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Robbins-Gioia Offers Training, Mentoring to Agency

August 4, 2003, Alexandria, VA Robbins-Gioia, LLC, the leading provider of project management services, today announced it is beginning a 1-year contract with options to provide program management training to the USDA. The five-week, five-module course focuses on program management, Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC), and Office of Management and Budget 300 requirements for process change.

During the past few months, the OMB has emphasized improving project management across government agencies. The discipline is needed, officials say, to improve the delivery of projects on time and on budget. To bolster their claim, they refer to the more than 700 systems on OMB’s at-risk list. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management has drafted a document outlining a new project management job classification. With an estimated 50 percent of the federal workforce eligible for retirement in 2005, an initiative to develop and retain qualified project managers is crucial.

The 5-week program has students working to build core PM skills, while understanding the link to their own CPIC process. Throughout the course Project Management Professional (PMP) certification guidance is given with the goal of students passing the Project Management Institute’s PMP exam soon after their training is complete. Jennifer Stanford, Robbins-Gioia’s director of professional development, is quick to explain what Robbins-Gioia is not offering. “We’re not a training house. What we bring to the table is experts working with the students,” she said. “The students’ access to our PM mentors and experts will streamline and expedite knowledge transfer, providing government project managers the opportunity to more quickly grasp PM concepts and skills.”

Although it is primarily for USDA employees, the course is open to those in other agencies as well. The different modules cover CPIC, process requirements, and risk. The final week deals with PMP training. “If we teach participants the core PM knowledge they need, they will be poised to meet OMB requirements,” said Stanford. “Good PM practices are tied to good reporting. USDA is in the forefront of this trend.”

About the USDA
The USDA mission is to enhance the quality of life for the American people by supporting production of agriculture through ensuring a safe, affordable, nutritious, and accessible food supply; caring for agricultural, forest, and range lands; supporting sound development of rural communities; providing economic opportunities for farm and rural residents; expanding global markets for agricultural and forest products and services; and working to reduce hunger in America and throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.usda.gov.

About Robbins-Gioia
For more than twenty years, Robbins-Gioia has pioneered the project management consulting industry, bringing process-based solutions to high-risk, complex initiatives in top government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. With a hands-on approach to project management, we develop and integrate the people, processes, and technologies that will drive your projects to completion. For more information, please call Robbins-Gioia LLC at 800-663-7138, or visit the web site at www.robbinsgioia.com.