ACC-Orlando chief addresses contracting initiatives, offers advice to industry partners

By Christa Yates, Staff Writer

 

Army Col. Lisbon Williams, director of Army Contract Command-Orlando (ACC-Orlando) spoke on how his organization handles emerging technology training contracts at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s (IDGA) annual Military Simulation Training Summit in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 25.

 

IGDA’s two-day summit gathered over 300 senior training commanders, procurement officers and acquisitions leaders from across the military and provided a forum for networking and collaboration. This conference focused on training warfighters with simulation and synthetic training, and it explored how militaries (American and allied) are approaching interoperability with new technology and moving toward competency training.

 

Williams’ discussion provided insight on how industry members should approach working with ACC-Orlando to ensure a smooth partnership, as well as advice on how to streamline processes and find efficient contract solutions.

 

“At ACC-Orlando, we value our partnerships with industry and recognize that collaboration is key to delivering innovative solutions to support our warfighters,” Williams said. “To achieve this, we encourage public communication, transparency and mutual understanding of each other’s needs and challenges.”

 

The core theme of Williams’ advice was communication. He recommended that industry representatives “get to know” ACC-Orlando, as well as its mission and priorities to better understand the contracting process, along with its inherent challenges and requirements. Doing so will help navigate the system more effectively, efficiently and avoid potential pitfalls.

 

Williams encouraged industry members to reach out, engage with contracting officers, attend industry days, and be prepared to discuss capabilities and solutions.

 

“Be proactive [and] don’t wait for opportunities to come to you,” Williams said. “If you have a question for one of my contracting officers, I encourage you to have discussions in person. The virtual means [of communication] are great, and they’re actually pretty efficient, however, nothing beats establishing a relationship face to face.”

 

Emphasizing flexibility as the key going forward – especially with the changing operational environment – Williams noted that ACC-Orlando is working to provide more flexibility and adaptable contracting solutions during “a great moment of uncertainty,” with rapidly changing requirements.

 

“Defining requirements is becoming more challenging,” Williams said. “We’re not just looking for vendors who can provide commodities or services, we are looking for partners who can bring innovative solutions to the table, think outside the box, and be willing to take calculated risks to deliver game-changing capabilities.”

 

Proposals should be clear, concise and tailored to specific requirements, according to Williams, and he advised against using “boilerplate language.”

 

“It doesn’t help us out any more than generic materials,” Williams said. “We want to see how your solution affects our unique requirements.”

 

Williams encouraged questions if industry members are unclear about government requirements and said they should reach out to contracting officers for verification.

 

“I am encouraging all of my officers to have an open-door policy with [industry] to allow the opportunity to ask necessary questions,” Williams said. “If you don’t understand a contract or requirement, your solution won’t be appropriately tailored to what we’re looking for.”

 

ACC-Orlando is undertaking initiatives to streamline the contracting process. One significant change includes “other transaction authority” (OTA) procurement opportunities, which allow small businesses, research institutions and nonprofit organizations to enter into agreements with the federal government.

 

“OTAs don’t work in every situation, but where they do, we are going to maximize their use in order to move forward and work with [industry members.]”

 

Other initiatives include more direct routes of feedback. Williams said his team is committed to providing more transparency in its contracting process and decisions so industry partners can better understand their priorities and make more informed decisions. ACC-Orlando is also enhancing and expanding industry outreach efforts, which will include more industry days, webinars and other events to directly engage with industry members and discuss emerging needs and trends.

 

He briefly addressed current concerns regarding ongoing military and government restructuring, reassuring attendees that contracts and partnerships with industry will remain.

 

“Everybody sees what’s going on with the government, and we may soon be working with less in our workforce,” Williams said. “However, the requirements are still out there. We will still require support, and we want to do that efficiently. Efficiency in our processes is one of my major focuses going forward.”

 

Near the end of his presentation, Williams underscored that he wants ACC-Orlando to be industry’s “contracting center of choice,” and that building strong relationships between industry and government is critical to delivering innovative solutions to the warfighter.

 

“By working together, we can leverage the strengths of both parties to drive innovation, efficiency and deliver more effective outcomes,” Williams said.