Wanted: Private Bidders

Many of the A-76 competitions conducted at civilian agencies so far have sparked little interest from the private sector. No firms bid on a contest involving 147 jobs at the Farm Service Agency. Even two sizable competitions at the National Institutes of Health only netted one bidder a piece. "That sent a chill down our spines," says a competitive sourcing coordinator at a civilian agency.

But at the Federal Aviation Administration, officials are trying to reverse the trend. Here are some steps the agency is taking to drum up private interest for a competition involving 2,700 flight service specialists at 58 stations throughout the continental United States:

• Bids will be evaluated using "best value" criteria popular with industry. The FAA received approval from the Office of Management and Budget to waive a rule requiring evaluation criteria to be heavily weighted toward cost.
• The FAA will offer a 10-year contract to the winner, up from the typical five years.
• The FAA is including infrastructure at 58 flight service stations in the competition. This allows bidders to propose solutions that close or consolidate stations. .