Government Marketing News

UPDATED Week of Monday, July 26, 2010

Published by: Federal Buyers Guide

XOMA Receives $750,000 Milestone Payment From AVEO Pharmaceuticals

XOMA Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced receipt of a $750,000 milestone payment under its collaboration with AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The milestone payment resulted from AVEO's recent initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate its AV-299 antibody for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. AV-299 is a humanized antibody to hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

XOMA has signed more than 60 license and collaboration agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies related to its patented technologies and its antibody discovery, development and optimization expertise. These agreements cover a number of potential product candidates in various stages of clinical and preclinical development for which XOMA may be entitled to future milestone and royalty payments.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/xoma-receives-750000-milestone-payment-from-aveo-pharmaceuticals-2010-07-26?reflink=MW_news_stmp

CIGNA Wins $243 Million Medicare Contract

CIGNA Corp.'s subsidiary, CIGNA Government Services LLC, won a Medicare contract with an estimated value of $243 million, the health insurer said Friday. The award is for Jurisdiction 15 Medicare Parts A and B Administrative Contract by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It includes administration, processing and paying Medicare physician and hospital claims for the states of Kentucky and Ohio. It also includes home health and hospice claim processing services for Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming and Washington, D.C.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/ci_cigna-wins-243-million-medicare-contract-1062704.html

TLW Public Relations Signs Contract With CalPERS

TLW Public Relations announced today that it has signed an agreement with the California Public Employees? Retirement System (CalPERS) to perform as-needed writing and editorial services for CalPERS? Public Affairs and Communications Support Services Spring-Fed Pool (a pool of PR firms). CalPERS is the largest public employees' retirement agency in the United States.

?I?m very excited; I?ve worked for several California cities and counties, so I know firsthand the scope, and the importance of the work done by CalPERS,? says TLW Public Relations? Owner Deloris Roach. ?This is a great opportunity for us,? she adds.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100726005040&newsLang=en

Astrotech Subsidiary Secures $9.5 Million NASA Contract

Astrotech Corporation, a leading provider of commercial aerospace services, today announced that NASA awarded its Astrotech Space Operations business unit a new contract for payload processing services for expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) and evolved expendable launch vehicles (EELVs) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) at the Eastern Range in Florida.

"We look forward to continuing our relationship with NASA in support of missions at the Eastern Range," stated Astrotech Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas B. Pickens III. "We are proud of our capabilities and facilities, and look forward to providing NASA with a full complement of processing and facility services."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/astrotech-subsidiary-secures-95-million-nasa-contract-2010-07-26?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Defense Department creates online hub for social media

Social media at the Defense Department has gotten so popular it now has its own Web page ?hub? to coordinate it all. DOD today launched an updated Social Media Hub Web page to provide quick links to service-affiliated Facebook, Twitter and YouTube social media sites as well as policy documents, training manuals and other information and to provide a forum for discussion.

http://fcw.com/articles/2010/07/22/defense-creates-online-hub-for-social-media.aspx

New Lithium ETF Powers the Green Movement

Global X Funds, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds, launched today the world's first Lithium ETF (NYSE Arca: LIT). This is the first ETF to offer investors targeted access to a resource industry critical for the renewable energy and green movement.

"The Global X Lithium ETF is an efficient way to invest in what we refer to as a 'green' commodity because of its direct correlation to the renewable energy market such as electric cars and energy storage," said Bruno del Ama, CEO of Global X Funds.

http://sunpluggers.com/prnewswire/prnewswire.php?filename=201007230943PR_NEWS_USPR_____NY39654.xml

NIH wins approval for third CIOSP contract

The National Institutes of Health will remain one of the few agencies to host a governmentwide acquisition contract, as officials approve its Chief Information Officer Solutions and Partners 3 (CIOSP-3) GWAC, the Office of Management and Budget has said. The next step for NIH?s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) is to issue the solicitations for the contract.

