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Weekly Roundup Aug 17 – Aug 21 2015: Sequestration Discussion Resurfaces, American Systems’ Latest Acquisition & more


Weekly Roundup
Aug 17 – Aug 21 2015

A Note From Our President & Founder Jim Garrettson

The specter of potential sequestration cuts in fiscal year 2016 — which starts Sept. 30 — surfaced again this week in a letter signed by all 46 Democratic senators and comments from a former Federal Reserve chairman.

In that letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate Democratic Caucus asked for new bipartisan budget talks to start “as soon as possible” with two months left in the current fiscal year.

Congress returns from its August state work period 23 days before FY 2015 ends and the U.S. would go “to the brink of another crisis” if lawmakers wait until then to start talks, the letter says.

Also this week, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered his perspective on the potential impacts of sequestration to the larger U.S. economy.

Bernanke, now a Brookings Institution fellow, said the U.S. should make greater efforts to look at its deficit in a longer-run context and the shorter-term sequestration cuts may have created more costs to preparedness and from canceled programs in the middle of their cycles.

“In the end, in thinking about the size of the military and our resource expenditures, we need to think about our foreign policy goals, the threats we might faces, the capacities we need to develop and ultimately, of course, the long-term budget constraints that we do face, ” he said.

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Time is running out to reserve your seat at the Potomac Officers Club‘s next “CIO Speaker Series” event Sept. 2, which will feature Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu as the keynote.

Shyu holds the title of assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology and acts as the Army’s acquisition executive, senior procurement executive, science adviser to the branch’s secretary and serves as the Army’s senior research and development official.

Chris Hamm, head of the General Services Administration’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center, is scheduled to speak on Sept. 24.

Hamm leads a GSA organization that works with other federal agencies to carry out large information technology or professional services projects.

Additionally, we are looking forward to the POC’s 2015 Cybersecurity Summit onOct. 15 with Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, lined up as the headline speaker.

Click here to sign up for these events and view POC’s full calendar.

THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS STORIES

American Systems Buys EM Business Holdings; Peter Smith Comments
EMBH has 150 employees and provides information technology, engineering and professional services to federal agencies.
Tom Sechler: MicroPact Merges with Iron Data for Gov’t BPM Market Push
The combined company will operate under the MicroPact name and have 600 workers in the U.S., Canada and the Philippines.
Eric Wieman Joins A-TEK as COO, EVP
The former STG senior VP will oversee corporate development functions in his new role at A-TEK.
Robert McCord Joins Octo Consulting as President, COO
The 28-year information technology veteran previously held the same titles at 2020 Company, which merged into Acentia in 2012.
Guest Post: Susan Penfield on How to Build, Foster a ‘Culture of Innovation’
Penfield, a Booz Allen Hamilton senior VP, pens op-ed article for ExecutiveBiz on industry-customer collaborations to create new technologies and ideas.
Air Force Picks 22 Companies for $490M Contract Under ‘Agile Acquisition’ Program
Thirteen large businesses and nine small businesses will compete to perform pre-program work for the branch under the five-year IDIQ contract .
HHS Awards 124 Spots on Potential $500M Program Support Center Services IDIQ
The department selected 62 large businesses and 62 small businesses for the potential 10-year vehicle.
AECOM Adds Army Depot Logistics Support Task Order; Randy Wotring Comments
The company received the potential three-year, $92 million order for work at the Corpus Christi Army Depot through the GSA’s LOGWORLD schedule.
Tom Keane: Microsoft’s Azure Govt Cloud Adds 4 Federal Certifications
The new designations include one under the FedRAMP program, another from DISA and others for healthcare and tax information usage.
GSA Issues Human Capital, Training Service GWAC Solicitations
GSA has partnered with OPM to start the vehicles in search of vendors to help agencies train and develop staff and to manage organizational performance.
CBO: FY 2015 Defense, Nondefense Appropriations Below Sequestration Caps
The Congressional Budget Office says a sequester cut will not be required to bring total discretionary spending below required budget caps.
Michael Poth Named FirstNet CEO, TJ Kennedy Appointed President
Poth and Kennedy will lead the First Responder Network Authority’s efforts to manage the solicitation process for a national emergency services network.
James Trainor Appointed FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director
The 19-year bureau veteran elevates to this role from assistant director of the FBI’s cyber operations branch.

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