Army Contracting Director Touts Communication and Balance for Procurement

The chapter held its October luncheon at the beautiful Top of the Bay venue, located on the water at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD. Kenyata Wesley, director of the Army Contracting Command (ACC) at APG, delivered the guest speaker presentation. Wesley emphasized his desire for increased documented communication between ACC and the contractor community. To help make this a reality, he has implemented quarterly Industry Days, giving members of industry the chance to meet with ACC officials to ask questions and discuss their challenges. These Industry Days are also supplemented by Industry Forecasts, a detailed look at the ACC opportunity pipeline, released every 30 days on the Federal Business Opportunities website, to offer complete transparency between ACC and industry. APG's reliance on the contracting community continues to grow with each passing year. Last fiscal year, ACC issued 30,000 contracting actions, modifications and new work, totaling $14 billion in obligations. Although Wesley recognized contractor concerns on lagging lead times for procurement, he discussed the many things that companies can do to help speed up this process, as evaluations are delayed most by holes in proposals. He advised companies to avoid imbalanced pricing and to use their protests wisely. Most importantly, Wesley urged them to partner with other organizations that add complementary skills to their team, as a balanced approach in a proposal can help the government make a decision faster. Finally, Wesley entertained a rigorous question and answer session from the audience. In addition to the guest presentation, this luncheon featured a small business presentation by Rob Reichelmann of T2S Solutions. The luncheon concluded with a special presentation by Bill Dunahoo, regional vice president, Maryland Region, who presented Mike Bowen, former chapter president, with a Meritorious Service Award from AFCEA International. The chapter would like to say congratulations on your well-deserved honors, Mike!

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