http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2010/07/22/nih-ciosp3-recertified.aspx

Etegent Technologies Awarded Two Navy Research Contracts

Etegent Technologies Ltd., formerly SDL, a high-tech, research and development company, today announced that it has been awarded two Phase I SBIR research contracts from the Naval Air Warfare Center in Patuxent River, Md. The projects include the development of low cost, dual purpose, control and diagnostic sensors for aircraft turbine engines and the development of robust pressure transducers for aircraft turbine engine control systems. In addition to the two new contracts, Etegent is also currently working on three additional SBIR projects with the U.S. Navy, including a Phase II SBIR contract focused on the development of an automated tool for reporting aircraft damage and queuing and screening repairs.

For the diagnostic sensors project, Etegent will demonstrate the feasibility of a new sensor suite concept that can sense pressure, temperature and vibration in an aircraft turbine engine, and incorporate self diagnosis/performance verification and IEEE 1451.4 Standard for Transducer Electronic Data Sheets capability. This project is supported by the Joint Strike Fighter and PMA-0261, H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopter programs.

http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=441807&Itemid=33

Motorola asks why lower bid for Monroe County communications system lost

When Monroe County created a local development corporation to provide a new public safety communications system, officials there said it would save money. But the losing bidder for one of the project's first major contracts wonders why it was passed over for a company whose bid was about $11 million more. In a letter sent late last week to NaviChase, the company working on behalf of the county that awarded the bid to Harris Corp., Motorola Inc. Vice President Patty Holtschneider asks for a meeting to find out why her company lost the bid.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100722/NEWS01/7220340/1002/NEWS

Denver Council Considers E-Verify Requirement For Contracts

Construction companies wanting to do business with the city of Denver may soon be required to use the federal government?s E-Verify system to prove that all new employees are legally entitled to work in the United States. The City Council?s economic development committee voted 4 to 1 Wednesday to forward the proposal to the entire council. It would apply to construction companies winning city contracts.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24346190/detail.html

BAE, Rolls-Royce Face Talks With U.K. Defense Ministry on Reducing Costs

The U.K. Defense Ministry is to hold cost-saving discussions with 11 of its top suppliers, including BAE Systems Plc, Rolls-Royce Plc and QinetiQ Group Plc, as the government seeks to narrow the record budget deficit. Senior ministry officials will also meet this summer with Lockheed Martin Corp., Finmecannica SpA, Thales SA and others, the minister in charge of defense procurement, Peter Luff, said in an interview in London yesterday. The immediate aim is to save more than 100 million pounds ($150 million) before making deeper spending cuts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-21/bae-rolls-royce-face-talks-with-u-k-defense-ministry-on-cost-savings.html

Astrium Contracts MDA for Technology Support; Selected for U.K. Science Hub

Canadian satellite company MDA has been awarded a contract to provide four advanced technology solutions to EADS Astrium for integration on Astra satellites, MDA announced July 21. The contract, worth more than $12.5 million, will see MDA provide support technology for satellites that Astrium is building for SES. The satellites are scheduled for launch between 2012 and 2014 and will provide next generation broadcast, VSAT and broadband services in Europe and Africa, as well as add new capacity for the SES group over the coming years.

http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/headlines/Astrium-Contracts-MDA-for-Technology-Support-Selected-for-U-K-Science-Hub_34624.html

HHS seeks help with catalog of health treatments

The Health and Human Services Department on Monday issued a request for information on constructing an online catalog of studies that compare the outcomes of medical treatments. The effort, largely funded by stimulus dollars, is aimed at aiding decisions on cost reimbursements and courses of treatment. HHS asked the health care community for help organizing a database of comparative effectiveness research, which is scientific evidence demonstrating what treatments work best for individual patients. The Obama administration says such information is critical to lowering health care costs and to improving patient results. The 2009 Recovery Act dedicated $1.1 billion to comparative effectiveness research.

