Frank Freeman III is the FirstNet Chief Administrative Officer who leads the full scope of mission support functions and serves as the principal senior executive responsible for long-term planning. In today's blog, he talks about FirstNet's new HQ in Reston, Va., and the technical center in Boulder, Colo.
Q: Tell us about what attracted you to FirstNet and your primary responsibilities as the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)?
A: I was attracted to FirstNet because of its mission and because of the opportunity to build something from scratch with a talented staff that has worked in the private sector, the public safety community, and federal, state, and local governments. I'm responsible for most of the FirstNet mission support areas, such as facilities; human resources; and programs like occupational health and safety, emergency management, property, accountability, records management, and training.
Q: How did your experience in the Air Force prepare you for FirstNet?
A: Being in the civil engineering field, we were responsible for facilities and facility management, occupational health and safety, environmental laws, housing, and emergency services, like firefighting and explosive ordnance units. During the latter part of my career, as colonel, I had the opportunity to command a mission support group. I was responsible for civil engineering functions, procurement and security forces -- base law enforcement and force protection. I led the communications squadron that dealt with all of the IT on the base, and the logistics squadron, which dealt with transportation, vehicles, and aircraft parts. It was about a 1,300-person organization, with about a $65 million budget.
Q: You joined FirstNet in December 2013. How far have we come as an organization and where do you see us going?
A: We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last six months. I’ve spent most of my time focused on two key areas: hiring federal employees and finding appropriate workspace for them so FirstNet can fulfill its mission. The number of federal employees has grown from 24 in January to more than 50 today. The number of contractors supporting FirstNet has increased from ten in January to around 30 today. When you add in the detail assignments from other Federal agencies, we have more than 90 individuals working for FirstNet now.
As to where we’re going, FirstNet plans to grow to 179 federal employees by the end of this year to work on outreach, technology, administrative, legal, and other key areas to support the deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network. As such, we’ve increased the workspace FirstNet personnel will occupy by 490 percent from 9,800 square feet to 48,000 square feet when you account for our new headquarters in Virginia and technical center in Colorado.
Q: What can you tell us about the new headquarters and technical center?
A: Once it is completed, the headquarters will encompass about 21,000 square feet in the John W. Powell Building in Reston, Va. which is owned by the Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey. The headquarters staff moved out of the Department of Commerce building last week and is now occupying temporary space in the building while our permanent space is being renovated and built out within the same building. Once the renovation is complete, we’ll move into the 21,000 square foot area that will become FirstNet’s permanent headquarters.
The 27,000 square foot technical center in Boulder, Colo. is very high tech. It is a versatile building with administrative, lab, and warehouse areas. It is a very nice facility, and our Chief Technical Officer is excited about it. It is also close in proximity to the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program facility in Boulder.
Q: Tells us about the type of workforce and culture that the management team is looking to build at FirstNet.
A: FirstNet is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an organization that has a monumental purpose. Everything is fresh. We’re developing a critical tool for the public safety community. It is very enticing and it drives a lot of people to want to work for FirstNet. And we’re a high-tech organization. Our very mission is to develop a high-tech tool for public safety. We want to permeate that through our organizational culture. We’re going to do innovative things and reward people who are innovative. We think that culture attracts talented people here and we look forward to growing the staff.
