USAG Humphreys, Republic of Korea -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Far East District (FED) hosted an Industry Day to showcase emerging opportunities, Korea-wide, to work with the District at the Riverbend Golf Course Ballroom located on U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, Oct. 6.
This year’s event was the first face-to-face event since the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on in-person events. The District hosted last year’s event virtually. More than 120 personnel were in attendance, which comprised of 80 contractors representing 40 different firms, 10 government customer stakeholders, and 30 FED personnel.
“This partnership between the Corps, our stakeholders, and our industry partners dates back to the very founding of USACE. And I can tell you that it remains strong,” said David Chai, deputy district engineer, in his opening remarks.
“I firmly believe that our success depends greatly on your success; that developing, nurturing, and maintaining this relationship is not only mutually beneficial but absolutely necessary.”
Chai emphasized that the symbiotic relationship between industry and the District has directly resulted in a greater quality of life for Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and military family members stationed throughout Korea.
Industry Day was the culmination of demand from construction companies and architecture/engineering firms to learn about opportunities to do business with FED and the District’s desire to solicit questions and feedback about its processes. The event allows companies to familiarize themselves with emerging opportunities and understand the Pre-Qualified (PQ) List of Sources and post-award administration.
At this year’s in-person event, one of the main attractions was an upcoming Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) valued at $400 million. Also offered was a safety overview of USACE’s safety and health requirements. Chinkyong Kim, a safety and occupational health specialist, led the overview.
The event was mutually beneficial, enabling the District to meet with the industry and learn about various industry capabilities. During the Q&A session, attendees posed many questions, which helped the District and industry share a common understanding of requirements and business processes.
Industry attendees and District subject matter experts participated in interactive networking, which involved the District engaging one-on-one with attendees.
“Today’s event is not limited to PQ companies. It is very beneficial that it’s open to all interested companies. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the FED industry and also get to know each other since networking and relationships are very important in business,” said Song Duck-hyun, general manager for FED business team, Ilsung Construction Co., LTD.
Song, who has worked FED construction business for 15 years, thanked the District for hosting the event.
“As large-scale construction such as YRP (Yongsan Relocation Plan) and LPP (Land Partnership Plan) is being complete, mid/small-sized construction companies are getting increasingly interested in more business opportunities with the FED,” continued Song.
“This is something we look forward to. I hope that more of these events will be held in the future so that local industries can get information about the business opportunities and better understand working with FED.”
“Many contractors asked questions in both Korean and English. Feedback was extremely positive from all contractor and government personnel, stating we should host this kind of event more often,” said Sean Sackett, chief of the Contracting Division.
According to Sackett, information gathered during Industry Day will be used to shape the $400 million Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build MATOC, which will be open Korea-wide. The upcoming opportunity will be the largest construction procurement tool to be developed in the District’s history.