From the Desk of PBS Acting Regional Commissioner Tom Lyman
As temperatures rise, things are heating up at GSA. We’re finding new ways to save agencies time and money!
In May 2024, GSA Mid-Atlantic Region successfully relocated the National Labor Relations Board from leased space to the federally owned Edward A. Garmatz U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland. In this Focus newsletter, we invite you to read how we helped NLRB achieve a 58% space reduction over their previous lease and save approximately $250,000 in annual rent.
Our team also piloted a new turnkey process to deliver a new Social Security Administration Field Office in Georgetown, Delaware. This new approach helped us to reduce the project timeline by nearly 11 months.
We’re also investing in new technologies that make our facilities more accessible, more efficient, and spur new growth in the clean energy industry.
Our recently completed elevator modernization at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, incorporates a video communications screen in each elevator car. The innovative technology provides the deaf, hard of hearing, mute, and those with speech impediments with an alternative means to communicate with the facility’s call center in the event of an emergency.
GSA was recently named a Gold Green Lease Leader, a designation recognizing landlords and tenants who modernize their leases to spur collaborative action on energy and water efficiency, cost-savings, air quality improvement, and sustainability in buildings. Our most recent efforts include building a charging network for the federal government’s electrical vehicle fleet. Plans include a $1.4 million investment to install EV charging ports at five federal buildings in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
We’re also utilizing technology to put your agency’s portfolio data at your fingertips. We invite you to attend a demonstration of our PBS Customer Dashboard on July 11, 1-2 p.m. EDT to learn more about how this easy to use tool can assist you in your project planning and tracking.
We could not accomplish this work without the expertise of our GSA Mid-Atlantic Region associates, honored May 2 at the Federal Executive Board Excellence in Government Awards in Philadelphia. The annual awards recognize federal employees in the greater Philadelphia area for their outstanding accomplishments in meeting the needs of their constituents and the general public.
As we continue to look to the future, we’re excited to announce some familiar faces taking on new roles in our organization. Mike Ryer is now Director of the Mid-Atlantic PBS Capital Project Delivery Division, leading our project management professionals and support staff who manage the Region’s most complex, high profile and high dollar value projects.
Mark Talarico is the new National Capital Region Branch Chief in the Acquisition Center for Facility Management Services, a GSA division that acquires facilities management services for the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast Sunbelt and National Capital Regions.
Cathleen Ryer is the new North Section Branch Chief in the Mid-Atlantic Real Estate Acquisition Division, providing real estate policy guidance, oversight and support for the Region’s interest in, and acquisition of, real estate.
We are committed to finding new and better ways to save time and money, while continuing to invest in new technologies and our GSA associates. As we enjoy the sunny days of the season, this Focus Summer Edition reminds us that our future is bright!
Tom Lyman
Acting Regional Commissioner
Public Buildings Service
GSA Mid-Atlantic Region
This article is part of the Summer issue of the FOCUS newsletter. Please visit the Focus Newsletter page to read our newsletter.