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100719_6896.php?oref=topnews

Harris antennas will greatly accelerate NOAA weather data processing

Harris Corp. has won a 10-year, $130 million contract to build a ground antenna system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that will enable the agency to receive and process weather data 40 times faster than today, as well as deliver weather images directly to end users. Harris and its teammates, General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies and ARES Corp., will supply the antennas and control systems for NOAA?s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R) program, a Harris statement today said.

http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2010/07/20/harris-antennas-noaa-weather-data.aspx

BCWipe Total WipeOut Now On GSA Via Ideal System Solutions

Value added reseller Ideal System Solutions is proud to announce today that Jetico's BCWipe Total WipeOut software for erasing entire hard drives is now available on their GSA Schedule. For many years, BCWipe has been trusted by the U.S. Department of Defense for permanently deleting selected data or erasing entire hard drives beyond recovery. U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense, can now easily make volume license purchases of BCWipe Total WipeOut through Ideal's GSA Schedule.

"Our government and military customers frequently request enterprise licensing of BCWipe Total WipeOut for use as part of their protocol when wiping out hard drives and when formatting computers," says Fran Melia, Account Manager at Ideal System Solutions. "Adding such highly valued software like BCWipe Total WipeOut to our GSA Schedule is particularly exciting because Ideal is now the first and only source for BCWipe Total WipeOut on GSA."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bcwipe-total-wipeout-now-on-gsa-via-ideal-system-solutions-2010-07-20?reflink=MW_news_stmp

AT&T Government Solutions Wins $350 Million Task Order From the U.S. Department of Agriculture

AT&T Government Solutions business unit announced it has won a task order worth up to $350 million to provide Managed Security Services and deploy a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Data Services. The task order was awarded under the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Universal contract vehicle. Under the terms of the task order, AT&T will utilize its transition planning and network management capabilities to complete a Department-wide managed IP network architecture that enables shared services across a new, unified infrastructure. AT&T will provide data services to over 5,000 USDA locations across the country.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-government-solutions-wins-350-million-task-order-from-the-us-department-of-agriculture-98915639.html

GSA Ponders Prize Contract Vehicle

The General Services Administration may add a contract program that would allow agencies to buy from a menu of technology products, marketing services and technical assistance for running contests. An April White House memo required that GSA "as expeditiously as possible" craft a contract vehicle for purchasing such goods. GSA this week released a request for information from companies to get a sense of how many eligible federal contractors possess the technology or advertising expertise to pull off successful online competitions.

http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2010/07/gsa_ponders_prize_contract_vehicle.php?oref=latest_posts

Nigerian Content: Indigenous companies get $1.8bn contracts from ExxonMobil

TO demonstrate its leadership role in Nigerian Content development, ExzonMobil affiliate companies in Nigeria say they awarded contracts in excess of $1.8bn to Nigeria-registered companies in 2009. The companies also admitted that 43 percent of this amount was domiciled in-country, while majority were executed offshore. The American giant and world?s biggest oil company by asset base told journalists in Lagos on Friday at a workshop that its annual budget for Nigeria is about $2bn, and that it is striving to comply with regulatory requirements to boost indigenous participation in the nation?s oil and gas industry.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/07/19/nigerian-content-indigenous-companies-get-1-8bn-contracts-from-exxonmobil/

URS Gets Vehicle Maintenance and Modification Award by U.S. Army

URS Corp. announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command to provide maintenance, repair and modification services for military vehicles and material handling equipment at the Red River Army Depot in New Boston, Texas. In a release, URS said the contract, which has a one-year base period followed by two one-year options, has a maximum value of $140 million to URS, assuming both option years are exercised.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/ursw_urs-gets-vehicle-maintenance-and-modification-award-by-u-s-army-1051412.html

