The Contract Coach

Practical Advice - Quality Training

About Me ...

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I am Don Shannon - also known as the Contract Coach. This is my business and my website. Professionally speaking, I am a Project Management Professional (PMP), a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association, and am certified as a DML by the Society of Logistics Engineers, I am also a Lifetime Certified Federal and Professional Contract Manager. (CPCM and CPFM) . That's a lot of letters to put next to a fellow's name! I've been in the project management and contracts management world since I retired from active duty in 1990 - I guess that's 26 years now. More recently (2013) I retired from full-time work and have spent much of my time writing and teaching. But I'm here if you need me. I welcome an opportunity to help you or your business succeed.

Professional Associations and Affiliations

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I am a dedicated member of the National Contract Management Association and have been for 15 years. Here NCMA CEO Kraig Conrad and NCMA President Amanda Christian present me with the Outstanding Fellow Award at the 2021 NCMA World Congress in Denver. This is a most prestigious award - limited to NCMA Fellows (less that 10% of our membership) for continued service to the NCMA at both the Chapter and National Level.

This is a most cherished award and one that will sit in a place of honor on my bookshelf.

Note: This photo was take during the 2021 NCMA World Congress. When I saw this photo I was appalled - my weight during COVID-19 (like many of my peers) had ballooned …. Here I am 270 pounds … the photo at upper left was taken in August 2022 - 13 months and 55 pounds later. Stay well fiends and remember we are what we eat.
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I believe that a contracts professional must be a well rounded and multi-talented individual. One way I have expanded my value to my clients is through professional affiliations with industry leading experts in allied disciplines. I have been a ProPricer Consulting Partner for three plus years and have benefitted greatly through that association. It has enabled me to be not only a technical or management volume proposal expert but to also perform cost and pricing support should my client need the help. ProPricer is the industry leader in government contract pricing software and having access to their team of experts uniquely positions me to guide and advise my clients in choosing the best pricing strategies and compiling the necessary data for certified or other than certified cost or pricing data.
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Part of that cost or pricing support is adherence to the Postal Cost Management principles promulgated by the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) International. Through extensive study and application I have been able to attain a certification as an AACE Certified Cost Technician (CCT) and am working towards a professional certification as a CCP
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Government contracts (and frankly the proposals that lead to their award) require sophisticated project management skills. In the past 30 years of commercial experience I have learned and perfected these skills with industry leares such as Martin Marietta, Boeing, and ABB Inc. This broad exposure to various companies approach to project management and my completion of the Project Management Institute's Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate has given me a strong background in PM techniques - and the know-how of when to apply them.

Contact Information

Donald Shannon LLC
dba: The Contract Coach
Albuquerque, NM 87120
Tel: (505) 259-8485
don@contract-coach.com