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Mary Ruwwe Appointed Facilities and Construction Category Manager

Mary Ruwwe, FAS Region 6 Commissioner - sitting aFederal Acquisition Service Region 6 Commissioner Mary Ruwwe has been formally appointed as the senior government executive to lead the $75.7 billion facilities and construction common government spend category. Ann Rung, administrator of the White House’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), made the announcement in February.

Ruwwe joins other executives from GSA, OMB, DoD, DHS, the VA and OPM to be selected for an appointment.

Facilities and construction is the largest of 10 government “super categories” of commonly purchased items as identified by the White House’s Strategic Sourcing Leadership Council. In creating the categories, the OFPP is moving the U.S. government into a category management approach — which increases efficiency and effectiveness while reducing costs and redundancies. The category management model is already used extensively in the United Kingdom’s government and private industry.

“Our local teams are the backbone to success in the facilities and construction arena and will be the centerpiece of this category for all government purchasing,” said Ruwwe. “Category management will enable us to provide the best customer service possible.”

The ten super categories include spending areas like IT, Transportation, Travel, and Professional Services. In all, they represent $270 billion, or two-thirds, of the total government spend on goods and services. Category managers will be responsible for developing a common, government-wide strategy for smarter buying, heightened levels of expertise, streamlined solutions, and managing supply and demand.

In addition to Ruwwe, these executives were chosen as category managers:

  • Jaclyn Smith, DHS (Security and Protection Category – $5.5 billion)
  • David Shulkin, M.D., VHA & Johnathan Woodson, DoD (Medical Category – $33.2 billion)
  • Rob Briede, OPM (Human Capital Category – $4.1 billion)
  • Kim Luke, OMB (IT Category – $49.9 billion)
  • Lisa Roberts, DoD (Transportation and Logistics Services Category – $26.8 billion)
  • Tiffany Hixson, GSA (Professional Services Category – $61.9 billion)
  • George Prochaska, GSA (Industrial Products and Services Category – $10.5 billion)
  • Greg Hammond, GSA (Office Management Category – $1.9 billion)
  • Tim Burke, GSA (Travel and Lodging Category – $2.7 billion)