Federal Supply Service chief retiring

Frank Pugliese, commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal

Supply Service, announced on Thursday his retirement to the private sector

after 28 years with GSA.

Donna Bennett, Pugliese's deputy, has been named to replace him in the top

position.

Pugliese served as FSS commissioner since 1994, bringing the organization

through the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 when its schedules contracts went

from being mandatory to non-mandatory sources of products and services for

federal agencies.

Despite the increased competition, sales on the FSS information technology

schedules in the past two years jumped from just more than $5 billion in

fiscal 1998 to more than $7.8 billion in fiscal 1999. FSS has also enhanced

is offerings by adding the GSA Advantage e-commerce site as an online procurement

vehicle for federal customers.

According to a notice sent to FSS employees, Pugliese will become president

and chief executive officer of Provant Inc., a provider of performance improvement

training services and products. He will begin his new position this September.

Bennett, who will take over as commissioner Sept. 4, has been deputy since

July 1994. She started at GSA in 1983 has head of the governmentwide travel

policy office.