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GSA’s System for Award Management (SAM) was always intended to integrate the full menu of the government’s online contracting award systems. But after a rocky launch of Phase 1 in 2012, there has been little mention of plans to fold in the additional components—until now.

On Tuesday (Nov. 15), GSA’s Integrated Award Environment (IAE) Office shared its development process and design framework for integration of all 10 legacy award systems, as well as FBO, FPDS, CFDA, WDOL, and systems for reporting sub-awards and past performance, into a modernized, single system—the new SAM.gov. The briefing was a “30,000 ft” presentation to convey the overall

vision for SAM.gov, including how the new website will be laid out, what the main features will be and how they fit together, and how the legacy systems will be mapped into the new blueprint. They provided all participants with the presentation slides and the speakers notes—which are a MUST READ for all PTAC counselors . Additional FAQs will be issued later this week. APTAC will keep you posted on all developments in this exciting and important initiative.

Big Changes Coming to SAM!

Every Wednesday at 1pm (eastern), GSA offers training to new GSA vendors on how to use SIP: Schedule Input Program. SIP is the proprietary software used by GSA's Vendor Support Center to allow GSA vendors to upload copies of their contracts (in pdf format) and their individual product listings onto the GSA Advantage e-commerce website. Vendors must download and understand how to use this software so their product listings are visible to potential federal contracting officers on the e-commerce site. Historically, this training has been only available to GSA schedule holders, but GSA has now extended an invitation to PTAC Counselors to participate. They need only go into the Vendor Support Center at https://vsc.gsa.gov/training/ , select the Sign Up button, click on the date they want to take the training, and then register. In the Contract Number Field enter: gs00f0000a.

GSA vendor training on SIP—now open to PTACers

November 17, 2016

CONTRACTING NEWS:

Small Business Gets Second Op-portunity for Data Intelligence System DOD Cybersecurity Final Rule Explained More Changes to GSA Making It Easier Initiative

New Rule to Impact Efficiency of Procurement Process?

8(a) Joint Venture Regulations

Revised

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VA OSDBU, in conjunction with MyVA principles, is modifying its programs, procedures, processes, and policies in an effort to increase Veteran customer service, enhance the Veterans' experience and become more Veteran-centric. As part of this initiative, CVE is offering to provide a “MyVA Verification Process” presentation at PTAC Conferences/Events that are projected to have an attendance of 30 or more Veterans. CVE’s Verification Support Team is using every available resource to educate our Veteran Business Owners on the MyVA Verification Process. You can request their participation at your event by filling out a conference invitation request form and emailing it to verificationCounselor@va.gov. Verification Counselors may direct any questions or concerns to your Verification Support Liaison at (202) 632-9099 or email verificationcounselor@va.gov.

Host a MyVA Verification Process event for your clients!

Many of APTAC’s most senior members hold APTAC’s Certified Contracting Assistance Specialist (CCAS) Certification—the “Level 3” (most advanced) of our legacy program. CCAS requirements included formal education, training, PTAC or related experience, and successful performance on an exam. As a result, most CCAS Certificants have already met the majority of the requirements for APTAC’s Certified Procurement Professional (CPP) certification. Nearly 2/3 of the CPP’s Core Training requirements and all of the Elective requirements are considered fulfilled by the CCAS. Capability verification must still be completed, but CCAS holders will be able to easily demonstrate most, if not all, of those skills. And all have far more than the 2 years experience counseling small businesses on government contracting issues. So if you hold a CCAS, consider becoming CPP certified as well. You can hold both certifications concurrently, and maintain them with the same 10 ATCs per year. To find out how close you are, follow these steps (also on the APTAC website):

Request an APTAC Certification Transcript by sending an email to: atc@aptac-us.org. Download the CPP Core Training log. Go through the log, noting the requirements already fulfilled by the CPP (details are on the form, in red) and adding training you’ve completed from your transcript, based on BOK topic. This should allow you to easily identify any gaps (you may not have any!) Download the Capability Verification form. Look through it to see if you have any areas of weakness. Make arrangements with a Program Manager to verify your skills.

