals.

Small Business Team Award

HHS OSDBU, Shannon Jackson, and DOI OSDBU, Colleen Finnegan, and their teams. 

HHS team members: Arielle Douglas, Jonathan Ferguson, Santiago Almaraz 

DOI team members: Chanel Williams, LaRoy Williams, 

In FY 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was mandated under the Buy Indian Act to achieve a goal of 22% for procuring supplies and services from qualified Native American vendors. To address this mandate, the HHS Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), in collaboration with IHS, and in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), took a significant step forward by hosting the inaugural Buy Indian Industry Day on April 25, 2023. The event, held in Rockville, Maryland, was a landmark initiative that bridged the gap between HHS and DOI acquisition and program offices and Native-owned small businesses. For fiscal year 2023, HHS achieved 30.6% of its procurement spending with qualified Native American firms, exceeding the 22% target by 8.6%. HHS’ total prime contract spend with American Indian, Native American, Indian Tribe, and Tribally owned small businesses reached $433.9 million – a notable increase of $110 million compared to fiscal year 2022.