Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Acquisitions and LogisticsSupplier Relationship Transformation – Annual Webinar

I. Background Information for the Event:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is soliciting Supplier participation in this fiscal year’s Supplier Relationship Transformation (SRT) Webinar. The SRT initiative is a part of VA’s broader effort to transform the end-to-end acquisition process which will capitalize on industry expertise as an effort to improve the VA acquisition process as a whole.

During the webinar, VA acquisition leadership will brief Supplier participants on collective feedback from the Supplier community and internal VA Program Offices in the past year about what is and what is not working with VA’s acquisition and procurement processes. VA will report a summary of findings from the feedback collection efforts and address what has been done, what is currently being done, and what VA will continue to do in the future to address this feedback. VA acquisition leadership will address specific issues and concerns expressed by the Supplier community.

General Supplier concerns include:

• Communications and response times;

• Process timelines and modifications issues;

• VA organizational alignment (National Acquisition Center, Strategic Acquisition Center); and

• Training (Contracting Officer and Supplier).

The following list displays which VA Acquisition representatives will brief Suppliers on specific topics:

Maurice Stewart
Office of Acquisition and Logistics
SRT/Surveys Update

C. Ford Heard
Office of Policy, Systems, and Oversight
Subcontracting Compliance Review Program

Iris Cooper
Office of Acquisition Operations
Strategic Acquisition Center Update

Tom Leney
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Process

Craig Robinson
National Acquisition Center
Federal Supply Schedule Update

Susan Taylor
Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
FedBid and/or other topics of interest for VHA suppliers

Lisa Doyle
VA Acquisition Academy (VAAA)
VAAA Update

Dave Schettler
National Cemetery Administration (NCA)
Topics of interest for NCA suppliers

II. Objectives of the Event: 

• Educate Suppliers on past, current, and future SRT activities, direct results of Supplier feedback, collective Supplier concerns, and visible improvements to VA’s acquisition lifecycle.

• Provide Suppliers across the country with the opportunity to ask questions directly to VA acquisition leadership, and receive real-time responses.

• Build and strengthen the rapport between concerned Suppliers and VA acquisition representatives.

VI. How to Register:

If you would like to attend the webinar, please register at l http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=412386&s=1&k=88CC08A11D918B6987239CBE89A7BEE5 by5:00 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, March 11, 2012. Only the first 500 registrants will be able to attend and participate in the webinar.

This is not a solicitation.  Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response.  This notice does not constitute a commitment by the United States Government.