Advanced Contract Administration Brief Overview:With the increasing pressure on the federal government to make contractors more accountable, a growing response has been to enlist the support of a team of technical & procurement personnel with ever greater frequency. These persons are being asked to do a wider array of contract administration functions as well as becoming more knowledgeable about how contractors are selected.  

Advanced COR (Level III) - COR Duties, Functions & Responsibilities Brief Overview:Technical personnel play a vital role in acquiring equipment, systems, and support services by contract for the Government.  As the complexity of an acquisition increases, so do the oversight, management and leadership roles of the COR increase.  

A Team Approach To Migrating From CP to FP Brief Overview: In accordance with the President’s initiative to reduce the use of high-risk contracting authorities, such as cost reimbursement (CR) contracts, agencies are seeking to reduce their use of CR and T&M contracts. However, the acquisition workforce, particularly Integrated Solutions Team (the individuals making up the requirements package) will need training to make this transition.  

Basic Contract AdministrationBrief Overview:The critical area for the success of any Government contract is the contractor's performance. Most attempts to define, in advance, a portfolio of evaluation techniques and duties which reflect the purchase have been few and far between. This four-day course seeks to "close the gaps" in doing a stronger job of ensuring the agency gets what it is paying for from its vendors and suppliers.  

Contracting Principles for CORs & Program/Project Managers Brief Overview: Understanding government contract law is the lynchpin to being an effective contract and program management professional. This course will help you avoid the most common legal mistakes and facilitate compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Without this understanding you expose yourself and your organization to possible legal entanglements.  

Construction Contracting Series: Federal Construction Contracting for Small Businesses Brief Overview: In today’s economic environment, the private contracting marketing is becoming increasingly competitive. Many contractors are struggling to win projects only to discover that a successful bid brings little to no reward, a result of increasingly thin margins due to cutthroat competition. In response to this no-win situation, more and more contractors are turning to the federal arena, unprepared to navigate this often confusing and complex environment.  

Construction Contracting Series: Marketing To The Federal Government for Construction and A/E Firms Brief Overview: Entering the federal construction market can be a great opportunity, especially if your firm qualifies as a disadvantaged entity as determined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) -- HUBZone, 8(a), WOB, SDVOSB. Unfortunately, many small businesses discover that their success in the federal market is meager at best. Even if you qualify for a disadvantaged designation by the SBA, there are no guarantees you will “make it” in the federal contracting arena.  

COR - Advanced Brief Overview: Agency Programs have posed the need for more effective acquisition activity. To ensure that the contracts awarded are successfully performed, stronger agency insight and capability is essential from the start. This 24 hour class is focused to "level-up" all participants' understanding and insights to monitor/problem solve to successfully meet the current challenges facing the management of these contracts & task orders.  

COR Re-Certification Brief Overview: All agencies appoint representatives of the contracting officer whose job is to evaluate how well the contractor is fulfilling the contract. Yet, obtaining timely teaming effort from the contractor and procurement representatives alike is a challenge. This three-day forum is organized to give Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) a direct opportunity to discover better ways of communicating in resolving  

Contractors in the Government Workplace - Managing the Blended Workforce Brief Overview: THE SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION of service-based contracting in the Federal workplace has required that government managers possess greater knowledge of contract administration practices and basic familiarity with the rules and regulations governing the operations of blended government-contractor workforces.  

Contracting Officers Representative (COR) Level III Certification Boot Camp – 3 Day Course – 24 CLPs Brief Overview: Strengthening the acquisition workforce is critical to ensuring that the government gets the best value for the more than $500 billion of goods and services it procures annually. Each member of the acquisition workforce plays a critical role, including Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs), who ensure that contractors meet the commitments of their contracts. 

Cost Estimating Brief Overview: One of the major gaps in effectively carrying out the procurement process is cost estimating. The reason it is a gap stems from the realization that it must be done but how do we do it? This three-day workshop will close this knowledge and skill gap by briefly, yet completely explaining the why, what, how, where and when. In addition, connections to the selection and administration phases will be emphasized.  

Disputes & Terminations
Protect Your Rights – Understand Your Obligations Brief Overview: A comprehensive, three day course covering the significant contractual remedies to which the parties may avail themselves under a federal contract. In-depth treatment of the termination for convenience and termination for default provisions of FAR Part 49, as well as insightful treatment of the claims process in federal contracting.  

How to Manage & Shape Smart Business Arrangements Brief Overview: Personnel new to the Contracting career field will gain a broad understanding of the environment in which they will serve. Students will develop professional skills for making business decisions and for advising acquisition team members in successfully meeting customers’ needs.  

