Set-Aside Alert analysis:
Category Management goal hiked to 70%
GSA corrects announcement to say 70%, up from 60%,
following inquiry about discrepancy from Set-Aside Alert
The General Services Administration adjusted its category management goal to 70%, up from 60%, following an inquiry from Set-Aside Alert about an apparent discrepancy in Trump Administration documents on the subject.
The President’s Management Agenda, released in March, announced a goal of saving $18 billion by the end of fiscal 2020 by applying category management to “common spending” by federal agencies. Common spending includes spending on items such as office furniture and supplies.
The goal set in the agenda text--and announced by GSA in the online Acquisition Gateway--was to cover 60% of common spending.
However, Set-Aside Alert, in preparing an article on category management for the May 11 issue, noticed a discrepancy: a chart in the president’s agenda stated a goal of 70%, while the text in the agenda stated the goal was 60%.
After Set-Aside Alert contacted GSA about the discrepancy, GSA responded that the goal is, in fact, 70% and that the previous announcement was incorrect.
*The correct percentage is 70%, and has been updated in the (Acquisition) Gateway,” a GSA representative told Set-Aside Alert.
The corrected GSA announcement can be seen at https://bit.ly/2IDeuBd.
However, as of May 21, the president’s agenda still contains the discrepancy. On page 34, the text states a category management goal of 60%, while on page 35, the chart states a category management goal of 70%. White House officials were not immediately available for comment. (See the agenda at https://bit.ly/2LiD2RD.)
Category management goals are important for small business federal contractors because areas in which category management is applied tend to see significant shrinkage in the number of small firms that win contracts.
Typically, when there is category management, a relatively small number of firms can compete for awards.
