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DorobekInsider: UPDATE – Grams to join VA as principal deputy assistant secretary for management

An update on our earlier report about W. Todd Grams, who serves as the chief financial officer at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and previously served as the chief information officer at the Internal Revenue Service… Grams will actually be the principal deputy assistant secretary for management starting Monday.

Rita Reed, who has been serving in that post, is retiring at the end of February and she will be helping Grams with the transition until she retires.

Here’s what Reed told colleagues about Grams’ position:

Colleagues:

As you may have heard, I will soon be retiring after more than 31 years with VA. While I am excited about the opportunities the future may present for me, I will miss my VA home and family. I am very proud to be associated with this great Department and honored to have served with each of you who do so much every day to help the success of VA’s mission. I am especially pleased to know that I will be succeeded by someone who knows and cares about VA, its business and Mission, and brings a wealth of talent and experience. He and the VA Leadership asked me to stay for a while to assist in this transition and so I am pleased to have the opportunity to continue in OM through the end of February 2010 as an advisor and assistant.

Please help me welcome W. Todd Grams to OM’s Senior Executive team starting Monday, November 9, 2009. Mr. Grams will be filling a SES position as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management. Mr. Grams will be responsible for overseeing Departmental resource requirements, development and implementing of agency performance measures and financial management activities relating to VA programs and operations. This includes managing a Departmental accounting and financial management system that provides for management cost, budgeting and accounting information. In addition his office will oversee the capital asset management activities that include important new energy initiatives across VA.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Grams served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. From 2003 through 2006 he served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) where he was responsible for all IRS IT functions nationwide.0 From 2001 to 2003 he was the CFO of the IRS where he was responsible for the accounting of $2 trillion in tax receipts and the oversight of the IRS’ $10 billion operating budget. Under Grams’ leadership the IRS’ achieved its first-ever consecutive years of clean audit opinions while improving the quality and timeliness of financial data.

Prior to joining the IRS, Mr. Grams served at VA from 1994 to 2001, initially as the first CFO of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and then as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Management of the VA. He served in a variety of positions at the Office of Management and Budget from 1983 to 1994, including appropriations bill tracker, budget examiner, and Chief of the Veterans Affairs Branch. He began his career at the Bureau of the Census in 1980 as a budget analyst.

In 2006, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service at the IRS. In 2000, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service at the VA. In 1997, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service at the VA.

He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1980.

Mr. Grams brings to the Office of Management’s executive team leadership and financial experience that will be invaluable as VA implements Transformation 21 and works with you to improve our day-to-day operations. We are fortunate to have an individual with his talents in this position.

Written by cdorobek

November 6, 2009 at 1:27 PM

Posted in CFO, Management, Whose In and Whose Out, procurement

DorobekInsider: UPDATED – Grams to join VA as principal deputy assistant secretary for management

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UPDATE as of 1:20p ET: W. Todd Grams, who serves as the chief financial officer at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and previously served as the chief information officer at the Internal Revenue Service, will actually be the principal deputy assistant secretary for management starting Monday.

Rita Reed, who has been serving in that post, is retiring at the end of February and she will be helping Grams with the transition until she retires.

Here’s what Rita told colleagues about Grams’ position:

Mr. Grams will be filling a SES position as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management. Mr. Grams will be responsible for overseeing Departmental resource requirements, development and implementing of agency performance measures and financial management activities relating to VA programs and operations. This includes managing a Departmental accounting and financial management system that provides for management cost, budgeting and accounting information. In addition his office will oversee the capital asset management activities that include important new energy initiatives across VA.

It sounds like a CFO, but…

We are hearing that W Todd Grams, who serves as the chief financial officer at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and previously served as the chief information officer at the Internal Revenue Service, will join the Department of Veterans Affairs as the acting chief financial officer.

Grams has served mostly in the CFO side of organizations, although before 2001, he served as VA’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Management which included the roles of the Department’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Procurement Executive.

Here is his bio from NIST…

W. Todd Grams
Chief Financial Officer

W. Todd Grams is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. Appointed in July 2006, he is responsible for all NIST-wide administrative offices and functions, including: human resources, information technology, safety, facilities, construction, finance, acquisitions and grants management, budget, and security.

