Redstone Government Consulting Blog | Redstone GCI (4)

Every year I write a Thanksgiving blog, reflecting on the growth of our firm, how awesome our employees and customers are, and the privilege we have every day to be able to serve and truly make a difference in the lives of our clients. As founder and CEO, I have been solely focused and driven to meet our targets, budgets, goals and have worked as hard as ever. 

As we (Redstone Government Consulting, Inc.) began to plan our September 21, 2017 Redstone Edge, we sought out speakers and potential attendees from government agencies, including those from DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) and DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency). In both cases, their potential speakers had a list of questions which seemed to be unnecessary, but related to OGE (Office of Government Ethics) regulations and interpretations, to identify and otherwise prohibit anything which might be an illegal (or at least unethical) gratuity. Although we might not be a “government contractor”, for those who are, there is another regulation in play; FAR 52.203-3 prohibits government contractors from offering gratuities to government employees.

Virtually all government contractors and anyone else hoping for regulatory relief from the new administration is aware of the Executive Order (EO) requiring a 2 for 1 reduction in agency regulations for each new regulation. In an effort to show that DCAA is politically savvy and much more positive and proactive than most agencies (who are less than enthusiastic about this EO), DCAA has begun to vet some “similar to” audit strategies. The following are some of the highlights of a DCAA Press Conference to announce a broad range of “2 for 1 reductions”.

Although Redstone Government Consulting. Inc., makes every attempt to avoid blogs which are overtly political, we’ve taken note of a DHS OIG (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General) “Management Alert” which coincidentally provides some indirect validation to the Executive Order which suspends US refugee intake for 120 days, and places a 90-day moratorium on citizens of seven countries (entering the United States).   As we all endure the divisive rhetoric directed at the Executive Order, it may or may not be coincidental that there has been no media mention of the DHS OIG Management Alert, dated January 19, 2017.

In 1897, a famous newspaper editorial contained a response to an 8-year old girl who raised the question of the validity of Santa Clause (Is there a Santa Clause).   The response and the editorial is considered the most famous newspaper editorial ever published, not only protecting the eight year old, but causing adults to re-think their own beliefs.   In the spirit of accepting that there just might be a Santa Clause, we’ve identified some of the most mythological statements extracted from the Federal Register (regulatory reporting burden) or the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the annual benefits and costs of Federal Rules and paperwork. No one reconciles the OMB summary with the individual estimates in the Federal Register, which is probably a good thing because believing in government assertions of regulatory benefits or regulatory burdens is analogous to believing in Santa Clause. As illustrated herein, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause and he lives in the minds of those providing estimates for regulatory burdens and/or benefits”.

As we again approach Halloween and the night of tricks or treats, we’ve once again done some exhaustive research (more accurately searching blogs and other reliable sources) as to the trending costumes (favored by DCAA, DCMA or the Current Administration).

On September 22, 2016, approximately 150 professionals attended the first annual “Redstone Edge” conference.  The all-day event, held at the Jackson Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is planned to be an annual event, potentially expanding to two days in September 2017 (starting on September 21, 2017).  

The 2016 conference covered a broad range of topics with an impressive variety of presenters representing government agencies, government contractors, and related advisors, including attorneys and consultants/CPAs.

As some may have seen, on March 10, 2016, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued its 2017 regulatory proposals. However, through marginally reliable resources, we’ve located one significant regulatory deviation being sought by DOD.  We understand that DOD will make this public on April Fool’s Day, 2016.  The following is what we know about this rumored (but could be factual) DOD action.

Client success stories are a huge part of our consulting efforts. Unfortunately, in many cases, due to the nature of the work we do, we can’t always congratulate our clients publicly on their successes. However, when the opportunity arises and we can offer good news about our clients, we appreciate the chance to publicly share those accomplishments, with their permission.

Our client, Main Sail, LLC is a veteran-owned small business certified in ISO 9001:2008 that helps its customers evaluate business needs, as well as develop and implement solutions in the areas of business process management, program and project management, enterprise resource planning, systems engineering and integration and staff augmentation. They provide these services to a variety of federal sector clients including the Department of Defense and related agencies (DLA, DFAS, NAVSEA, et. al) as well as many non-defense related agencies like the DOE, DOI, USDA and GSA.

2015 was an eventful year for our company.  We increased the scope and depth of our service offerings to our customers in 2015 while also adding additional talent and expertise in many key areas of our firm.