General Services Administration News Release : Molly Wilkinson to become SBA chief of staff

Defense AT&L, March-April, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Molly Wilkinson, the General Services Administration's Chief Acquisition Officer, will become the U.S. Small Business Administration's chief of staff starting January 2008, the two agencies announced today. Wilkinson will replace Joel Szabat, who has been named deputy assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Wilkinson will be responsible for implementing Administrator Steve Preston's agenda to improve SBA's efficiency, transparency, and accountability. She will lead the agency's efforts to improve procurement opportunities for small business, including new recertification requirements preventing large corporations from being credited with small business contracts and scrubbing $4.6 billion in miscoded contracts out of the contracting database. She will also play a major role in personnel decisions, act as a key advisor to the administrator and deputy administrator, and will oversee agency staff operations.

"Molly's impressive ability to enact procurement reform within GSA make her a good fit for the SBA as we strive to improve operational efficiency," said Preston. "I believe she will be an exceptional leader who will help us make significant progress towards our goal of becoming more customer-focused and results-driven. I look forward to having Molly join SBA in 2008."

Since joining GSA in March, Wilkinson re-engineered the Office of Chief Acquisition Officer to impressive results. Employee morale in her office has greatly improved, resulting in the office receiving one of the highest satisfaction ratings within GSA in a recent internal survey.

"The improvements Molly made will greatly help the Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer achieve its mission and will help GSA reach its goal of providing the best products and services to federal agencies at the best value to American taxpayers," said GSA Administrator Lurita Doan. "The leadership and energy she exhibited at GSA make her the perfect person to take on her new challenge at SBA."

Since Wilkinson joined GSA, she filled 15 of the 22 vacancies in the office, filled all four of the acting directorships with permanent directors, and rebuilt entire offices, including the Suspension and Debarment Office. Wilkinson also chaired an internal GSA Acquisition Workforce Steering Committee, which focused on three major initiatives; recruitment, retention, and hiring of re-employed annuitants.

"Molly has demonstrated key leadership on several critical CAO initiatives--specifically working to ensure data integrity and address training challenges faced by FPDS-NG [Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation], expand the CAO Emergency Contracting Cadre, and develop acquisition workforce development policies as a member of the Board of Directors for the Federal Acquisition Institute," said Paul Dennett, Administrator of OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy. "She also worked to solidify relationships with Defense Acquisition University and with the Department of Defense and Acquisition Policy Office. I am happy to see that Molly is remaining with the administration, and I know she will continue to be successful in her new role. "

A 1989 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., Wilkinson earned her law degree from New York's Albany Law School in 1996 and is a member of the New York State Bar.