Center for Government Contracting Commentaries

On Oct. 30, 2024, Fed Gov Today with Francis Rose included a segment on a defense industrial base report written by Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

Manufacturing capacity, workforce hiring and retention, and a host of other issues continue to bedevil DoD and U.S. defense manufacturers.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his new report — “Before the Balloon Goes Up: Mobilizing the Defense Industrial Base now to Prepare for Future Conflict.”

"There's been a lot written about the decline of the small business industrial base and industrial base overall," former GSA administrator Emily Murphy said.

Keith Webster, the president of the defense and aerospace council at the US Chamber of Commerce — who last week hosted the defense industrial forum at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit — and Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, discuss defense industrial takeaways from the gathering of alliance leaders last week in Washington, how to improve industrial capacity, balancing Buy American with Buy Allied sentiments, and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

Baroni Senior Fellow Emily Murphy is interviewed by Tom Temin, host of Federal Drive, on her latest White Paper, "The Potential Effects of Raising the Micro-Purchase Threshold"

In this op-ed, Olivia Letts of George Mason University discusses the incompatibilities of PPBE with advancing space technologies and how to address these challenges.

In this op-ed, Jerry McGinn says the Senate Armed Services Committee should seriously consider the creation of a new office inside DoD for international cooperation.

Jeff Kojac, Baroni Center director of studies, presents how Congressional leadership is needed for Defense acquisition rapid innovation and adaptation.

The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing this week on the reauthorization of the Defense Production Act is timely and important. The DPA is an essential tool for national security that was little known prior to COVID-19. Its use during the pandemic helped the U.S. government mobilize its industrial base to allocate and distribute goods as well as make investments to build industrial capacity in critical areas such as ventilators and personal protective equipment during a time of national crisis. That recent experience, coupled with the daunting national security challenges facing us today, makes it a great time to strengthen the DPA for the future. Jerry McGinn's Opinion in Defense News shares how we can do it: