ABCK-AmCham Kuwait hosted a webinar and workshop on ‘How to do Business with the U.S. Military’ with speakers from the U.S. Army’s Regional Contracting Center- Kuwait (RCC-KU), the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Air Force 386th Expeditionary Wing. This event was done in collaboration with AmCham Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman and Qatar; sponsored by AmCham Kuwait’s Chairman’s Club Member – Venice.
The event started with the opening remarks by AmCham Kuwait’s Chairman- Mr. Pete Swift, followed by opening remarks from the event’s sponsor, Venice represented by Mr. Tom Deren, Vice President for the Middle East.
Major Eric Forcey, Contracting Officer and Ms. Nancy Segarra, Procurement Analyst from the Regional Contracting Center –Kuwait (RCC-KU) opened the webinar by covering the following topics: why should companies do business with the U.S. Federal government, what RCC-KU does, what do they buy, how to read solicitations & contracts, which systems do companies need to register in, how to respond to opportunities, government expectations for contractors, common errors which cause rejected invoices, and how to get a positive past performance. The presenters highly encouraged vendors to do business with the U.S. Federal government and highlighted that there were several opportunities available, as they stated that during 2021, RCC-KU spent over $41 Million. The RCC-KU spoke about routine purchases which included commodities and services, as these are something that they often seek.
Technical Sergeant Sheba-Mary Wynn, Infrastructure Flight Chief and Staff Sergeant Michael Roybal, Contracting Officer representing 386th ECONS, spoke about their role and the teams which provide the U.S. government support: construction, services, commodities, Government Purchase Card (GPC) team, as these provide numerous opportunities to local vendors. One important aspect to note is that when the purchasing team sends out direct emails to vendors, they will always come from a .mil or a .gov domain; therefore, they asked that vendors pay attention to avoid being scammed. The presenters also highlighted that companies do not necessarily have to be registered in SAM, as there are smaller purchases done by the GPC team on the spot. These purchases must not exceed 9,800 KWD and construction purchases are limited to 600 KWD.
Ms. Yvette Walker, the Contracting Chief of the Expeditionary District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, highlighted that they are one of the world’s largest public engineering design and construction management agencies. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a large military construction program; however, they also support disaster relief efforts by responding to national and global disasters by providing engineering, contingency planning, and construction support capabilities. Ms. Walker also spoke about current and upcoming opportunities with the Expeditionary District to support efforts in Kuwait and in Iraq, as they are currently soliciting for specific projects which can be found in SAM. Capabilities can be sent to her team directly.
The presentations concluded with a Q&A followed by a one-hour workshop on ‘How to do Business with the U.S. Military from a Contractor’s perspective’ with AmCham Bahrain’s speaker, Mr. Michael Sedge partner at Relyant Global Company.
To conclude, the presenters ensured that vendors understood that having no previous experience does not disqualify them from doing contracts with them. They also encourage companies to collaborate in scopes in which one cannot fulfill certain capabilities.
The U.S. Military works carefully to meet the needs of its customers, while ensuring that contractors receive impartial, fair, and equitable treatment.
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