From 2003 through 2006 Grams served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) where he was responsible for all IRS IT functions nationwide. He led the turnaround of the long-struggling business systems modernization program and restructured 15 percent (1,000 positions) of the IT workforce to improve effectiveness and efficiency. From 2001 to 2003 he was the CFO of the IRS where he was responsible for the accounting of $2 trillion in tax receipts and the oversight of the IRS’ $10 billion operating budget. Under Grams’ leadership the IRS’ achieved its first-ever consecutive years of clean audit opinions while improving the quality and timeliness of financial data.

Prior to joining the IRS, Grams served at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from 1994 to 2001, initially as the first CFO of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and then as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Management of the VA. He instituted improved financial discipline over an annual health care budget of $17 billion through a new resource allocation system that significantly reduced patient costs, increased the number of patients treated, and increased the quality of care.

Grams served in a variety of positions at the Office of Management and Budget from 1983 to 1994, including appropriations bill tracker, budget examiner, and Chief of the Veterans Affairs Branch. He began his career at the Bureau of the Census in 1980 as a budget analyst.

In 2006, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service at the IRS. In 2000, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service at the VA. In 1997, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service at the VA. Grams graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1980.

Written by cdorobek

November 6, 2009 at 11:29 AM

Posted in CFO, Management, Whose In and Whose Out

DorobekInsider: Winners of the 7th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards

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I mentioned that earlier this week, I was at the Coalition for Government Procurement’s Excellence in Partnership awards. Last night, the winners of the 7th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced. The GWGCA’s are presented by Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce’s Greater Washington GovCon Council, the Professional Services Council and Washington Technology magazine.

Washington Technology reports:

Four companies and three executives were honored for their achievements during the past year at the annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards program Wednesday night.

The seven winners were picked from 36 finalists in seven categories…

As part of the annual dinner, Al Nashman, former president of Computer Sciences Corp.’s federal business, received the hall of fame award for contributions during his career. Nashman, retired from CSC in 1992 after 27 years and is widely credited with creating the business model for government information technology contractors.

Read the full story.

The full list of winners:

Contractor of the Year
(less than $25 million)
Dovel Technologies

Contractor of the Year
($25 to $75 million)
High Performance Technologies

Contractor of the Year
($75 to $300 million)
Whitney, Bradley & Brown

Contractor of the Year
(greater than $300 million)
CACI International

Executive of the Year
(less than $75 million)
Jerry Torres, Torres A E Solutions

Executive of the Year
($75 to $300 million)
Bill Hoover, American Systems Corporation

Executive of the Year
(greater than $300 million)
Sudhakar Kesavan, ICF International

Public Sector Partners
David Drabkin, GSA

Hall of Fame Inductee
Al Nashman, Former Executive, CSC

Get more information from the Professional Services Council here.

Written by cdorobek

November 5, 2009 at 2:53 PM

Posted in Circuit, Industry, awards

DorobekInsider: GSA transition leads earn Coalition Partnership recognition

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The Coalition for Government Procurement Tuesday night handed out its 10th annual Excellence in Partnership Awards at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. I was honored to be asked to speak at the event. More on that a bit later.

The night’s big award — Government/Industry Partnership Alliance Award, which is only given out in years when there is somebody who rises to the challenge — was given to two leaders who led the presidential transition initiative for the General Services Administration, which, by all accounts, went exceedingly well. The two winners:

* Ed O’Hare, who is now the head of GSA Federal Acquisition Service’s Integrated Technology Services, but was one of the leaders of the transition team.
* Timothy O. Horne, GSA, Rocky Mountain Region

The other winners:

Category: GSA Customer Agencies

Best Use of Cooperative Purchasing

Jill Klaskin Press, Miami-Dade County, Department of Procurement

Most Effective Use of FAS in Support of its Critical Mission

DoD – Defense Information Systems Agency Program Management Office for Commercial Satellite Communications PEO STS

Civilian – Marc A. Joseph, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service

Loyal User Award

DHS, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Acquisition Mgmt – Dallas Office

Lifetime Achievement Award

Beth Campbell, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Category: GSA

Most Innovative Acquisition Center
FEDSIM Civilian Acquisition Group

Most Effective Contracting Officer or Project Manager
Robert Woodside, Administrative Services Acquisition Branch, National Administrative Services and Office Supplies Acquisition Center, FAS, GSA

Most Active Marketing Organization
Christine Lundstrom, GSA FAS National Publications Center

Best New Negotiator
Bounce Quarry, Federal Acquisition Service

Lifetime Achievement Award (tie)
Rebecca Koses, Acquisition Operations, Office of Travel, Motor Vehicles and Card Services
Harry W. Butler, III, GSA Office of Customer Accounts and Research

Category: Industry

Most Valuable Schedule Contractor
Raytheon GSA PMO

Most Innovative Small Business
Source One Distributors

Most Successful Newcomer
Highland Engineering, Inc.

