CFO-ADMIN NEWS YOU CAN USE

A Monthly Newsletter from ITA Administration
Office of the Chief Financial Officer

July 8, 2009

 

Message from the CFO

 

In this issue of CFO-Admin News You Can Use we focus on community involvement.  Community involvement includes mentoring, volunteering and being active on boards of organizations - basically, sharing your time and talents to improve your community.  Getting involved allows you to meet new people, have experiences you might never have had otherwise, and gives you a sense of being invested in something bigger than yourself.  In short, a volunteering opportunity can be a benefit for a person or family in any location.  I am pleased that staff in CFO-Admin are volunteering their time to make a difference.  You can make a difference as well.

  

 

“Feds Feed Families” Food Drive

 

DOC is participating in a Federal Government food drive, “Feds Feed Families,”  taking place in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area this summer.  The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is coordinating the food drive in partnership with the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council. 

 

“Feds Feed Families” encourages DC Metropolitan area-based Federal employees to bring non-perishable food items to their offices on the last Thursday and Friday of June (25th and 26th) and July (30^th and 31^st) and August (27^th and 28^th) for collection and delivery to the Capital Area Food Bank, which is currently facing a severe shortage.

 

The Capital Area Food Bank serves more than 700 food pantries, soup kitchens and other service organizations in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland.  By contributing to this important endeavor, DOC employees are helping area families and communities during a time of great need.

 

DOC is in the midst of planning for the food drive and has set up separate locations in the MD and VA Commerce facilities (NOAA, NIST, CENSUS, NTIS and PTO) in order to reach its employees.  In a letter to each bureau describing the Government-wide effort, DOC Director for Management and Organization, John J. Phelan, III, cited the Department’s “strong reputation” for the way it responds to requests for giving.  “I have no doubt that Commerce employees will respond with vigor to the immediate need -- one that lies within our midst, in our neighborhoods, and among those we know,” wrote Phelan. There will be  designated collection points in the Herbert C. Hoover Building.

 

ITA's food drive coordinator is Mr. Ed Yang from the Import Administration.  According to Ed, during the June collection, over 20 tons of food were collected in the DC area and 24% of that was from the Commerce Department.  ITA is planning events in conjunction with the next two collections.  Look for the announcements about how you can get involved.

Office of Strategic Resources’ Dedicated Volunteer

 

There are numerous examples of ITA employees engaging in the wider community by volunteering their energy and time.  CFO-Admin, Office of Strategic Resources’ employee Mary Hui Tian is an active member of the Tzu Chi Foundation.  Tzu Chi’s aim is to contribute to the betterment of social and community services, medical care, education and humanism in Taiwan and around the world.  The foundation has helped establish the world’s third largest marrow donor registry. 

 

From the first 30 members, housewives who saved two cents from their grocery money each day to help the poor, the Foundation has grown to over five million members in 45 countries.  Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation USA was established in California in 1984 and has 62 local offices with 100,000 members in the U.S.  Tzu Chi’s missions focus on giving material aid to the needy and inspiring love and humanity to both givers and receivers.

 

There is a long list of activities in which Mary participates monthly through the Foundation’s Washington Chapter.  One such activity is Meals on Wheels where she and co-members teamed up with the Red Cross to serve meals to the homeless.  “We drove this food truck to all the different gathering places to serve dinner to homeless people,” says Tian.  “They were so appreciative and kept on thanking us for serving them.” 

 

Tian has joined other members of Tzu Chi to serve vegetarian food, each Saturday, at a Baltimore homeless shelter for woman with small children.  She also serves vegetarian food once a month at Sophia House, a homeless women’s shelter in Rockville, MD.  On Sundays, she and her co-volunteers serve breakfast and dinner at a men’s homeless shelter in Rockville (on East Gude Drive).  On occasions during the year, members serve lunch and provide gifts and entertainment for seniors who live in the Wahluck Department complex in Chinatown.  Tzu Chi has collaborated with a Silver Spring based Catholic Church to serve groceries to impoverished members of the Latino community.  “We try to serve 60 families every Saturday,” says Tian.  Tzu Chi has also teamed up with the Marriott and participated in the cleanup of the Potomac Shore once a year, an activity in which Tian has volunteered. 

