Larry Allen’s expertise in government contracting spans four decades; three books he either authored or contributed to on the subject, and a college course he created and taught for several years at The George Washington University.
In March, Allen was appointed as the General Services Administration’s associate administrator for governmentwide policy and chief acquisition officer — a major role made more prominent after executive action centralized many government procurement functions within GSA.
To Allen, the confluence of a new administration and an “exceptionally dynamic” leadership team at GSA represented an irresistible opportunity to truly reform government procurement not seen since Allen and the previous generation of practitioners ushered in contracting reforms in the 1990s.
“What brought me back into government service was the ability to work on federal acquisition reform. I really think that we now have a unique opportunity in government to streamline acquisition,” Allen told GovExec TV in an interview that will air May 20. “Seldom do you get a chance to work on acquisition reform twice in one career, and so I really feel like I have a unique opportunity to make an impact here.”…