Strategic Acquisition Forum February 17, 2010 WELCOME

1. Strategic Acquisition ForumFebruary 17, 2010WELCOME

2. Strategic Acquisition Forum February 17, 2010 Good afternoon!! And welcome to the Department’s first Strategic Acquisition Forum. My name is Debra Sonderman. You may know me as the person who signs your FAC-C certificates, or who sends you reminders to take charge card training. I’m the Director of the Office of Acquisition and Property Management, and the Senior Procurement Executive for the Department. Today is an experiment for us in conducting distance learning. I want to thank the wonderful staff at the National Conservation Training Center for hosting us today, and for their excellent advice and support in structuring today’s web training. I hope you will be patient with us as we go through the day and develop our own skills in using this technology. I also want to thank our great staff in the Office of Acquisition and Property Management who pulled together to make this event possible. I am especially grateful to Melodee Stith, my Associate Director for Acquisition and Financial Assistance, and her staff members Cindy Maltby, Brigitte Meffert, Armenda Daye, Pia Scott and Brian Heath, and my chief of staff, Kathy Bender. Many other people helped us get this organized and are helping with the delivery – thank you! I also thank each of you for taking time from your very busy schedules to participate in this training. Our agenda today is focused on how we can improve acquisition at the Department, while making sure we continue to support vital activities like our small business program and the Recovery Act. You will be hearing from experts in those programs, interest based negotiations, strategic sourcing, and later on we’ll go through some of the details of our acquisition improvement plan. We have two very special guests – the Honorable Daniel Gordon, Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and my boss, Pam Haze. Pam has been serving in a dual role as the Director of Budget and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget and Business Management. We’ve recently reorganized under the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, so Pam has a new title, Deputy Assistant Secretary – Budget, Finance, Performance and Acquisition.