ISSA has issued (16 August)) a call to action for all members of the professional cleaning industry to contact their US Congressional representatives in opposition to the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI).
Distributors and manufacturers that are US General Services Administration (GSA) schedule holders and currently doing business with the federal government stand a good chance of losing that business and being locked out of any future government contracts. The jansan FSSI was originally scheduled for final contract announcements this month.
“The implementation of the FSSI in its current structure will have dire economic consequences for the thousands of cleaning industry professionals currently doing business with the federal government,” said ISSA legislative affairs director Bill Balek.
“There is no doubt it will severely impact the janitorial and maintenance supply industry in the next few months and years to come,” he added.
ISSA opposes the jansan FSSI based on the fact that the federal government has failed to conduct an economic analysis of the initiative’s impact on small business as required by the Small Business Act and the initiative is in direct contradiction to the policies embodied in the Small Business Act.
Furthermore, as the GSA has proposed its implementation, the jansan FSSI will place an unreasonably burdensome economic impact on the jansan industry and small businesses in general, Balek pointed out.
Under the proposed jansan FSSI, the number of GSA Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) awards will be drastically reduced from the estimated 1,000-plus current vendors to just 21 vendors recognised to supply jansan products to the government.
More devastating will be the mandated requirement that all federal agencies purchase jansan products from only the selected 21 vendors.
Under the proposed request for quotation (RFQ) just six BPAs will be awarded for cleaning compounds and related dispensers; five vendors will be chosen to supply non-motorised cleaning equipment and waste receptacles; five vendors will be selected for providing paper products and related dispensers; and five vendors will be able to supply motorised floor cleaning equipment.
This will lock-out about 980 current businesses relying on GSA contracts for a portion of their revenue streams.