MSG’s poster submission won top honors at the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) 2014 Poster Competition. The poster, titled “Feedback Loop: Maximizing Evaluation Partnerships for the Continual Improvement of Global Federal Programs,” was a collaborative effort between MSG and our client, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Over 200 posters were presented during the opening reception of AEA’s annual conference held on October 15-18 in Denver, Colorado. AEA judges commented, “The poster successfully uses colors, big pictures, and data visualization to communicate key points. The poster isn’t overloaded with text; rather, there’s just enough text to support the cont... read full article

MSG is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to evaluate the WIC data collection process. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) supports the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC). WIC provides grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Recent changes in WIC have highlighted the need to ensure that FNS and its partners have the information necessary for program mana... read full article

Under an awarded BPA through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), MSG provides strategic and tactical support to the USPTO’s business units, business process re-engineering solutions, and advises on communications policies and marketing strategies. MSG also provides analyses and recommendations on the patent process and other aspects of patent operations to identify short- and long-term initiatives that can enhance performance. The services MSG provides include gap analyses, strategic planning, process improvement, program evaluation, performance management, research and data analysis, communications strategies, staffing and human capital assistance, and other technical support. ... read full article

MSG is pleased to announce that is has been awarded a contract with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to evaluate a regional pilot model for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) supports the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FPDIR), which is designed to provide foods to low-income households, including the elderly, living on Indian reservations, and to Native American families residing in designated areas near reservations and in the State of Oklahoma. As of 2015, there are approximately 272 tribes receiving benefits under FDPIR.

Changes to the supply system fo... read full article

MSG is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to design a prospective retailer scoring system for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is intended to provide a nutrition safety net and alleviate food insecurity, along with increasing low-income Americans access to healthy foods. The program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), provides eligible low-income households a monthly benefit amount based on household size and net income to purchase foods from authorized retailers that can be prepared and eaten at home.

Under the current authorization process, retailers must meet several cri... read full article

MSG is proud to announce that it has been selected conduct a feasibility study that develops a method for accurately estimating the rate of erroneous or improper payments to Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) family daycare homes (FDCHs) for meals claimed for reimbursement. CACFP provides aid to child and adult care institutions and family or group day care homes. The purpose of this aid is to provide nutritious foods that contribute to the wellness, healthy growth, and development of young children, and the health and wellness of older adults and chronically impaired disabled persons.

MSG’s efforts will culminate in a method to measure inaccurate or incorrect payments ... read full article

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Nutrition Service (FNS) has awarded Manhattan Strategy Group an 18-month contract to identify innovative approaches to measure erroneous payments in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) at the state-level.School meal programs, including NSLP and SBP, are intended to reduce child hunger and its harmful effects on child learning. Child hunger is a significant concern in the U.S. and a large number of children go to school hungry every day. In 2013, USDA estimated 19.5 percent of American households with children were food-insecure. Multiple studies have shown that student access to nutritious meals is a... read full article

The Office of Strategic Planning and Management (OSPM) works to make the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) more efficient and effective by driving change across the Department. OSPM manages HUD’s strategic planning, working with the Secretary, his senior leadership team, and external stakeholders. Specifically, OSPM determines strategic priorities and change efforts, tracks how HUD is doing against its targets, and ensures HUD’s grants are getting to high-performing grantees quickly. OSPM has multiple divisions working across these areas to achieve its goals and objectives.

The Office of Departmental Grants Management and Oversight (ODGMO or GMO) establishes an... read full article

MSG is proud to announce that it will be supporting the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse as a subcontractor to Fathers Incorporated, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening community and family infrastructures. The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, found at www.fatherhood.gov, is an Office of Family Assistance (OFA) funded national resource for fathers, practitioners, programs/Federal grantees, states, and the public at-large who are serving or interested in supporting strong fathers and families.

MSG will be supporting the mission of the Clearinghouse by providing on-demand logistics services for key outreach events and dissemination campaigns. Noted... read full article

A recent article in the "Markets and Finance" section of Businessweek made note of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Location Affordability Index".

