Region 9 Newsroom
We reach citizens and consumers, businesses, and government customers in the four states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada, as well as overseas in American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Diego Garcia, Guam, mainland Japan and Okinawa, the Republic of Korea, Saipan, and Singapore.
Our Pacific Rim Region (R9) Public Affairs Office, located in San Francisco, issues media releases and advisories to provide important information on regional GSA activities, events, and projects that impact and serve these audiences.
Visit our media section for the latest news releases and media kits for recent and upcoming building celebrations. Our feature stories index captures exciting programs and initiatives from around the region, and our social and other media page will connect you with our Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as photo galleries and available videos.
The shortcut to this page is www.gsa.gov/r9news.
Four California projects identified to receive funding as part of President’s Budget
President Obama's Fiscal Year 2014 Budget calls for important, common sense investments in the nation’s public buildings managed by the U.S. General Services Administration. These investments enable GSA to properly maintain and improve the real estate assets owned and paid for by the American people.
“By investing in our public buildings, a smaller federal footprint and improved border crossing stations, GSA will not only create savings for the American people, but also assist in providing them with the most efficient and effective government possible,” said GSA Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “The President’s Budget will ensure that federal agencies can support economic and job growth in communities across this country."
Four projects have been identified to receive funding within GSA’s California portfolio: the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco, the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Diego, and the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, also in San Diego.
Read the news release >
NEWS BRIEFS
GSA participates in annual Supplier Opportunity Fair
GSA joined the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) for its annual Supplier Opportunity Fair in Las Vegas on April 17, 2013. More than 130 small business suppliers lined up to meet the 35 exhibiting buyers, including the visibly busy GSA booth. Repeat exhibitors included the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, University of Nevada Las Vegas, the Nevada State Procurement Office, and the Clark County Schools District. For Nevada Customer Service Director Maria Rodriguez, GSA’s representative for the last 10 years, participation in this event is one way to build customer loyalty.
“Despite sequestration, agencies are extremely busy these days and those key procurement officers have become much harder to reach," said Rodriguez. "Whenever there’s an opportunity for me to meet with several state and federal agency purchasing representatives at one time, that’s an opportunity, I’m not going to miss.”
In addition to providing a platform to educate small businesses about the GSA Schedules program, this year the event also gave Rodriguez a chance to promote GSA's role in the President's comprehensive School Safety program among delegates from the Clark County Schools District, the third largest in the U.S.
The ISM is a non-profit organization whose focus is to aid purchasing and supply management professionals with education and training. The Supplier Opportunity Fair has been taking place for more than 20 years. The fair is a "reverse" vendor event where state, local and federal agencies, along with large businesses, exhibit their opportunities in the local area to small business in attendance.
top
Pacific Rim federal building wins 2013 Federal Green Challenge award
The Pacific Rim’s Chet Holifield Federal Building located in Laguna Niguel, Calif. has been selected as the Federal Green Challenge Education and Outreach Award winner for the Pacific Southwest Region. This award recognizes the building’s tenants for their outstanding leadership in advancing sustainability and reducing the environmental footprint of federal government activities. The Environmental Protection Agency will present the award to local representatives from GSA, Department of Homeland Security, and the Internal Revenue Service on June 11 in Los Angeles. The facility-based Green Team at Chet Holifield played a key role in achieving this award. Empowered by their agencies’ leadership to improve the quality of work life for building employees, the Green Team members effectively communicated simple sustainable measures that could be implemented at home and at work. Their outreach efforts were easy to replicate and left an indelible mark that contributed to an increase in overall tenant and employee satisfaction, and a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
top
Region participates in Green California Summit and Exposition
GSA Pacific Rim Regional Administrator Ruth Cox shared the agency’s sustainability goals and priorities at the recent Green California Summit and Exposition in Sacramento on Thursday, April 18, 2013. Sponsored by Green Technology Magazine, the summit provides a forum for government officials to communicate and network with private sector industry leaders who are developing and distributing green technologies.
“It’s important to remind the American public how vendors play a strategic role in the region’s effort to successfully transform the federal community into a more sustainable government,” says Ms. Cox, “and that is why I am here today.”
The agency’s regional sustainability plan provides an actionable framework for transforming GSA's portfolio of existing buildings and workplace configurations, new construction projects, fleet vehicles, and sizable federal supply chain into a model of sustainability that can be embraced by other regions and organizations. A large component of this plan involves cultivating a sustainable community, with events such as the Green California Summit and Exposition. Increasing opportunities for communication between the private and public sectors increases GSA's ability to drive innovation and help lead market transformation through the deployment of new technologies.
top