International Contracting and Negotiations Brief Overview: This interactive and practical course will explain how international contracting is different from domestic contracting and what new challenges you can expect when contracting offshore. We will learn how to anticipate and prepare for key issues and conflicts that arise in entering and managing contractual relationships with foreign firms and governments. 

Market Research Brief Overview: Like the technology purchased, the field of procurement is rapidly changing. Keeping up with the changes is, in large part, the purpose of this seminar. More and more, federal agencies are beginning to operate as businesses. In this context, the timely and effective gathering and use of market data for purchasing becomes even more essential to doing procurement effectively.  

Negotiating Techniques Brief Overview: Acquisition professionals use negotiation not only in the contracts setting, but in technical management, personnel and internal management, and interpersonal issues. The ability to communicate across organizational lines is a skill that is crucial to successful collaborative management necessary in today’s acquisition environment.  

Performance Based Service Acquisition Brief Overview: Performance Based Service Acquisition (PBSA) is a major mandate of effectively implementing acquisition reform throughout the government. Getting the needed buy-in not only from procurement officials, but from program and project managers and technical staff, is a major challenge. To achieve this, the benefits of developing performance based contracts need to outweigh the risks, costs and time of doing procurement in other ways  

Procurement Ethics Brief Overview: Fraud, waste, and abuse have been in the public eye for decades in relation to federal procurement. Now, however, the issue is not whether, but how can these areas be dealt with more successfully and responsibility than in the past. This two-day seminar's thrust is to raise some mind-tickling questions and answers to these concerns. Students will be exposed to a gamut of ethical situations currently effecting contracting.   

Purchase Card Buys Brief Overview: With the increasing pressure on the federal government to make purchasing more accountable, a growing response has been to enlist the support of PC Holders. These persons are being asked to do a wider array of micro-purchase buying. Specific topics include: a. the stakeholders’ responsibilities; b. the processes and statutes; c. automated support functions  

R&D Contracting Brief Overview: This class is about the emerging trends in federal procurement research and development (R&D) processes. The course is structured to take you through the entire federal acquisition lifecycle from project budgeting to contract close-out with a focus on the challenges facing R&D procurements. This class is developed for contracting officers and project officers or their representatives, evaluation committee members  

Source Selection Brief Overview: The major objective of this class is for the Acquisition and Technical Communities to better understand the key functions of source selection and negotiation and be able to use them well in contracting with a vendor. This introduction to the lifecycle approach gives the participants a full picture of what it takes to successfully use technical evaluation and negotiation. In addition, we will track all topics presented here using current Acquisition policy concerns  

Understanding the Federal Source Selection Process Brief Overview: The goal of this training is to provide an understanding of the rules (FAR), protest case history (lessons-learned) and best practices of the source selection process for competitively negotiated acquisitions where selection is based on best value to the Government. However, many of the procedures discussed in this training would also be useful in other source selections. Best Value (http://www.arnet.gov/far/) is the expected outcome of an acquisition that, in the Government’s estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the requirement.  

GAO’s Principles of Federal Appropriations Law – (Redbook) - Managers Update Brief Overview: The legal aspects of federal appropriations are complex and multidimensional. Using the Government Accountability Office's Principles of Federal Appropriations Law as a reference, this seminar examines a summary review of the key appropriations law principles with a special emphasis on the most recent statutory changes and GAO decisions".  

GAO’s Principles of Federal Appropriations Law – (Redbook) Brief Overview: The legal aspects of federal appropriations are complex and multidimensional. Using the Government Accountability Office's Principles of Federal Appropriations Law as a reference, this seminar examines the statutes and case law which govern the appropriations process. Through lectures and classroom exercises the course shows how the GAO rules on the propriety of agency expenditures and how Comptroller General decisions establish a framework for an agency's fiscal operations.  

Performance Accountability Brief Overview: For highly trained management or engineering professionals, planning is not one of the primary skills practiced. Why? Because the emphasis is on delivery not management of systems. This comprehensive, two-day workshop will close the knowledge and skill gap in conveying to participants what it takes to define, develop, implement and update strategic and operational plans.  

Project Management Brief Overview: Project leadership is fast evolving into a primary area of managerial competency. The reasons are: i) the greater frequency of using project teams to accomplish organizational tasks, ii) more emphasis on effective planning, iii) greater need for systematic approach to identify and solve problems  

Types of Contracts Brief Overview: After successful completion of this training course, the student will be able to: Describe why the FAR has so many different types of contracts. When each type is appropriate for use. Select the appropriate type of contract for a particular acquisition