Behind the Curtain at TCG

GPC asking for feedback on grant receipt timeliness

In the Federal Register last week, the GPC issues this notice, which "announces an outreach effort for feedback on, topical items that impact individuals/organizations' ability to submit , grant applications in a timely fashion." Anyone can submit comments up to the January 31 deadline, through the form on this page.

NGP 2/2/10 draft agenda released

The draft agenda for the February 2 NGP webcast and meeting is now available. You can register to attend in person by e-mailing TheNGP@AOL.com, or attend the (free) webcast by going to http://tcg.acrobat.com/thengp at 1.30pm on February 2.

1:30 pm -1:40 pm - Introductory Remarks
1:40 pm -2:20 pm - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Update - GAO, RATB and OMB (invited)
2:20 pm – 2:35 pm - Grants.gov Update
2:35 pm – 2:55 pm – State, Local and Non-profit Collaboration for Improved Grants Management/Grants Streamlining
2:55 pm – 3:00 pm - Closing Remarks and Next Webcast

Learn about the MAX Federal Community

The MAX Federal Community now has almost 27,000 users. This is an incredible achievement, enabling staff across the Federal government to collaborate using some really great technology. FCW is hosting an "eSeminar" all about it, with the Community's master gardener, Emily Fort, talking about...

• How agencies can enable information-sharing and debate in a secure environment;
• The best ways to ensure information-quality and accountability in an open forum;
• How interagency working-groups can use collaborative technologies to not only share, but create meaningful content;
• Knowledge-management implications for federal agencies; and
• About the next-generation collaborative environment.

Go here to learn more and sign up

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TCG Named as a SmartCEO Future 50 Fast Growth Company

TCG has been named by SmartCEO as one its Emerging Growth Future 50 Fast Growth Companies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  Washington SmartCEO magazine, in partnership with Clifton Gunderson LLP, announced the publication’s fifth annual Future 50 winners in the January 2010 issue.

The Future 50 program recognizes the 50 fastest-growing companies in the Greater Washington area based on employee and revenue growth. In addition to the Future 50 companies, SmartCEO also recognized Emerging Growth winning companies under $10 million in revenue and Blue Chip winning companies, with excess of $150 million, or more, in revenue.  TCG was named as an Emerging Growth company. For more details, see the press release on the TCG website.

TCG’s Dan Turner Featured on Leaders Portfolio

Leaders Portfolio with Rebecca Blacksmith, which airs on Washington DC’s Money 1260 Radio, featured TCG's Dan Turner as a guest on this prestigious show.  The interview aired during the 11 a.m. program on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 on WWRC-1260AM. You can listen to an on-demand audiocast of the interview at http://leadersportfolio.com/archives/1622.  For more information, see the press release on the TCG website. 

TCG’s Dan Turner to Participate in Entrepreneur Mentoring Program

TCG President Dan Turner will serve as a 2009-2010 Participant in the Entrepreneur Mentoring Program (EMP) in the Greater Philadelphia area. A partnership between the William J. Clinton Foundation and Inc. magazine, EMP facilitates structured, high-impact mentoring relationships over a one-year period between some of the nation’s most successful business leaders and entrepreneurs running emerging growth companies in America’s underserved communities.  Read more in the press release on the TCG website.

OMB wants your ideas on how to improve federal programs!

Via the ever-vigilant Cornelia Chebinou of the NGP and NASACT:

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has established Partner4Solutions.gov to gather solutions and best practices to improve service delivery, payment accuracy, administrative efficiency, and reduce access barriers in federally funded assistance programs. OMB has asked that we distribute t the link to this website.

States and local governments are already addressing these issues head-on and have identified many innovative approaches. Partner4Solutions.gov is an opportunity for taxpayers, program participants, and Federal, State, and Local program administrators to provide their input and begin a dialogue to better understand some of the on-the-ground best practices in this area.

This website is also a central element in meeting the transparency and collaboration principles of Executive Order 13520 – “Reducing Improper Payments and Eliminating Waste in Federal Programs.”

Please join this effort as a partner by contributing your ideas and solutions at Partner4Solutions.gov.

And back to Grants.gov we go!

Jason Miller at FederalNewsRadio reports this morning that the agencies who moved away from Grants.gov to service Recovery Act grants must start using it again by March 31. The instruction was included in budget passback language provided to agencies earlier this month.

This news was anticipated but will still come as a disappointment to many who experienced a great deal of success in building their own grant application receipt mechanisms for ARRA grants. OMB told agencies to find alternatives to Grants.gov for Recovery Act grant applications, where possible, due to concerns with Grants.gov's performance. HHS, which runs Grants.gov, has spent $6 million to improve the system's performance, and the system appears to have become more stable as a result.

Over many years, OMB and agencies worked together to develop a single platform for grant opportunity publication and application receipt. OMB appears unwilling to discard that investment of time and resources and allow agencies to continue to develop alternative solutions.

In the meantime, GSA, Energy, and Interior have been developing a pilot system that replicates much of Grants.gov's existing functionality, with the goal of establishing a more robust application and technical architecture for the next version of the system. It is unknown when or if this pilot will ever be used in full production for all agencies, or when that might happen.

GPC webcast set for 12/10/09 at 2pm EST

As we reported earlier, the Grants Policy Committee webcast is set for December 10th at 2pm. Here's the latest agenda:

• Introduction
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Reporting Overview, Lessons Learned, and Question and Answer (Q & A)
• Government Accountability Office Findings on ARRA Recipient Reporting and Q & A
• Single Audit Pilot on ARRA Funds and Q & A
• Quick GPC Update
• Final Q & A
• Close

More details on how to see the webcast and register to attend in person are available here.

TCG Re-awarded GSA Schedule

TCG has been has been re-awarded its GSA Schedule Number GS-00F-0034P for a third time by the General Services Administration.  The new term of the renewal will carry the program through November 2014 and provide government agencies with continued easy access to purchase TCG’s services at a pre-negotiated rate.