Green Contractor Award
CamelBak Products, LLC

Lifetime Achievement Award
Gary Barth, Canon USA
Carolyn Alston, Washington Management Group

Written by cdorobek

November 5, 2009 at 2:26 PM

Posted in Circuit, Industry, awards, procurement

DorobekInsider: What you read in October 2009 on DorobekInsider, the Daily Debrief, and FederalNewsRadio.com

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The most read items for October 2009…
On FederalNewsRadio.com’s DorobekInsider:

On Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris…

And on FederalNewsRadio.com…

Written by cdorobek

November 4, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Posted in DorobekInsider, Federal News Radio, Most read items

DorobekInsider: I’m back from a bout with the flu… and government flu resources

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Whew! I’m sorry I haven’t been posting. I was out with the flu — and let me tell you, it was yucky!

To answer the questions I’ve already had… No, they don’t know if it was H1N1 or the “normal” seasonal flu. Last Monday, I spoke to my doctor over the phone. He told me that it didn’t really matter all that much. The symptoms are pretty much the same — and the treatments are pretty much the same.

That being said, as CBS’s 60 Minutes demonstrated on Sunday, you have to pay attention to this.

To give you an idea as to how bad I felt: I didn’t even turn on my computer until this past Sunday. And I’m a computer addict!

This puts a real strain on employers, as the WSJ recently reported.

So far, outbreaks appear to be more common in schools than workplaces. But the number of cases is rising, and deliveries of a new vaccine against the virus are slower than officials had hoped.

Eighty-one percent of attendees polled at a September conference by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota said their greatest concern about H1N1 flu was employee absenteeism.

Only a third of 1,057 businesses across the U.S. surveyed by the Harvard School of Public Health in July and August said they could avoid operational problems over a two-week period if half of their work force was out because of H1N1.

To pre-empt high absenteeism, many companies are trying to get workers vaccinated, particularly those who travel internationally, says MylesDruckman , vice president of medical services for the Americas for International SOS Assistance Inc., a medical- and security-assistance company based inTrevose, Pa.

Some government flu resources out there…

* Flu.gov
* Flu.gov updates the current flu situation… and CDC’s FluView reports increasing reports of flu
* Flu.gov answers the question: How Does Seasonal Flu Differ From Pandemic Flu?
* CDC’s H1N1 flu page
* CDC’s H1N1 treatments
* CDC’s seasonal flu page
* World Health Organization’s flu page

CDC’s Steps to Lessen the Spread of Flu in the Home:

When providing care to a household member who is sick with influenza, the most important ways to protect yourself and others who are not sick are to:

keep the sick person away from other people as much as possible (see “placement of the sick person”) especially others who are at high risk for complications from influenza
remind the sick person to cover their coughs, and clean their hands with soap and water often. If soap and water are not available, they should use an alcohol-based hand rub*, especially after coughing and/or sneezing
have everyone in the household clean their hands often, using soap and water (or an alcohol-based hand rub*, if soap and water are not available). Children may need reminders or help keeping their hands clean
ask your health care provider if household contacts of the sick person—particularly those contacts who may be pregnant or have chronic health conditions—should take antiviral medications such asoseltamivir (Tamiflu®) or zanamivir (Relenza®) to prevent the flu
If you are in a high risk group for complications from influenza, you should attempt to avoid close contact (within 6 feet) with household members who are sick with influenza. If close contact with a sick individual is unavoidable, consider wearing afacemask or respirator, if available and tolerable. Infants should not be cared for by sick family members. For more information, see the Interim Recommendations for Facemask and Respirator Use

Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to be back and feeling better. I’m not fully at CJD energy levels yet — but I’m feeling better than I did.

Written by cdorobek

November 3, 2009 at 1:21 PM

Posted in DorobekInsider, Management

DorobekInsider: USDA officials offer more details on management reorganization

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We told you about the major reorganization of the Agriculture Department’s management structure.