 

For exploring various volunteer opportunities, contact Volunteers of American for District of Columbia, Maryland & Virginia at http://www.voaches.org/

 

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ITA HQ Rotation Program

 

This year ITA introduced a new employee development program called the ITA HQ Rotation Program.  The purpose of the program is to enhance employees’ skill sets, broaden their knowledge and perspectives on ITA’s mission, and expose business units to a talented pool of employees who have not experienced particular types of work.  The program provides participants with short-term developmented opportunities in a different ITA business unit at Headquarters. During the first round of this program we had a total of 11 participants.  We recently spoke to a couple of participants to learn more about their experience with the rotation program as well as working at ITA.  We spoke with Frank Spector and Addilyn Chams-Eddine.  Frank Spector worked in the Office of Energy and Environmental Industries, MAS,  and Addilyn Chams-Eddine worked in the Invest in America office in MAC. 

Why were you interested in participating in the rotation program?

Frank Spector:  My rotation was with the Office of Energy and Environmental Industries.  I am very interested in green technology and thought that the rotation provided a great opportunity to learn about this field.

Addilyn Chams-Eddine:  Having four years combined IA experience in the offices of AD&CVD Compliance and the Customs Unit, as well as two years with the Advocacy Center (USFCS); the ITA Rotation Program seemed an excellent opportunity to explore a different ITA unit.  Participating in the rotation program further increased my network of colleagues and knowledge base, which is a benefit to ITA clients and stakeholders.

What did you get out of the rotation program?

Frank Spector:  I was able to gain exposure to a new subject matter area and met some new people.

Addilyn Chams-Eddine:  I’d previously worked with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) data as relevant to U.S. companies investing abroad; I now view the data within the context of U.S. job creation and generating U.S. exports. 

What has been your most interesting experience at ITA?

Frank Spector:  My job has afforded me the opportunity to travel. 

Addilyn Chams-Eddine:  Interacting with different units and discovering the services that various ITA offices provide to help level the playing field of behalf of U.S companies.

Why did you decide to work at ITA?

Frank Spector:  It was actually the first permanent offer I received.  I am very satisfied with ITA and have had the opportunity to move around within ITA for the past 15 years.

Addilyn Chams-Eddine:  After attaining my M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration from the University of Denver, I immediately began to apply for positions within ITA.  Noting the tremendous scope of ITA activities in global trade; our agency provides excellent opportunities for individual career growth, while we concurrently assist U.S. companies to compete globally.

What is your favorite place to go to lunch?

Frank Spector:  My favorite place to have lunch is at Ollie’s Trolley.

Addilyn Chams-Eddine:  I tend not to have “favorites” preferring to vary my lunch options, a philosophy rather similar to my willingness to experience new opportunities for growth in the ITA Rotation program.

 

Processing of ITA Gift and Bequest Letters of Reimbursement

 

ITA in conjunction with NIST, has a new policy and procedure for processing gift and bequest letters of reimbursement. The new policy and procedure are located on "Our Place" under "Travel".

If you have questions, please contact Sharon Russell, ITA Travel Manager, at (202)482-3267.

 

Purchase Card Training for $25K Cardholders

 

The Department, Office of Acquisition Management has revised the Commerce Acquisition Manual (CAM) to include additional training requirements for ALL $25K purchase cardholders to complete in order to retain their current spending level.

 

Below is the list of required training for $25K cardholders and expected completion dates:

·       CON 100 – Shaping Smart Business Arrangements – July 21, 2009

·       CON 110 – Mission Support Planning – July 28, 2009

·       CON 111 – Mission Planning Execution – August 12, 2009

·       CON 112 – Mission Performance Assessment – August 19, 2009

 

The Office of Organization and Management Support (OOMS) has identified an on-line option for the CON-120 course, which previously has only been offered as a two week session in a classroom setting.  Those $25K cardholders who have completed all of the training courses listed above will be eligible to register for CON 120 (Mission Focused Contracting) through Bellevue University. (The class is listed as “BA-384” through Bellevue.) The Fall session begins on August 31^st and ends on November 21^st.  The cost is $1,245 per student.  Eligible cardholders should plan to register with Bellevue University no later than August 17^th to ensure that course materials can be received in time.  Cardholders can contact Robin Carpenter for contact information for Bellevue University once they have completed the required courses.

 

If you have questions, please contact Robin Carpenter at Robin.Carpenter@mail.doc.gov or (202) 482-4989 Curtis Oja at Curtis.Oja@trade.gov or (202) 482-6123.

 

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Need a Notary

 

Monica M. Hill

Notary Public, Washington, D.C.

Notary services available in Room 4109

Please call (202) 482-3349 to make appointment for notary services

 

Send your suggestions or comments about this newsletter to Nina.Harris@mail.doc.gov