“NASA’s acquisition office that runs the SEWP governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) hasn’t missed a beat even during this time of remote working and a surge in contract use.”
“This is because the SEWP program office literally had a fire drill last year. A small electrical fire in the basement of its building forced employees to work from home for about a week.”
“Joanne Woytek, the NASA SEWP program director, said the program office staff was well-prepared to telework and now is focusing on trying to make acquisition easier for agencies by using a tool typically saved for the busy federal fourth quarter buying season…”
“At the same time, Woytek said SEWP must ensure the lines of communication remain open with their customers and vendors, particularly around emergency acquisition authorities like the raising of the micro-purchase (MPT) and simplified acquisition (SAT) thresholds. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy raised both buying thresholds in March — MPT to $20,000 from $10,000 and SAT to $750,000 from $250,000 for purchases made in the U.S.”
40% more orders in March
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, Woytek said some interesting trends have started to emerge compared to last year at this time. She said SEWP remains a popular contract. NASA estimates SEWP will handle at least 50,000 orders or modifications in fiscal 2020…” Read the full article here.
Source: NASA’s SEWP contract experiencing a surge in use during pandemic – By Jason Miller, April 17, 2020. Federal News Network.
