Government Contracts Blog

Once and awhile I come across some real cool tools to help find where all the big money is going. A tool on nextgov.com allows you to see where all the money is spent. The data is compiled by Eagle Eye, one of the premier data providers in the Federal contracting space. You can actually find data on where federal dollars are spent on information technology throughout the country - either by state, congressional district, or by contractor. Just go to www.nextgov.com/itspend and start seeing where it is all going. A great tool if you want to start a federal business.

Lockheed Martin Corp. was recently awarded a contract to oversee the inventory and distribution of automotive parts used on all U.S. military ground vehicles under a Defense Logistics Agency contract potentially worth $5.6 billion over 10 years.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will manage the supply chain that ensures delivery of maintenance and replacement automotive parts to warfighters in set periods of time. According to Lockheed, many of the suppliers are small businesses.

While the government often takes a bad rap for waste, poor contract management and inefficent operations, once in awhile it deserves a pat on the back. An example of smart government is the Air Force Installation Acquisition Transformation initiative (IAT). IAT is a comprehensive restructuring of the Air Force continental U.S. installation acquisition practices. Under the transformation, the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will head five geographically-based installation acquisition groups as follows: Northeast (Hampton Roads) Southeast (Warner Robbins) Midwest (St Louis) Southwest (San Antonio) and Northwest (Colorado Springs)

While the proposed IAT implementation schedule had been pushed back, the Air Force's current goal is to have 50% of contracting activities transferred to regional centers by the summer of FY 2010. Complete implementation will take between 3-5 years.