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1999 E. R. "Dick" Alley, Jr. Award Winner
Paul A. Denett
Paul A. Denett is currently the Director of Administration and
the Senior Procurement Executive at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
With over 30 years of Federal procurement experience, Mr. Denett
has few peers in terms of longevity as a JWOD Program advocate.
His support of the JWOD Program began during his tenure at the Department
of Agriculture (USDA), where he worked with former Committee Chair Frank
Gearde, one of the most enthusiastic JWOD promoters in the history
of the Program. Convinced of the tremendous value of the JWOD Program
to Federal customers and people with severe disabilities, Mr. Denett
expanded his advocacy of the Program as his career progressed and
he moved into senior management positions.
From USDA, he moved to the Department of
Treasury, where he served as Director of the Department's Office
of Procurement. In the late 1980's, he welcomed the initiative of
the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled to ask for JWOD liaisons in major Federal departments by
naming staff member, Debra Sonderman, who quickly distinguished
herself as an outstanding advocate, winning honors as the first
"JWOD Liaison of the Year." Together, they increased the Treasury
Department's support for the JWOD Program substantially and trained
yet another JWOD Liaison who has since moved to the Department of
Commerce and is promoting there.
In 1993, Mr. Denett returned to Interior, where he proceeded to
raise the bar once again. Not content with annual memoranda to Department
employees encouraging support for the JWOD Program, Mr. Denett has
arranged numerous opportunities for JWOD representatives or products
to be introduced to Interior staff. These have ranged from purchasing
special JWOD products for conferences and awards, to giving the
Committee prime speaking time at Interior conferences, to hosting
a JWOD Program Product and Contract Fair at the Department. In addition,
he has established an annual JWOD reporting requirement for Interior
Bureau Chiefs and, most recently, announced an annual JWOD award
for Interior offices that have successfully instituted or demonstrated
significant support for the JWOD Program. Demonstrating remarkable
creativity, Mr. Denett was also able to acquire authority to use
funds rebated from Federal purchase card sales to provide monetary
recognition to accompany the more traditional plaques for the JWOD
award recipients.
Mr. Denett's extraordinary commitment to the JWOD Program has been
recognized by higher-level officials with whom he has worked at
Interior, including the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management
and Budget, John Berry, who is now quite familiar with the Program.
He has also continued his tradition of selecting high-quality staff
to help promote the JWOD Program, such as Cindy Maltby, who serves
as that Department's JWOD liaison. Like Debra Sonderman before her,
Ms. Maltby too has been selected as the JWOD Liaison of the Year.
A leading Federal Procurement Executive, Mr. Denett also helped
obtain an invitation for the Committee to participate in the Federal
Procurement Council as an ex officio member, thereby providing access
for the JWOD team to discussions that help shape Federal procurement
policy and its implementation.
Mr. Denett's efforts have resulted in exemplary support for the
JWOD Program from Interior officials and staff. More than 10 services
have been added to the Procurement List since his arrival, including
a major contract to operate the mailroom at Interior headquarters.
Sales of JWOD products have also benefited from his efforts, which
include regular reminders to Interior purchase cardholders that
JWOD supplies represent best value and also remain mandatory despite
the many changes in the Federal Procurement Process.
It is because of Paul Denett's unwavering, broad range of support
for the JWOD Program for many years that he has been selected to
receive the first E.R. "Dick" Alley Career Achievement Award, the
highest honor the Committee bestows.
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