The plan — and you can read all the documents here — essentially creates an uber-USDA “Departmental Administration” that includes most of the management functions — procurement, IT, HR, finance and budget — all under one umbrella.

I haven’t been able to get somebody at USDA to talk about it officially yet — we’re still working on it. But USDA spokesman Justin DeJong provided me with this statement:

We take our responsibility to ensure we use hard-earned taxpayer dollars wisely, and these changes will help us to serve more people and in a more efficient and effective manner. By optimizing and streamlining the various operations, we plan to eliminate duplicate functions; improve quality of services and communications; and streamline processes and improve transparency to our customers. Ultimately, effective USDA management means effective results for taxpayers and the people USDA serves.

We began having discussions with employees and unions in the early months of the new administration. On June 18, all employees received a letter from Secretary Vilsack about the pending reorganization. This letter was followed by further discussions, meetings and additional outreach to employees and unions, in addition to the required notifications.

The CFO and CIO will continue to have the opportunity to report directly to the Secretary on core responsibilities as outlined in statute. There will be no Reduction in Force (RIF) associated with this reorganization. No employee will lose pay or grade.

I’m happy that USDA is talking about this in a more public, transparent way…. and I continue to hope that they will come on Federal News Radio 1500 AM to discuss the thinking behind the really massive change.

And before focusing on the specifics of the plan itself, I think the way that it is rolled out is important.

To be fair, DeLong and I had a discussion about the transparency of this initiative. And he correctly notes — both in our conversation and in the written statement — that Secretary Vilsack sent out a letter in June to employees and all of the documents about the reorganization are posted on the agency’s Intranet. But this specifically want not discussed in any kind of public way.

My point to him is that this is not just a USDA internal matter — it has broad ramifications about how USDA is run and, frankly, there are people who have ideas and thoughts outside of the agency. It seems to me, that is at the heart of the Obama transparency initiative — agencies should only keep information locked down if there is a reason for that information to be locked down. Frankly, I spoke to several people on Capitol Hill yesterday and they hadn’t heard of the reorganization. Using the Obama transparency and openness measures — transparency, participatory, and collaborative — it sure seems like business as usual.

I think USDA missed out on an opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom — and build support for the idea of a changed management structure. And management issues are ones that particularly touch the employee, so I certainly hope that USDA will not use this as a model for how they view openness and transparency. In the end, if transparency is only within your organization, it fails — and, in the end, it isn’t any different then what has been done in the past.

On the issue of the reorganization itself…

There are still a number of questions out there:

How does USDA envision this working?
Nobody disagrees that agencies need to spend money wisely. How does this reorganization spur that?
What spurred this kind of massive change?
What data demonstrates that a single organization works better then a diversified one? Or is the decision based on philosophy?
What will this mean for the agencies within USDA? Will they all be using this uber-management organization for procurement, HR, IT, budget and finance?
If the organization chart specifically shows that the CIO and CFO report to the UDSA manager, how does this comply with the CFO Act or the Clinger-Cohen Act — in letter or spirit?

Furthermore, Congress Daily spoke to Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan who said she would still have budget authority, which would seem to undercut this actual management organization from the very top.

And then there are questions about the early retirements, which I understand are more complex to address.

In the end, nobody disagrees with the need to spend money wisely… and most everybody agrees that the head of an agency gets to decide how to run their organization — and different management styles work for different people. But leadership and management necessitates that people know where they are going — and why.

My concern is that USDA seems to have missed an opportunity. We have all seen many previous management overhauls that were conducted just the way this one has been so far — largely behind closed doors with, frankly, token efforts to make information available. Most of them go on to fail because they didn’t convince people that it was the right direction. They didn’t see questions as opportunities to improve the plan.

I don’t think anybody disagrees with the plan on the face of it. But buzz I keep hearing is deep concern about the role of the CIO and CFO… and why the determination was made.

Again, as I have re-read this post, it sounds harsh. I don’t mean it to be — and we look forward to getting more information.

Meanwhile, here is Congress Daily had report:

Deputy secretary asserts control over Agriculture budget
By Jerry Hagstrom
CongressDaily
October 19, 2009

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan is planning to continue running the USDA budget, despite an organizational revamp that has placed the budget office under Assistant Secretary for Administration Pearlie Reed….

“I will be running the budget process at USDA,” Merrigan told CongressDaily on Friday, adding that she had presented USDA’s fiscal 2011 budget to the Office of Management and Budget and will make the presentations of future budgets.

