The Government Purchase Card (GPC) program has been around since 1986. Over the past 30+ years, the federal government has experienced new generations of charge card contracts and every generation has benefited from innovative charge card offerings. Today, the GPC program operates under the General Services Administration (GSA) SmartPay program and is the largest charge card and payment solutions program in the world with over 556,000 accounts.

A Look at Small Business Utilization on Unison Marketplace in FY19

Directing spending dollars to American small businesses is a central goal of federal contracting. In 1953, Congress passed the Small Business Act which declared “the Government should aid, counsel, assist, and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns,” in order to "insure that a fair proportion of the total sales of Government property be made to such enterprises, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation".1 This directive serves to support a healthy and diverse supplier base of small businesses, which are the backbone of the American economy and job creators in communities across the country.

Technology innovations are applied to business processes everywhere—enabling employees to be more efficient, more productive and save time. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be found in everything from billing and reporting to timesheet submission and credit card activations.

Today, January 20th, we celebrate the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was an inspirational and powerful civil rights activist and is celebrated for his leadership in movements to help end racial segregation in the United States. His most famous “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 in front of over 250,000 civil rights supporters at the Lincoln Memorial. This speech was a defining moment in the civil rights movement inspiring thousands of people to fight for human equality and to support love rather than hate. He was a proud advocate of non-violent protests, which helped him become the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. King was later assassinated in 1968 and shortly after, a bill was introduced to honor him on his birthday. After years of protest, Martin Luther King Day was first observed in 1986 as a federal holiday that we continue to observe every year on the third Monday of January (King's birthday is January 15). So today, we say Happy Birthday, Dr. King and thank you for your leadership in helping to make our country a better place.

The DoD is implementing a contractor cybersecurity certification process in accordance with DFARS clause 252.204-7012.  Contracts leaders at our recent Executive Roundtable panel discussion, Contracts’ Challenge: Cybersecurity and DFARS 252.204-7012, outline the following implications of DoD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC):