Awards

Contracting Excellence Award in memory of Elmer B. Staats

Sponsor: Procurement Round Table, in cooperation with the National Contract Management Association

Award Amount: $5,000

How to Apply: Call for Entries and Application Form (to open in 2025)

Deadline for entries: (to open in 2025)

2024 Winner
Danielle Grunwald currently serves as a Procurement Analyst with the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS). In this role, she is directly responsible for propelling GSA AAS into the position of the single largest provider of SBIR Phase III contracting support throughout the federal government with total awards valued at over $12B. Her efforts have resulted in enabling GSA to meet hundreds of important Department of Defense (DoD) missions using innovative technology solutions developed by small businesses under the SBIR/STTR program.

2023 Winner
Mr. William Milline is a Supervisory Contract Specialist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Strategic Acquisition Center (SAC). His team works diligently to serve their VA customers around the world and ultimately the nation's veterans. One of the team's major efforts is the $3 billion Telehealth recompete portfolio. By leveraging new technologies, they are providing leadership in the realm of virtual/remote healthcare services that will ensure no veteran, regardless of location, is left behind and that they can receive the best healthcare available.

2022 Winner
Ms. Tammy Smith, DISA, ingeniously awarded the $45M Global Force Management contract to modernize the mission-critical Joint Operation Planning and Execution System. When the pandemic threatened the award schedule, Tammy quickly regrouped and hosted a virtual software code review. Using new file-sharing technology and precisely coordinating security to limit access to the software code to 200+ vendor users, she allotted each the same time, tracked user access, and eliminated nonconforming vendors. Her team's efficiency, creativity, and stringent fairness were critical in shaving 51 days off the 297-day procurement, defending against a pre-award protest to the GAO, and achieving $1.47M in savings.

2021 Winner
As Contracting Officer, Ms. Michelle Rand led several Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization successes over the past two years: the $199M Global Service Center contract, providing 24/7 service desk support to 2.1 million DoD users; the $36.6M Defense Collaboration Services and $34M Global Video Services contracts that provided conference, file-sharing, and collaboration capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic; and a $125M pathfinder contract for the $11.2B Defense Enclave Services acquisition.

 

2020 Winner
Ms. Shannon K. Sanders, working with the Defense Information Technical Contracting Organization of the Defense Information Systems Agency, awarded the Agency’s most critical and complex program: Global Solutions Management - Operations (GSM-O) II, a $6.52B single award, 10-year, IDIQ contract to operate and sustain DISA’s networks. She also championed a concept to significantly reduce evaluation time and managed a $160M Cybersecurity Network Operations (CyberNetOps) Design-Deploy-Sustain contracting effort.

2019 Winner
Ms. Lori-Ann Rissler, working with the Kessel Run detachment of the USAF Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, leads an integrated product team that executes the USAF's first Enterprise-wide Other Transaction agreement and other streamlined purchasing platforms.

2018 Winner
Master Sergeant Chad J. Stemick serves as the Deputy Chief for the wing and First Sergeant of the 18th Contracting Squadron, 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan. He manages joint military and multi-national personnel in acquisition of all services and commodities to sustain 55,000 personnel and enable 104 aircraft.

2017 Winner
Mr. Adam Goldstein, Deputy Director of the Army 408th Contracting Support Brigade, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. With his technical guidance and oversight, the 408th CSB team executes over 4,800 actions annually valued over $20 billion in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Freedoms Sentinel, and Operation Spartan Shield.

2016 Winner
Mr. Luis Albert Holguin leads a five member team in the contract execution of a $2.8B development portfolio that is directly sponsored by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD(AT&L))

2015 Winner 
Senior Master Sergeant (SMSgt) Dennis W. Carr, Superintendent, 82nd Contracting Squadron, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas

2014 - 2003 Winners

2014 Winner: Mr. Brian Reese, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA

2013 Winner: Mr. James Michael Owens, Division Chief, Utility Helicopter Directorate, Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama

2012 Winner: CMSgt Bradley Smith, USAF 633rd Contracting Squadron, Langley AFB, Virginia

2011 Winner: Amber L. Caulkins, Contracting Officer and Team Leader, Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois

2010 Winner: Geoffrey Sage, Senior Contracting Officer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland

2009 Winner: David S. Hooker, Chief T&E Evaluation Contracting Branch, Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Florida

2008 Winner: Lee Crane, United States Postal Service Purchasing Specialist, USPS

2007 Winner: Christopher Gerfen, Air Force Electronic Systems Command, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts

2006 Winner: LCDR Kristin Acquavella, U.S. Navy

2005 Winner: Mark L. Strawn, Supervisory Contract Negotiator, Chief, Landing Gear Contracting Branch, USAF

2004 Winner: Lee Kair, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Acquisition Systems, Department of Homeland Security

2003 Winner: Nancy Gunderson, Acquisition and Contracting Team Leader of the Pentagon Renovation Program

PRT John F. Magnotti Award for Acquisition Mentorship: This one-time-only award was presented to Patsy Reeves, Chair of the Air Force Contracting Executive Development Panel, on June 8, 2005, at the Federal Acquisition Conference in honor of John Magnotti, a founder of the Procurement Round Table.

Other awards sites to check out:
Excellence in Partnership Awards
Federal Acquisition Institute Awards
National Contract Management Association Awards