The deputy Agriculture secretary has traditionally been in charge of developing the budget and received reports from the budget officer. But since the reorganization, which went into effect Oct. 1, farm lobbyists have worried that if an official below the level of deputy secretary made the presentations, USDA would be at a disadvantage.

Read the full story here.

Written by cdorobek

October 21, 2009 at 8:25 AM

Posted in CFO, CIOs, Executives, Management, Policy, Technology, Workforce, strategy, transparency

DorobekInsider: Another GovDelivery/GovLoop hiring coup: Andrew Krzmarzick — and passes 20K members

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The federal government is losing another of its rising stars — but only the larger goal of public service.

Earlier, we told you that GovLoop — the burgeoning online government-focused collaboration platform that describes itself as the Facebook for feds — was purchased by Scott Burn’s GovDelivery. The announcement got a lot of coverage — including Federal News Radio 1500 AM got the first opportunity to talk to GovLoop founder Steve Ressler and GovDelivery founder, president and CEO Burns.

On Monday, GovDelivery’s GovLoop will announce another hiring coup: Andrew Krzmarzick will join GovLoop, the FederalNewsRadio.com’s DorobekInsider has learned.

Krzmarzick

Krzmarzick will be charged with encouraging outreach, partnership, and engagement to help the community grow and bring even greater value to members.

In addition to that news, GovLoop officially passed the 20,000 member milestone in it’s continued rapid growth in just more than a year.

Krzmarzick is one of the leaders in the “Gov 2.0″ community. He will leave his post as senior project coordinator at the Graduate School — formerly known as the Graduate School USDA. Ressler and Krzmarzick are good friends — but he has also proven to be a powerful advocate for public service.

We had Krzmarzick on Federal News Radio 1500 AM’s Daily Debrief earlier this year talking about iampublicservice.org, which crowdsourced a book highlight the work done by feds. He and Ressler also appeared on Federal News Radio’s FedTalk program.

Here is the note Krzmarzick sent to friends:

Guess what? I’ve got a new gig!

Mr. GovLoop himself (aka Steve Ressler) has asked me to join his team as the GovLoop Community Manager (Read: “Wingman”)!

So what does that mean? It means I’ve resigned from the Graduate School and will dedicate myself full-time to making GovLoop THE place where people in and around government can connect and achieve new levels of awesomeness (that’s in my contract, by the way – to use this word at least once in every conversation) beginning October 19.

Seriously, I am going to be Steve’s lead in growing and engaging members, listening to and learning about your needs and honoring and highlighting the great work you do every day. As a former priest wanna-be, I see myself as a cross between a pastor and an evangelist for GovLoop, someone whose role is to serve the public servants. I want to make your life easier by linking you to the information and people who have the answers to your questions and solutions to your challenges.

I can’t wait to get started.

Krzmarzick can be found on Twitter… Facebook… LinkedIn…

Here is his bio from his blog…

Andrew Krzmarzick, PMP, is a leading thinker, trainer, and trailblazer on the four generations, social media and telework. As a Senior Project Coordinator at the Graduate School, Andrew designs and delivers high-impact, hands-on training, including courses titled “Focusing the Power of Four Generations,” “Wikis and Webcasts and iPods, Oh My!” and “Telework: A Manager’s Perspective.”

Andrew has facilitated workshops and presented at numerous government agencies and conferences, including ASTD’s International Conference, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Annual Conference, the Advanced Learning Institute’s “Social Media for Government”, the Telework Exchange’s “Telework in a Box” series, and the Training Officers Consortium (TOC) Annual Institute. In order to share presentation content and disseminate best practices, he bookmarks articles and information at Delicious, posts his presentations at SlideShare and engages in thought leadership here at the GenerationShift blog. Andrew is also the co-creator of IAmPublicService.org, a website and ebook project dedicated to improving the perception of public service and attracting the next generation of government talent. He is a Community Leader at GovLoop.com and a member of the Executive Board of Young Government Leaders. His work and insight has been featured in the Washington Post, Public Manager and Government Executive magazines, the FEDManager E-Report, and on Federal News Radio.

In addition to training and speaking, Andrew has produced hundreds of winning proposals and other promotional content over the past ten years to earn over $100 million for non-profit organizations, Federal, state and local government, health departments, school districts and educational institutions. In 2008 alone, Andrew helped organizations across the United State to capture over $12 million in grant awards in support of their vital missions.

