AGENCY SPOTLIGHT: GSA

Professional Development

Do you ever wonder what your colleagues do every day? Curious about the work of agencies outside your own?

Each month, the YGL Boston Professional Development Committee will try to highlight one Boston-based agency to help us all learn more. This month, we continue this series with an overview of GSA.

The GSA was established in 1949 via the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to simplify the procurement, utilization, and disposal of Government property, to reorganize certain agencies of the Government, and for other purposes.

The mission of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is, “GSA leverages the buying power of the federal government to acquire best value for taxpayers and our federal customers. We exercise responsible asset management. We deliver superior workplaces, quality acquisition services and expert business solutions. We develop innovative and effective management policies.” The GSA is working to achieve a zero environment footprint (ZEF) goal. Region 1 has several projects that involve renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, and solar at our properties. GSA has also added hybrid vehicles to our fleet.

GSA is organized into 11 Regions and in FY09 had just under 12,000 employees nation-wide. These employees include architects, IT professionals, contracting officers, accountants, project managers, transportation specialists and many other fields. The agency is comprised of two services: the Public Buildings Service and the Federal Acquisition Service. Although GSA is not as well known as other agencies, GSA provides you with services to help you accomplish your mission.

Chances are you work in a building that is managed by GSA. GSA also leases office space for other agencies in privately owned buildings. If you’ve ever driven a government car, the motor vehicle fleet is managed by GSA. And if your agency has had to acquire and dispose of real and personal property, GSA has probably helped with that too.

To learn about GSA, please visit www.gsa.gov