Center Director Requested

GCA Feedback For GoddardJuly 2015

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In the Fall of 2014, the Goddard Center Director asked the GCA Community for feedback on “How the Center is Doing”

GCA Feedback Goals

1. Capture GCA feedback on what members think GSFC does well and what GSFC could do better2. Present Center Director aggregated feedback in a collaborative, constructive, and informative interactive

conversation3. Receive perspectives / feedback from the Center Director

Objectives

1. Complete a comprehensive data gathering effort to reflect GCA constituents perspectives2. Capture and communicate open, honest feedback of all participating constituents3. Support interactive discussion with Center Director in constructive and inclusive manner4. Establish a repeatable process for future opportunities to keep the dialogue going

Scope

1. Full GCA membership participation2. Topics: Organization demographics, perspectives on Procurement, Contract Implementation, Communication

and Other Topics of Interest

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Who Responded to the Survey?

• The GCA is comprised of 67 member organizations, equally split between large and small• Thirty-six member organizations responded to the GCA Survey

47% of the responding organizations are classified as large businesses by number of employees

Close to 40% of the respondents have more than 100 staff working on a Goddard contract (including

GSFC, WFF, IV&V Facility, WSC and GISS)

Number of employees Number of employees working on a Goddard contract

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Who Responded to the Survey? (continued)

6 firms

3 firms

1 firm

1 firm

7 firms

5 firms

17 firms

More than 50% of the respondents have a set-aside designation

Set-aside designation

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Procurement-related Areas – Top Feedback Themes1) Time drives Cost;

2) Goddard contracts has an unbalanced portfolio compared to community needs;

3) The community must have clear communication and execution against procurement schedule

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Procurement-related Areas ranked in order of importance to the Community

Answered: 31 Skipped: 5

Clear and Firm Procurement Schedule

Proactive Communication of Schedule Changes

Fairness of Source Selection Process

Quality of Procurement Documents and Materials

SOW Matching Proposal Requirements

Number of Small Business Categories Set-asides

The Number and Types of Contract at Goddard Reflect Business Community Portfolio of Various Sixed and Categorized Companies

Source Selection Board Composition and Conduct

Qualification of Source Selection Official

Answers Questions in a Timely Fashion

Number of individual vs "Bundled" Contracts

Requiring RFP responses that Provide the Needed Data to Make an Award Decision (e.g. Does Not Request More Data Than Needed)

Adequacy of Small Business Goals in Full and Open Acquisition Solicitations

Adequacy of Selection Decision Debriefing Process

Use of electronic materials instead of paper (e.g. procurement documents, proposal submittals)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

More ImportantLess Important

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Contract Implementation-related Areas – Top Feedback Themes1) Goddard needs to develop/invest in new talent;

2) Industry desires improved government monitoring of subcontract commitments;

3) There is currently the appropriate level of government involvement in contract staffing decisions

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Contracting Officers Monitoring Subcontracting Plans

Number of Required Deliveries (e.g. Paperwork Like Status Reports As Well As PM Reporting

Providing Contractors With Opportunities to Bring in New Talent/Interns to Build The Workforce Pipeline

Contracting Officers Interpreting And Applying Contract Requirements

Government Appropriately Involved in Contract Staffing Decisions

Task Orders on an IDIQ Are Treated Like An Individual Contract

Contracting Officers Implementing Corrective Measures When Contract Issues Arise

Adequately Qualified Civil Servants Filling Positions Previously Held by Contractors

0 1 2 3 4 5 6More ImportantLess Important

Contract Implementation-related Areas ranked in order of importance to the Community

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Communication-related Areas – Top Feedback Themes1) Excellent communication with and accessibility to Center Management;

2) Better communication with SBA could improve GSFCs Small Business Program;

3) Its important for industry to hear and understand actual future plans for the Center

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Accessibility to Key Goddard Management

Center Management Interaction With GCA

Procurement Interaction With Contractors

Contracting Officers Communication With Program Managers

Communication of Goddard's Future Plans For The Center to Industry

Communication of Goddard's Innovation Plans

Goddard's Interaction with SBA

Goddard Management Communication of Achievements on Measuring and Meeting Prime and Subcontracting Goals to the Contractor Community

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Communication-related Areas ranked in order of importance to the Community

More ImportantLess Important

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Other Areas of Interest – Top Feedback Themes1) Intern Fair is an excellent forum to pipeline new talent collaboratively with Goddard;

2) STEM outreach is critical and need to go beyond PG County and get in classrooms to educate;

3) Most companies want to support Center events but more often now have little budget to do so

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From all of the feedback captured through this effort, some stood out as most important to the GCA Community to address further

1. Understand any internal challenges with the Procurement Timeline process (e.g. external communication, ability to stick to schedule, difficulty in creating realistic timelines, etc…) and address the issue(s) accordingly

2. Look into how Goddard can better support business growth from small business to mid-size business. Ideally, there would be a progression of 8(a), SB, and F&O contracts of varying sizes so companies could move along as they grow in size and skills. For instance, GSFC could consider no longer making large contracts, those over $100M total contract value, set-asides. Instead issue more procurements to SBs of smaller size, e.g. under $50M total contract value

3. Explore how other centers manage/enforce primes meeting teammate commitments and determine how Goddard can better support the subcontracting community’s needs

Suggestions for Government Consideration