On Thursday, June 13, 2013, the House Small Business Committee conducted a hearing on the implementation of JanSan Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI).  The key issue addressed was the intent to make the Federal Strategic Sourcing (FSSI) Blanket Purchasing Agreements (BPAs) mandatory across all federal government spending, as expressed by Joseph Jordan-Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and Jeff Koses (GSA).

“There are lessons to be learned from the GSA pilot FSSI for Office Supplies (OS2),” states Professor Samuel D. Bornstein, a lead researcher on the impact of FSSI on small business. “The GSA pilot awarded BPAs to just 15 office supply vendors nationwide and this FSSI for Office Supplies appears to be the model for all future FSSIs. The main problem is that since June 2010, when the FSSI for OS2 was implemented, there was significant damage to small businesses and the US economy directly related to the FSSI.” 

As evidence to the mandatory implementation of the FSSI BPAs. Bornstein & Song Research points out that most Federal Agencies have issued Commitment Letters to use the FSSI Solutions for Office Supplies, which funnels the purchasing of office supplies through just 15 vendors nationwide.  These Commitment Letters enable these other agencies to follow the lead of the GSA which has already mandated the 15 FSSI BPAs for Office Supplies purchases.

The Federal Agencies issuing Commitment Letters to purchase Office Supplies from these same 15 awarded FSSI BPAs are:  Department of Army, Department of Air Force, Department of Navy, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Interior, Department of the Justice, Department of Labor, Department of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Social Security Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Professor Bornstein and Bornstein & Song have been monitoring the FSSI since its inception. Their research provides compelling evidence that FSSI has and will cause significant damage to small business and the U.S. economy. They have issued two Surveys, which are currently being processed: Bornstein & Song National Survey to Assess the GSA FSSI BPA Schedule 75 Office Supplies---3 Years Later and Bornstein & Song JanSan & MRO National Survey - June 2013. Both surveys will be completed shortly.

According to Bornstein, “The JanSan & MRO community should be aware that as their Office Supplies colleagues have seen their businesses shattered by the OS2 FSSI, the JanSan & MRO business community is next as the GSA intends to award only 15 FSSI BPAs for JanSan and 15 FSSI BPAs for MRO in August 2013."

“As with the Office Supplies (OS2), JanSan & MRO can expect that the FSSI BPAs for JanSan & MRO will be mandated across all Federal Agencies,” Bornstein added.

To view the full hearing and updates about JanSan & MRO FSSI, visit www.JanSanFSSI.com.