PrioritiesBlogFeature

GSA Acting Administrator Announces New Mission and Priorities

MEMORANDUM

To:   All GSA Staff

From: Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini

 

It has been a busy nine months since I joined GSA as Acting Administrator. During that time, it has been my honor to get to know and work alongside you. I am incredibly proud of everything that we have accomplished together in 2012, and your public service has made a meaningful difference in the lives of people across the country. As we begin a new calendar year together, I am confident we will continue to build upon the progress that we have already made and make GSA the model of efficiency and integrity for the entire federal government.

At a time of shrinking budgets, GSA’s role of providing the highest possible value at the lowest possible cost to our partner agencies has never been more important.

Your input and insights have been vital to the progress we have made so far. As a result of your feedback, we have a new mission statement that captures who we are at GSA and what we do:
“The mission of GSA is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people.”
The interactions that inspired this new mission statement have also enabled us to focus on six priorities for GSA in the upcoming year:

 

Delivering Better Value and Savings.By using the purchasing power of the federal government, we will drive down prices, deliver better value, and reduce costs to our customer agencies. As a result, these agencies can focus their resources and attention on their core missions. We will also step up our efforts to save agencies money by creating 10 new ways that the entire government can purchase resources smarter and more efficiently. In addition, we are looking to maximize the value of our real estate assets and reduce our federal footprint. At the same time, we are looking to help our partner agencies find the space and services they need to serve the American people.

Serving our Partners. GSA will ensure that doing business with us is as easy and reliable as possible by simplifying and streamlining our processes and systems. We are dedicated to providing an excellent customer experience for our partner agencies and vendors. GSA will create a culture of continuous improvement by always searching for better ways to meet our customers’ needs and expectations.

Expanding Opportunities for Small Businesses. Delivering the best value for government and the American people requires taking advantage of all resources. Central to that approach is expanding opportunities for small businesses throughout the country. GSA will share ideas and best practices across the organization and with our customer agencies. We are working with the small business community, including businesses owned by veteran, women, minority, and disadvantaged entrepreneurs, to strengthen partnerships and support the success of our vendors.
Making a More Sustainable Government. Going green saves green, and we are committed to a sustainable government that reduces energy and water use in federal buildings, responsibly disposes of electronic waste, and greens the federal fleet. GSA will also continue to work with businesses to make sustainable products and services readily available and affordable to our partner agencies. GSA has begun including life-cycle costs into our planning and decision making. We are also beginning the widespread implementation of innovative technologies and best practices from sources such as our own Green Proving Ground. Through our efforts, we can reduce our government’s environmental and fiscal footprints.

 

Leading with Innovation. GSA is a leader of innovation in public service. For example, GSA was the first government agency to move to the cloud and to offer a process to streamline security of cloud services for the entire federal government. We are promoting an innovative, flexible, open workplace that will shrink the federal footprint while also serving as a model for federal offices for the future. In the coming year, we will continue to develop innovative cost-saving solutions that will be shared across the government.

Building a Stronger GSA. We must provide our own employees with the same high-quality service and support that we provide our partner agencies. Within GSA we need to give our employees the very best training and resources available so that they can deliver our mission as efficiently as possible. We will emphasize collaboration and cooperation across our business lines and throughout the agency so that our customers are receiving the best service from GSA. We will guarantee that when we do something, we do it once and do it well.

Finally, with all of these priorities in mind, GSA has a responsibility to the American people to carry out all of our activities, from our biggest purchases to our most routine leases, with integrity and the highest level of performance.

I look forward to discussing these priorities with you, both in the workplace and on Chatter, in the weeks and months ahead. In 2013, working together, we can continue to improve GSA and find ways to offer even better service to our partner agencies and the American people.