BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
For acquisition professionals within the Defense Logistics Agency, the Hart-Dole-Inouye building in Battle Creek, Michigan, was ground zero for two days of working alongside of peers and senior leadership discussing best practices, common issues and reviewing performance levels as part of the Senior Procurement Executive and Head of Contracting Activity Summit.
“I think this is a great event that we’re doing,” said DLA Acquisitions Deputy Director George Atwood III. “We’re trying to do these at least twice a year. I think it’s important that we get a chance to come together in this kind of environment and talk about some hot topic areas and have some good dialogue.”
Over the course of the two-day event, participants assessed regulations, developed effective plans of action for process improvements and further advanced the agency’s capabilities.
“Some of it is a compliance review,” explained Matthew Beebe, the DLA Acquisitions Director. “But more importantly it’s ‘how do we – as an enterprise – get better?’, and to me that second part is the more important part than the review. My goal is ‘how do we continue to advance as an enterprise’ across all of DLA.”
Attendees came from different areas of the country to participate in person and the benefits of collaboration were evident.
“Having face-to-face meetings with our acquisition leadership and peers at forums like this summit presents a great opportunity to better understand the challenges facing all levels of the government, our customers and the DLA Enterprise,” said Disposition Services Contracting Director Tracy Hart. “Together, with end-to-end contract management, increased communication and process discipline, we can better serve the Warfighter and our workforce. They deserve nothing but the best.”
The summit covered topics ranging from industry engagement, contract support and public sales – which allowed Public Sales Division Chief Carlos Torres to bring lessons learned back to his team.
“The summit was very successful,” said Torres. “What I learned was how we can take some of the Federal Acquisition Regulation contracting principles and policies and apply them to public sales in the name of auditing and standardization.”
For those in attendance, it was a chance to discuss best practices and gain insight on how their day-to-day duties can have far reaching effects across the agency.
“The most beneficial part of the summit for me was learning how our work at Disposition Services impacts and makes a difference through collaboration of the Major Subordinate Commands at all levels,” said Adrianne Gelletich, a Disposition Services procurement analyst.
Gelletich also said that she appreciated sharing knowledge and gaining new ideas from her peers and finds it invaluable during her daily interactions with customers.