GRAPEVINE, Texas –
The Defense Contract Management Agency played a pivotal role at the 2025 National Contract Management Association World Congress at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center here.
Robin Thornton, a Contract Lifecycle Management Center supervisory contract specialist, partnered with Boeing and its representative Laurinda Hardy to present an informative session named “Contract Closeout for Industry: Strategies for Success” and delivered innovative strategies for more efficient government contract closeout.
World Congress is the premier training event for contract management. It helps acquisition professionals from across government and industry to collaborate, share best practices and develop innovation – through open conversations, real time-briefings from policymakers and hands-on skill building.
With 138 people in attendance and more than 1,000 online participants, Thornton hoped for an impactful presentation, which emphasized key techniques for organizing documentation, reducing backlogs, and improving communication across the contractor and subcontractor relationship.
“Strategic partnerships with industry represent a significant opportunity to mitigate the backlog of overaged, flexibly priced contracts and generate a substantive return on investment for our stakeholders,” Thornton said. “We leveraged this event to underscore DCMA's critical role in ensuring contractual compliance, mitigating risks proactively and maximizing stakeholder value.”
The session concluded by connecting the funds lifecycle to the contract lifecycle to highlight how timely contract closeout – facilitated by consistent cash flow – benefits contractors.
Thornton said the World Congress provided DCMA a crucial forum for the exchange of best practices aimed at the efficient closure of diverse contract types.
DCMA's implementation of streamlined closeout tools, such as National Defense Authorization Act, Low Risk Quick Closeout, and Expedited Contract Closeout processes, has yielded significant returns on investment for the military services, totaling $201 million in 2024 and $65 million as of March 2025.