Andrew earned his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute and a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from Villanova University. He also has a MA in Theology from The Catholic University of America and a BA in Philosophy from Iowa State University.

Written by cdorobek

October 18, 2009 at 9:06 PM

Posted in Circuit, EGov, Government 2.0, Management, Technology, Web 2.0, Whose In and Whose Out

DorobekInsider EXCLUSIVE: USDA undertakes extensive management reorg – downgrading the CIO, CFO, and seeking early retirements

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Agriculture Secretary Thomas Thomas J. Vilsack last week rolled out a major management reorganization of the agency that downgrades the roles of the USDA chief information officer and chief financial officer. As part of the plan, the agency has also requested the Office of Personnel Management grant USDA permission to proceed forward with early retirements.

The plan: Create a uber-USDA “Departmental Administration” — including operations such as procurement, IT, human resources and finance.

The goal: A more efficient organization, according to a series of memos obtained by FederalNewsRadio.com’s DorobekInsider.

Combining the various operations like procurement, information technology, human resources and finance into a unified USDA management area will eliminate duplicate functions and organizational layering; improve quality of services and communications; and streamline processes and improve transparency to customers. Ultimately, effective USDA management means effective results for taxpayers and the people USDA serves.

Here is the memo that was sent out to USDA personnel:

FROM: Alma C. Hobbs
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration

DATE: October 1, 2009

SUBJECT: Creation of the New USDA Departmental Management

Every day, USDA programs touch people across the country. We have a responsibility to make sure that these programs meet the needs of the American Public and that they are managed in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Over the years, there have been many changes in Departmental Administration creating duplication of functions, fragmentation and organizational layering. This has created inefficiencies and reduced the effectiveness of the Administrative programs. We have an opportunity now to realign these programs, strengthen integration of activities and create an organization that will increase our capacity for accomplishing mission critical work.

We are pleased to announce the creation of the USDA Departmental Management organization. This new organization will replace the current Departmental Administration organization, effective today. The reorganization will improve the management of USDA and reflect Secretary Vilsack’s desire to transform USDA into a model organization. On July 29, the Secretary approved the organizational structure for the new Departmental Management. On September 8, 2009, the Secretary issued a Memorandum to effect the changes necessary to implement the reorganization beginning October 1, 2009. There will be staffing changes effective October 11, 2009, the date of the first pay period of the new fiscal year.

We need your assistance to make this effort successful. Improved integration of management support activities at the Departmental level will move us collectively towards achieving a model organization, positioned to meet the present and future needs of our programs. This transformation is a tremendous opportunity for us to decrease redundancy, increase efficiency, and improve employee morale, and for all of us to make better use of our resources.

We would also like to reiterate Secretary Vilsack’s point that no employee will lose their employment, grade, or commuting area as a direct result of this reorganization. We have also engaged Unions to ensure that bargaining unit employees are represented throughout this process. As we move to the new organization, all employees will be treated fairly and consistently.

Leadership will schedule meetings with employees soon to discuss the reorganization and any necessary realignments or reassignments. These meetings will also provide opportunities for employees to ask questions. Also, we are establishing a web site to go live on Friday, October 2 (www.hqnet.usda.gov/DM_reorg) that will provide a list of frequently asked questions and updates on our progress. A Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions, Secretary Vilsack’s June 18 letter, and an approved Organizational Chart are included for your information.

We are also pursuing Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) authority from the Office of Personnel Management to present as many positive options as possible during this transformation. A fact sheet on this topic is also included for your review.

As we implement this new organization, we are going to need everyone’s support to make this reorganization a success. We encourage you to stay engaged to ensure a seamless transition that benefits not only our organization, but the American taxpayers as well.

It has been clear that USDA has been in management chaos for some time — but most people believe that was the result of specific personnel, not the structure. (The Bush administration has combined the CIO and CFO job one person — Charles Christopherson — and the agency is still struggling to recovery from the senior people who managed to escape.

I certainly hope that the Obama administration isn’t following a model where they come in and spring a reorganization on employees without asking for ideas? There are also questions about how USDA manages to dodge the CFO Act and the Clinger-Cohen Act, which require that agency CFOs and CIOs respectively report directly to the secretary?

