Corporate Contracting Around Corner

The General Services Administration plans to unveil its "corporate contracting" concept within the next two months, a top government official said last week. This concept will allow holders of more than one GSA schedule to consolidate their schedules under one contract and more easily add new products and services, said William Gormley, assistant commissioner of the Office of Acquisition for GSA's Federal Supply Service.Companies could begin consolidating their schedules as soon as January or February 2000, Gormley said at a Fairfax County, Va., Chamber of Commerce luncheon."Once we unveil the model, we will be going to companies with more than one schedule and begin walking them through the process," he said.Many companies hold separate schedules for professional engineering services, IT services, financial services and consulting services. With corporate contracting, an agency that needs to buy more than one of those services from the same contractor can do so through a single contract rather than multiple contracts, Gormley said. Corporate contracting also will allow companies to win 20-year contracts, he said. "We believe competition within the industry will keep prices down," he said. GSA's inspector general office has some concerns about the concept, but they will be worked out, Gormley said. "My fallback position is that we have a 30-day cancellation clause for either side, so if there are problems you can't resolve, you can just cancel the contract."