Employees recognized for exceptional acquisition work

Four federal employees were honored on Tuesday for excellence in acquisition. The awards, given at an event sponsored by the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and the Federal Acquisition Institute, are part of an effort to acknowledge top-notch procurement work.

"The very, very few of our colleagues who took the wrong path and did things they shouldn't and were aggressively prosecuted, we all know that gets a lot of publicity," said Paul A. Denett, administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's procurement policy shop. "But I knew since I came from the ranks that for every rare bad apple like that there are thousands and thousands … who are just doing some wonderful things. We needed to do more to bring attention to that and recognition for those people so they could have a moment to shine for their good work."

Patrick Quigley, contracting chief in the Defense Logistic Agency's Defense Supply Center, won a Chief Acquisition Officers Council Acquisition Excellence Award for managing the Defense Department's $850 million National Prime Vendor program, which supports the TRICARE mail order pharmacy initiative. Quigley is credited with saving the government $125 million annually with his supply-chain distribution strategy and effective management of the national prime vendor business model.

LaTonya Richardson, procurement analyst in Treasury Department's Office of Procurement Policy on the small business and reporting team, was recognized for her efforts in writing, developing and implementing the Internal Revenue Service's buy green plan. Richardson instated a formal Affirmative Purchasing Plan for green procurement, developed clauses to be included in solicitations and contracts, and promoted the program.

The Defense Contract Management Agency's mine-resistant ambush-protected team won the final 2008 Chief Acquisition Officers Council award. The team was charged in May 2007 with delivering 4,000 vehicles to military personnel abroad in response to escalating improvised explosive devise threats. The team accelerated the development, manufacturing and delivery of armored vehicles for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, delivering more than 5,000 vehicles in less than a year.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation Team award, which goes to an individual who significantly contributed to making the FAR clear, effective, timely and well-written, went to Deborah Erwin from the General Services Administration. As an attorney adviser, Erwin worked with the FAR law team, acquisition strategy team and policy analysts on a number of regulatory changes to sections ranging from combating human trafficking to the contractor code of ethics.

Tuesday's awards are part of the Shine initiative, created by Denett. The effort incorporates and expands on existing award programs and showcases best practices. An index on the FAI Web site highlights the procurement approaches award winners and nominees took.

Shine has recognized more than a dozen individuals and teams for their accomplishments in helping agencies meet their mission while ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. Denett said the number of nominations for the 2008 awards was almost double that in 2007.

Nominations are evaluated on three criteria -- excellence, impact and innovation. The team or individual must have demonstrated excellent results that exceeded original expectations, the effort must have provided significant value to the agency, and the nominees must have used innovative practices to achieve their objectives and disseminated these practice to others for future use.