Office Depot won't pursue new 'onerous' government contract

Office Depot Inc. has decided not to seek a contract that has helped it sell office supplies to government agencies nationwide since 1996. Citing "onerous" contract terms that would lead to an operating loss, the Boca Raton-based retailer announced after the market closed Friday that it won't bid for the new contract with Los Angeles County. The agreement serves as the lead agency contract for office supplies under the nonprofit U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/office-depot-wont-pursue-new-onerous-government-contract-811689.html

Contract Award Updates:

• Department of Defense, Updated July 19: http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4325
• Department of Defense, Updated July 20: http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4326
• Department of Defense, Updated July 21: http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4327
• Department of Defense, Updated July 22: http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4328
• Department of Defense, Updated July 23: http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4329

Events for Government

TeraGrid '10

TeraGrid is an open scientific discovery infrastructure combining leadership class resources at eleven partner sites to create an integrated, persistent computational resource.

Each year, the nation's high performance computing (HPC) enthusiasts gather at the annual TeraGrid Conference. More than 400 academic researchers, technologists, educators, students, resource providers and government officials are expected to attend TeraGrid'10, August 2-5, 2010, at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA.

If you have questions or if you wish to pay by check, please contact Sonia Nayak at s1nayak@sdsc.edu or (858) 822-0990.

https://www.teragrid.org/web/events/tg10

SpeechTEK 2010

BREAKING THE SPEECH BARRIER: Positioned for Recovery. Primed for Growth.

As we recover from the biggest recession of our time, companies will notice many aspects of their competitive landscape, business relationships, and customer interactions have changed. We need fresh ideas and new solutions to emerge stronger.

Fortunately, the barriers for speech technologies are falling, enabling businesses to use speech in innovative ways to position them for growth and recovery. Today, speech provides opportunities beyond the call center with multimodal and mobile solutions for customer self-service, advanced speaker identification and verification technologies to provide simple and secure login procedures, and analytics solutions that provide a wealth of data to understand and anticipate customer needs. To benefit from these developments, organizations need a plan for including speech as part of a cross-channel communications strategy that engages customers via the telephone, web, SMS, chat, and social networks. SpeechTEK 2010 will take place August 2-4, 2010 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. Questions? Contact Events Coordinator Christy Mauro at cmauro@infotoday.com.

http://www.speechtek.com/2010/

LandWarNet 2010

LandWarNet: Providing Global Cyber Dominance to Joint/Combined Commanders.

The 2010 LandWarNet Conference is the premier forum to bring Government and Industry together to openly communicate commercial best business practices and government implementations.

LandWarNet 2010 will take place August 3-5, 2010 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, FL.

Registration questions: landwarnetreg@jspargo.com or call 703-449-6418.

http://www.afcea.org/events/landwarnet/10/intro.asp

ASHRAE/DOE Data Center Energy Efficiency Workshop

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is offering a full-day workshop on opportunities for improving energy efficiency in datacom facilities. This event is offered in conjunction with GovEnergy. It is a live event that will take place on August 15, 2010 in Dallas, Texas.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/femp/training/course_detail_live.cfm/CourseDateId=2

Gov 2.0 Summit

Government is too big, too intrusive, too powerful. Yet at the same time, it's clear that government is unable to keep up with all the problems of our world, to create a safety net for all our citizens, to manage the increasing complexity of our society. So we keep adding more programs, more deficits (under both Republican and Democratic administrations), more polarization, more paralysis. Tea parties, Congressional gridlock, outrage and hope - none of them have been enough to change the dynamic.

Join us at Gov 2.0 Summit 2010 and hear from the leaders and decision makers refining the concept of government-as-platform and exploring the ways in which it can be used for transformation; creating a community of Gov2.0 leaders who can push change forward and outward year-round; and answering the President?s call to strengthen our democracy.

Gov 2.0 Summit will take place September 7-8, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.

http://www.gov2summit.com/gov2010

Compiled By:
Carla Amurao
Federal Buyers Guide Inc.