ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- Army Contracting Command-Rock Island was one of six organizations that earned an award from the 2014 Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Acquisition Award Programs. Melanie Johnson, ACC-RI executive director, Amy Hayden, ACC-RI civilian deputy director, and Michelle Breitbach, procurement analyst, accepted the award during a ceremony, Dec. 9 at the Pentagon.
A team within the ACC-RI Policy, Review and Compliance Branch received the Defense Acquisition Workforce bronze award for a large organization. This award recognizes ACC-RI as an organization that has proven its outstanding commitment and innovative efforts in developing and supporting the success of its acquisition professionals.
"This is truly a center-wide award," said Johnson. "Along with this team, ACC-RI also has talented contracting officers and specialists providing critical on-the-job training to the interns and newly assigned 51C soldiers."
ACC-Rock Island's Adelaide Tkatch, chief of the Policy, Review and Compliance Branch, led a team that included Michelle Blocker-Rosebrough, Michelle Breitbach, Karen Gatton-Zarn, Myrna Dowell, Gene Harrison, Lynn Burris, Sarah Herrera and Beth Nowack.
"We are extremely honored to have won this award," said Tkatch. "It was truly a team effort. Many individuals put in a lot of time and effort to ensure that our workforce -- both interns and journeyman contract specialists -- receive the training and the tools that they need to get the job done in accordance with regulations and policies."
The team won the award in recognition of the focused training, education and developmental opportunities they created and provided to more than 40 interns at ACC-RI, as well as ensuring that the existing workforce received training and educational opportunities to enhance their skills and abilities.
According to the award nomination, the team's subject matter experts bolstered the entire workforce by identifying the root causes of performance deficiencies, developing corrective action plans, and instituting initiatives to address quality issues. Some examples of their efforts include:
- Procurement Management Reviews: The team developed and implemented an internal control initiative aimed at institutional quality improvement and efficiency gains. The resulting program provides for the periodic internal review of contract files and documents after award, analysis of the data obtained from these reviews, and preparation of training and/or templates that would improve contract specialist performance. This plan was approved by the ACC-RI executive director, and the first branch PMR was completed in April 2014.
- Contract usage templates: Knowing that consistency and standardization will improve the quality of contract files across the workforce, the team developed templates for key contract actions. These templates were well-received by the workforce, as they provided the necessary tools to make their jobs easier, while facilitating speed and accuracy in performing contracting functions.
- Government Purchase Card training: Ensuring the GPC program managed by ACC-RI is in compliance with the regulations, the team developed and delivered refresher training to the cardholder community. Among other topics, the training focused on differentiation between proper and improper uses of the GPC.
Breitbach, a procurement analyst who helped lead the training effort, said the curriculum was developed by ACC headquarters a few years ago and the ACC-RI team has continuously worked to update, enhance, and supplement the material.
"Our guest speakers -- ranging from specialists and procuring contracting officers to division chiefs and subject matter experts -- have added a broad depth of experience and samples making it more relatable and retainable," said Breitbach. "Accepting this award on behalf of everyone at ACC-RI was truly an extraordinary honor. I'm excited and motivated to develop more great training and helpful tools for the ACC-RI workforce."
Social Sharing