Contracting Officer Podcast 2.0 Episodes
As former Federal Contracting Officers who have also walked in industry’s shoes, Kevin and Paul share their expertise and perspectives in support of the podcast’s mission: Make government contracting better, one contract at a time.
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459 – What is a Wage Determination?
What is the minimum wage? Well, it depends. There is a federal minimum wage, but the states can also set their own minimum. Therefore, the answer to “What is the minimum wage?” depends on where you...
458 – GovCon Vocabulary – Volume 2 (Shape vs Influence) Audio Player
There are some unique words in GovCon – my favorite is still “de-obligated” (not be confused with “not obligated”), but there are also words like “small business” – that in some cases can include...
457 – GovCon Vocabulary – Volume 1 (Amend vs Modify)
GovCon has unique words, like “de-obligated” (not be confused with “not obligated”) – or “colors of money” (not to be confused with regular money that’s well, green here in the US). While unique...
456 – Differences between FED and State-Local w/Troy Francis (Part 2)
In this episode, Kevin is once again joined by Troy Francis. Troy knows the nuances of both Federal and Local contracting because he’s been both a Federal Contracting Officer and now he is a Chief...
455 – What is Incremental Funding?
Not every contract has the same payment terms. Sometimes we pay in full up front. Sometimes we pay upon completion. Sometimes we pay in parts along the way. Those same payment terms can apply to...
454 – What is a Capture Manager? (w/Jennifer Namvar)
The government awards most contracts using competitive processes. Some of those processes are simple. Some of them are complicated. Sometimes they are so complicated that the process from...
453 – Ethos, Logos, Pathos
Plenty of ink has been spent on how government and industry need to communicate more, and better (including by us). However, knowing we are supposed to communicate “better” and knowing how to...
452 – Paths to Competition
In government contracting, there are so many ways to buy products and services. Multiple award, commercial, simplified acquisition, micro purchase, letter contract, GSA contract, logical follow-on,...
451 – Acquisition Forms
Forms. Really? That does not sound very exciting. Fair enough – while “exciting” is not the word most people think of when discussing forms, this topic is relevant and important. Why? Because...
450 – Types of Solicitations
In the 3 Deciders episode (episode 118), Kevin and Paul explained how the Economic Decider has the funds that are used to buy products and services under government contracts, the Customer has the...
449 – What is Severability?
Contract Severability is one of those concepts that has one meaning in the commercial world, and a slightly different meaning in the GovCon world. In non-government contracts, a simple definition is...
448 – What is Pre-Acquisition? (part 2)
Episode 443 was Part 1 of Pre-Acquisition communication. In that one we introduced the concept of Pre-Acquisition communication, Kevin and Paul provided some context why it matters. To recap,...
447 – Professional Compensation Plans with Joe Luetke
The government buys lots of services…but not all service contracts work the same way. There are personal services, non-personal services, Service Contract services, advisory services, and so on. We...
446 – What are “Open and Frank” Discussions? (Part 2)
Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In last week’s episode, we dug into a common misconception that gets in the way of effective communication –...
445 – What are “Open and Frank” Discussions? (Part 1)
Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In this episode Kevin and Paul dig into another common misconception that gets in the way of effective...
444 – How Does Pricing Affect the Contract? (w/ Heather Teed)
If we’re going to buy something, we need to know how much it will cost. D’uh, right? The contract defines the terms and conditions of the purchase, while the price determines the value and/or cost...