See the APTAC website for full details on the CPP, including Application Instructions. We hope many of you will choose to add this credential to your resume!

Attention CCAS Certificants: Go for the CPP!

November 17, 2016

APRIL 10—14, 2017 AT THE MANCHESTER GRAND HYATT IN SAN DIEGO, CA The Call for Presentations for APTAC’s 2017 Spring Training Conference has been posted to the APTAC website. With the theme “Innovation for Tomorrow’s Procurement World,” we are seeking excep-tional speakers who can address how businesses can find a door into the government, what creative procurement approaches work in the government marketplace, and how Procurement Technical As-sistance Centers (PTACs) can support the shift in focus to innovation. Please forward the call on to experts who you feel could bring value to our conference. Make your hotel reservations now! Registration at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego is now open. Room rates are $133/night for a single/double, available up to 3 nights before and after the Conference. Conference Registration will be available by December 1st. Watch our Conference page for more information.

2017 Spring Training Conference—Don’t miss it!

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It was a fabulous four days—learning and sharing with over 260 colleagues, taking advantage of 21 training sessions led by experts from government and the private sector as well as several experienced PTAC professionals. Many thanks to our exhibitors and spon-sors for their support and the opportunity to learn about the terrific resources they offer for our clients. Presentation slides for most of the 2016 Fall Conference sessions have been posted to APTAConnect and linked to our Conference Presentation Archive. If you missed the conference—or missed a session—or just want to go back for review, please feel free to download them or view them on the website at any time. Training credits for session attendance are being added to your professional development profiles this week. For those who attended, please complete our Conference Evaluation survey if you’ve not yet done so. Your feedback is essential to allow us to develop the best possible training to meet your needs. Everyone who completes the survey and provides their name at the end will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon Echo.

Thanks for a great Fall Training Conference!

Past Performance Information (PPI) is information submitted with the offeror’s proposal, contractors’ references, contractor report cards, survey data, or other data available to the source selection authority. PPI is critical for source selection and essential to ensure enhanced performance on existing contracts. Also, PPI can be a motivating factor for contractors for future source selections. This BOK topic incorporates methods of obtaining PPI, sources of PPI, performance assessment elements, business sectors and elements, collection threshholds and contract performance standards, the past performance evaluation process, performance assessment reports and the Past Perfromance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). Read Description

See Full Body of Knowledge

BOK Feature: C.4 Past Performance Process and Reporting Procedures

November 17, 2016

A warm, warm welcome to the Kentucky PTAC, our newest Organization member, and Program Manager Darrall Henderson. Many of us enjoyed meeting Darrall at the Fall Conference in Washington, DC, and we look forward to working with him and his staff in the months and years to come. Value of PSC vs. Teaming relationship on a Capability Statement: A few weeks ago, Cindy Roberts posed this question to APTAConnect’s Best Practices in Counseling group. A lot of great advice was posted in response, including a link to the DPAP’s PSC look-up tool (heads-up, you’ll need to add a security exception because it’s a DoD site) and the reminder to research exactly what your target agency wants to see. Click here to read and learn. Team Watson is recruiting! We still have a few more weeks remaining in our Watson project—plenty of time to learn, contribute, and earn a Tshirt! Click here to visit our Watson page and submit some Question-Answer-Citation/Passage triplets!

APTAC Welcomes:

Joel Ayala and Sabra Purifoy,

Los Angelas County PTAC

Frank Crisostomo-Kaaihue,

Guam PTAC

Lindsay Frey,

Alabama PTAC

Aaron Vigil-Martinez

Indiana PTAC

Inside APTAC—Member notes

Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers 360 Sunset Island Trail, Gallatin, TN 37066

Phone: 615-268-6644

Copyright 2016 by the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. All rights reserved.