Thanks for sharing. This really doesn't surprise me at all. I started as a contractor at the National Park Service before I became a Federal employee. As a contractor, I was paid salary and fringe benefits equivalent to a Federal employee -- plus NPS had to pay a 10% overhead. Unfortunately, the Federal government tends to measure it's workforce by the number of Federal employee slots available (and not the number of people actually working for the government such as contractors, etc.). In an effort to look good by downsizing, they reduce the number of Federal employee slots. However, since the amount of work isn't reduced, many agencies outsource (often at a higher cost) to get the work done. The funds are often there, but not the authority to hire Federal employees. ****************************************************** Laura M. Mahoney Grants Administration Specialist Institute of Museum and Library Services 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 223 Washington, DC 20506 (202) 219-3684 (202) 606-0395 FAX [log in to unmask] ***************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Julienne Crawford [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 2:52 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: NPS Employees More Cost Effective - Press Release The NPS just released this Press Release last Friday in regard to the privatizing their archeologists and curators. A study determined it was not cost effective to privatize. National Park Service News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? August 8, 2003 John Wright 202 208-4396 David Barna 202 208-6843 Paul Winegar 404 562-3182 National Park Service Archeological Center Employees Determined to be More Cost Effective than Private Contractors (Washington, D.C.) --- A recently completed cost comparison as part of a competitive sourcing study determined that federal workers at the National Park Service's Southeast Archeological Center in Tallahassee can perform the center's mission more economically than contracting with private firms. The study by private consultants is part of a government-wide examination of selected federal jobs directed by the Office of Management and Budget. The Park Service is scheduled to study about 1,700 total jobs nationwide as part of what is called the A-76 process. "This is good news for us," said National Park Service Director Fran Mainella. "This supports what I have been saying all along, that our employees are the most dedicated that I have ever worked with and I believe will continue to demonstrate their outstanding value to the American people." According to Jerre Brumbelow, chief of contracting in the Park Service's southeast regional office, the study of the Tallahassee center staff, which consists of mostly archeologists and museum curators, compared costs for existing contracts for archeological work awarded to private companies with the costs of performing the same work in-house using government employees. "The study showed that in this instance using private contractors would cost nearly twice as much as doing the work with our in-house staff," Brumbelow said. "It proves that our employees who are dedicated to the mission of the service, can provide more resource protection for the parks than if we contracted it out. Our career professionals are able to provide archeological services to national park sites in the southeast region, provide skilled archeological expertise to other federal agencies and conserve thousands of artifacts now in storage at the center more efficiently than an outside source." In the just completed study of the Southeast Archeological Center, the Park Service used already published contracting data in comparing the costs of federal vs. private sector competition. Results of the study can be found on the Fed Biz Opps website located at http://ideasec.nbc.gov. In the left-hand column select Synopsis/Announcement. Under Synopsis, type in National Park Service for agency and then under Action Type, select S: special notice. It should correspond with Special notice A76 Southeast Archeological Center, Tallahassee, Florida. -NPS- EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICATM The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people Anne Vawser Archeological Information Management Team Leader Midwest Archeological Center National Park Service ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . 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