Commerce in the spotlight at next WT industry day
By
Nick Wakeman
Our next WT Industry on March 22 puts the focus on the Commerce Department and its $2.3 billion budget. Senior agency officials will discuss procurement, competition and small business opportunities.
Our next WT Industry Day on the Commerce Department has developed into a must-attend event if you want to do business with this agency. We’ve put together a strong lineup of agency executives.
The half-day event will be at the Marriot Fairview Park in Falls Church, Va., on March 22. Registration and breakfast opens at 7:40 and the program kicks off with an opening session by Barry Berkowitz, senior procurement executive and director of acquisition management for Commerce.
Following Berkowitz is LaJuene Desmukes, the director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. When you consider Commerce has an IT budget of $2.3 billion, you can bet that small business contracting plays a significant role in how that budget is spent.
It is important to note that Commerce has several large component agencies and we’ll be hearing from several of those as well.
Scott Palmer, director of procurement for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will talk about contracting opportunities at PTO.
Keith Bubar, contracting office and acting team leader for the NIST acquisition management division, will describe the competitive landscape.
And finally, Michael Palensky, chief of the acquisition division for the U.S. Census Bureau, will speak. The bureau, of course, is gearing up for the decennial census, so expect him to talk about those opportunities.
Unfortunately, I won’t be at this industry day because our schools are closed next week for spring break. This will be the first industry day I’ve missed since we launched this program last year. This will be the ninth or 10th one we’ve produced.
I’ll miss hearing the questions the attendees ask. That’s always a highlight for me because it’s a great indicator about what is on your mind and that – probably more than the answers – helps me do my job better.
Filling in for me as moderator will be former Washington Technology Editor Steve Le Sueur – yes, my old boss. Make sure he asks some good questions and if he tells any stories about me, they are probably only half true.
Click here for more information and to register for the event.