The LAI resides on the Location Affordability Portal, which was designed and developed by MSG. It is aimed at homebuyers, policymakers, researchers, and HUD grantees and provides a customized look at the combined cost of Housing and Transportation for different household types nationwide. The LAP collects data from multiple sources, utilizes algorithms to generate required reports, contains a resource library, extensive documentation on the methodology, case studies, and 2 cutting edge GIS-based tools. This high-p... read full article

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded MSG a three-year contract to develop computer based training for programs funded under the current Workforce Investment Act (WIA).2014 brought big changes for DOL grantees. In July, Congress authorized the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.

The act brings many changes in how programs dedicated to this mission much collect and report data about their activities. MSG is tasked with designing and implementi... read full article

MSG is proud to announce that it will be supporting the Department of Education’s Literacy Information Network Communications System (LINCS) as a subcontractor to Kratos Learning Solutions. LINCS serves as the Office of Career Technical and Adult Education’s (OCTAE) hub for adult education information, resources, and professional development. MSG is supporting LINCS by curating the extensive resource collection to ensure it is accurate, up-to-date, and easy to use. The firm is also providing logistics services for LINCS Community web events.

MSG is pleased to announce that it has recently been awarded a multi-year contract to examine the effectiveness of the Science Engineering and Education for Sustainability cross-directorate investment in supporting interdisciplinary research and education that facilitate global sustainability. SEES' stated mission is to "advance science, engineering, and education to inform the societal actions needed for environmental and economic sustainability and sustainable human well-being," and under this program the National Science Foundation has provided millions of dollars of funding to high-impact programs around the country. MSG's efforts will culminate in a comprehensive, mixed-methods study... read full article

MSG has been awarded a contract with the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to ensure effective grant management at the state and local level. Effective grants management is a grant recipient (grantee) responsibility that involves managing project resources, activities, and results to achieve grant objectives while also meeting all relevant Federal, ETA, and State grant requirements. Complete, relevant and accurate information about managed funds is therefore critical to perform this function effectively and accurately, in order to maintain the public trust. As a result, it is important that the quality of information and level of detail that the grantee adheres ... read full article

MSG is proud to announce that it will be supporting the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration’s Career Pathways Initiative.Career Pathways is a workforce development strategy that support workers’ transitions from education into and through the workforce. This strategy has been adopted at the federal, state and local levels in order to increase education, training and learning opportunities for America’s current and emerging workforce.

A career pathways initiative consists of a partnership among community colleges, primary and secondary schools, workforce and economic development agencies, employers, labor groups and social service providers. MS... read full article

MSG was recently awarded a contract to plan and manage the 2014 Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) US/Europe International Aviation Safety Conference. FAA will be teaming with international colleagues to ensure seamless and safe air transport worldwide through shared commitment, clear communication and collaboration, and harmonized safety standards, policy and procedures. This conference will provide a forum for aviation safety leaders to share new ideas, initiatives and best practices for reducing accident risk through improved technology, infrastructure, shared safety data and analysis, testing, training, and certification.

The meeting is a 3 day event, which includes plenary... read full article

MSG is proud to announce that it has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to provide technical assistance in the area of High School Equivalency and the new College and Career Readiness Standards.Over the past several years, high school equivalency options have evolved tremendously. A plethora of options now exist that are used either separately or in tandem with one another, including the GED test, the HiSET, and the TASC. MSG’s effort will result in a comprehensive guide to these changes for workforce professionals.

MSG is pleased to announce that it has recently been awarded a contract by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB) to provide a benchmark analysis of cost savings for the U.S. Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). The IPP IPP is a centralized, secure, Web-based service that accepts, processes, and presents transaction data from agencies and vendor systems related to all stages of electronic order-to-payment processing: purchase orders, invoices, approvals, and ACH payment information, including aftermath activity such as partial payments, debt offsets and returns.

Invoicing for many agencies is still a paper-heavy business function. As a result, there remains... read full article