Here is the new USDA organization chart:

View this document on Scribd

I should note, the items mentioned in the memo from the USDA Web site — I’m guessing that it is an Intranet site, so most of us can’t access those documents. Therefore, I have posted them below:

* USDA management reorganization fact sheet… or here

* USDA management reorganization frequently asked questions… or here

* Secretary Vilsack’s June 18 letter

Of course, I’d love to get thoughts from people who have been there and done it — is this the right move for USDA? Post your comments… and we’ll even open the DorobekInsider poll seeking your assessment of the USDA reorganization.

Written by cdorobek

October 17, 2009 at 6:30 PM

Posted in CFO, CIOs, Management, Technology, poll, procurement, strategy

DorobekInsider: GovExec exec Matt Dunie exits… and media notes

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Matt Dunie, who joined Government Executive as general manager back in April… and was then promoted to be president of the group over the Fourth of July week, has left the organization after only six months, the DorobekInsider has learned.

Details are sparse at the moment… and the departure has raised all kinds of questions… for example, why did Dunnie leave? What does this mean for Government Executive Media, which includes Government Executive magazine, GovExec.com and NextGov.com, the up-start government IT Web site. Government Executive, of course, is owned by David Bradley, the chairman of Atlantic Media Company. Bradley, of course, is extremely influential and is widely respected.

As I say, we don’t know much officially. Unlike when Dunie joined Government Executive last April or was promoted over the summer, there was no press release announcing his departure — or, frankly, who was taking over. In fact, Dunie’s bio is still listed among Atlantic Media’s leadership team on their Web site.

What people have been told is that Dunie was brought in to come up with a strategy for Government Executive — and that he did that and that he has a management team in place to carry out that strategy. Again, I don’t have anything to quote because there wasn’t even an internal e-mail sent around, I’m told.

That official cause seems to stretch credulity. With all due respect for Dunie’s skills — and I met with him several times and he seemed very smart — it seems difficult to believe that somebody with no prior experience in the government market was able to so alter Government Executive’s strategy in six months.

Dunie’s departure would seem to be good for Steve Vito, who was the leader at Government Executive. GovExec had left many people scratching their heads when Bradley hired Dunie as, essentially, Vito’s boss — and then Vito was shifted to a “strategic” role. Insiders say that Vito has told Bradley that he is not interested in going back in time. Vito currently works part-time for Government Executive.

So these changes could spur some changes within Government Executive — and, essentially, a new senior leadership team for the media organization.

They could, of course, put out a search to fill that post, but it is a very unique skill set. (Just ask the folks over at the 1105 Government Information Group, which went through an exhaustive search to find a group publisher before hiring Jennifer Weiss this summer.) There are only a handful of people who have a publishing background and have knowledge of this market, which is unique and takes a long time to know and learn.

And these are challenging times for publishers — even in this market. Government Executive seems unusually well positioned, thanks largely to decisions made by Vito who has made a conscience effort to reduce the organization’s dependence on print — and thereby have created new revenue streams from online, including creating NextGov, a whole Web site focusing on government technology. Yet publishers have to be very agile these days — and so it will be interesting to see who Bradley taps to lead Government Executive.

Eying Governing magazine

A few other publishing notes… First, apparently Atlantic Media/Government Executive have decided not to bid for Governing magazine. We told you about parts of the Governing story this earlier, but… Governing was owned by Congressional Quarterly. When The Economic Group’s Roll Call brought CQ, they did not buy Governing, a somewhat sleepy publication that covers the government state and local market. And so… Governing has been shopped around. Word is that Atlantic Media/Government Executive have decided that… well, the price wasn’t right. It is unclear who else might be bidding — Neal Vitale of 1105 Media is believe to be interested and, in fact, sent 1105 staff an e-mail recently saying that despite 20 percent salary cuts, the company could still buy properties — if the price is right. The question: Is the price right? Vitale is known for seeking good deals, but we hear there is a steep price tag on a publication that doesn’t make much money. That being said, 1105 has been interested in having a foothold in the government state and local market, which is overwhelmingly dominated by eRepublic’s Government Technology. But if 1105 were to buy Governing, they could make a cogent argument that they are the most efficient way to reach the government market — at all levels.

Frankly, I haven’t heard about other bidders.

Editor’s note: Post updated to correct the spelling of Matt Dunie’s name.

Written by cdorobek

October 15, 2009 at 7:26 AM

Posted in press

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