Sealy News

Armed with two six-inch binders filled with 2,600 petitions, 700 letters and 13 resolutions, Sealy FMTV Task Force members traveled to Washington, D.C. last week to meet with U.S. Army representatives, and to hand deliver the petitions and letters voicing support to keep the FMTV contract under review with Sealy’s BAE Systems.

Sealy City Manager Chris Coffman and Kim Meloneck, FMTV Task Force co-chair and Sealy Economic Development Corporation executive director, joined Lance LaCour, Task Force co-chair and executive director of the Katy Area Economic Development Corporation, in Washington D.C.

Coffman and Meloneck were invited to attend the meeting, which included Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Congressmen Michael McCaul and Chet Edwards, and Houston Mayor Bill White, as well as Dean G. Popps, the Army’s acting assistant secretary for acquisitions, logistics and technology.

"The bipartisan show of support from the Texas legislative delegation along with officials from Sealy, Katy and Houston in meeting with U.S. Army representatives in Washington, D.C. underscores the fact that in our state there is no place for politics when jobs and the safety and security of the nation’s Armed Forces is at stake," Coffman said.

"Politics has no place when we’re talking about jobs and the security of our Armed Forces and (last week’s) meeting very clearly demonstrated that in Texas, we stand united in having our voices heard at the highest levels on this issue," Coffman said. "There is too much at stake for us not to hold decision-makers accountable."

BAE Systems, which has manufactured some 56,000 FMTVs over the past 17 years, is asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the Army’s bidding process.

"Being able to hand deliver those binders of over 2,600 petitions was powerful," Meloneck said.

The GAO has reviewed the case, and must recommend action on the appeal by Monday, Dec. 14, although action is expected by week’s end. It could be roughly 10 days before the Army takes action on the recommendation. The GAO could recommend rebidding or revising the contract, or reasserting the award to Oshkosh Corp. of Wisconsin.

BAE Systems has cited a flawed bidding process in its appeal. The company has contributed an estimated $500 million to the state’s economy each year through salaries, contractor costs and vendor partnerships.

Sealy and the Houston region could face a $1.8 billion annual hit to the economy if BAE Systems is forced to close its doors after losing the rebuy contract.

More than 3,000 are employed at the Sealy plant, with 600 of those workers living in Austin County and another 1,000 in Katy.

The Greater Houston Partnership has estimated more than 10,000 jobs in the region are at stake.

Unemployment benefits could exceed $26 million if these jobs were lost.

"We really felt strong about the need for Sealy officials to be in that room because it affects us so directly. With 3,000-plus jobs at stake in a community of 6,200 to 6,400 people, it could be a devastating affect," said Coffman, who likened the impact to an F3 tornado in last week’s Washington, D.C. meeting.

"Those people needed to be able to look us in the face and understand how sincere we are about the negative affect they could have on our community," Coffman said. "Sealy could recover quicker from an F3 tornado that we could from them taking that BAE contract to Wisconsin. That resounded with some pretty firm understanding. They got the picture then."

White, armed with a stack of documents one-inch thick, questioned Oshkosh’s financial stability regarding the awarded contract.

"Mayor White reviewed (Oshkosh's) most recent financial statement that has been filed with the Securities Exchange Commission and illustrated to (Army representatives) that Oshkosh was not financially sound enough to perform a contract of this magnitude," Coffman reported. "He said it would be poor stewardship of taxpayer money to risk allowing Oshkosh to provide those vehicles for the men and women serving."

The Army, Coffman said, claimed that all bidders were made aware that this particular FMTV rebuy contract would be based solely on price, despite its Request For Proposals (RFP), which stated the bid would be awarded on several criteria.

"I gently reminded them that the actual bid document said that price would only account for 40 percent of the overall score and another 40 percent would be capability, and 20 percent would be scored on experience," Coffman said.

Specifically, the RFP stated the bid would be based 40 percent on cost and price, 40 percent on capability with 65 percent of that portion based on production capability and 35 percent on technical capability, and 20 percent on past performance and small business participation with 70 percent of that based on past performance and 30 percent based on small business utilization, like sub-contractors.

Army representatives at the meeting assured those gathered that the GAO would act in a non-political manner when making its recommendation.

Coffman said he questioned why the process was simplified this time around, with no mention of the John Warner Act of 2007 in the RFP. The Act requires that all multi-year contracts for the FMTV include improvements. This RFP, and none to date Coffman said, included that requirement.

"I believe this could be the largest flaw of this procurement process," Coffman said.

Still, he is optimistic about the GAO’s upcoming action, and said the outpouring of support from Austin County and the surrounding area shows just how much BAE Systems brings to the table for the region.

Also attending the meeting were Congressmen Chet Edwards, Gene Green, Al Green, Ciro Rodriguez, Reuben Hinojosa, Michael C. Burgess, Pete Olson and John Carter; Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee and Eddie Bernice Johnson; and staff with Gov. Rick Perry’s office.

For more information, and for a list of elected officials to send letters of support to, visit www.defendtexasjobs.org.