Exploring the Possibilities: Another Successful Annual Conference
Over 150 procurement professionals, representing 48 states and the District of Columbia joined with strategic partners and Life and Honorary members for NASPO's 2016 Annual Conference, September 25-28, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Members focused on the conference goals, taking every advantage to "Explore the Possibilities" of the future of state procurement. 
Active exploration was incorporated throughout the conference with many sessions including time for members to join together and collaborate on discussions, strategy sessions and reflection exercises. Interactive sessions provided participants the opportunity to engage peer-to-peer on important topics from NASPO's Top Ten Priorities for State Procurement in 2016 - like Procurement Reform, Workforce Recruitment and Retention and Contract Management. Participants connected between sessions, and used informal "Meet Ups" for chats about state centralization efforts and eProcurement challenges.  One attendee noted it was "The best NASPO conference I have ever attended!"
Representatives from the National Contract Management Association, National Association of Chief Information Officers and the National Association of State Facilities Administrators broadened the discussion to consider the role of procurement within the larger context of state government. The networking and engagement went a step further at the NASPO Cares project, "Give Back to the Troops" where participants put together nearly 300 care packages for US service personnel overseas. But the discovery of the conference experience is not over - the resources, conversations and great ideas generated are continuing to be shared with members and participants. Look to uncover even more great opportunities for enhancing public procurement throughout the year and leading up to the 2017 Annual Conference, September 10-13 in Tampa, Florida!
NASPO invites you to participate in our annual Member Satisfaction Survey! This short survey uses your feedback to guide how we improve the resources you already know and love, and select new and exciting opportunities for members for the coming program year. Participation takes less than 15 minutes of your time.
The Survey will be open through October 21, 2016.
Please contact Megan Smyth with any questions about the survey. A summary report of the findings will be shared on the NASPO Network in November.
2016 Survey of State Procurement Practices Now Available
The Survey of State Procurement Practices was administered to central procurement offices in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with a response rate of 90 percent. Many thanks to all participating jurisdictions!

Survey findings presented in the Survey Summary Report reflect statutes, laws and regulations, policies and agency practices as of August 2016, the period of the data collection.  

 
National Recognition for State Procurement Innovation
George Cronin Awards for Procurement Excellence Recognize Winners Tennessee, Wisconsin and Massachusetts; Finalists include Wisconsin and New Jersey

NASPO proudly honored three innovative state procurement programs with the George Cronin Awards for Procurement Excellence at its Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota last month. After receiving a record number of nominations this year, the Cronin Awards Committee had its work cut out scoring all the nominations based on the criteria of innovation and initiative, transferability, service improvement, and cost reduction.

Congratulations to the State of Tennessee's Department of General Services, who was awarded Gold in the competition! Tennessee's award recognized the state's effort to streamline its awarding of radio contracts, an effort which has saved the state $2.5 million since it began in 2014. Wisconsin won the Silver award for developing an IT Procurement Best Practices Playbook, which is a new approach to professional development and an innovative way to address procurement reform. The Bronze award was presented to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which partnered with neighboring states Connecticut, New York, and Vermont to re-bid their environmentally preferable cleaning products and programs. 

In addition, Wisconsin and New Jersey were selected as finalists. New Jersey's finalist submission reflects their brand new, state of the art eProcurement system called NJSTART, and Wisconsin's finalist submission recognizes its new employee training program on negotiation skills on behalf of the state.


Please join us for a webinar and discussion on Green Purchasing with "Green Up Your MROs" - A NASPO-Massachusetts Technical Assistance Grant, 1st of NASPO's Green Purchasing Series.

Hear how Massachusetts used their NASPO Green Technical Assistance funds to "green" their Maintenance, Repair and Operations contracts. In addition, MA will review recommendations on incorporating environmentally preferable language into bids, and show how they used the "Participating Agreement" to incorporate additional sustainability language and environmentally preferable products into the NASPO ValuePoint contract. 
 
Please contact Elena Moreland if you have any questions.


Executive Director, DeLaine Bender speaks at NASCA Institute
NASPO Executive Director DeLaine Bender (center) spoke at the National Association of State Chief Administrators 2016 Institute earlier this month in Olympia, Washington. The panel, Growing Capacity: Cross-Boundary Collaboration, offered an opportunity for Bender, as well as Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of Chief Information Officers, and John Hicks, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), to discuss partnership in government. 

"Partnership among leaders who are responsible for running state government itself is essential in improving governance," noted Bender. "We believe that state officials responsible for the internal operations of government are in a uniquely powerful position to transform the future of public service delivery."
Congrats New CPPO, CPPB Certificants
NASPO would like to extend our congratulations to those in state procurement that have successfully completed the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council's (UPPCC) certification exams and have recently been granted the designations of Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Public Procurement Buyer (CPPB).

Newly granted CPPB's
Ms. Joyce J. Auld, CPPB GA Dept. of Administrative Svcs
Mr. Kenneth T. Morris, CPPB State of Illinois
Ms. Valerie R. Bollinger, CPPB State of Idaho
Ms. Ellen H. Daley, CPPO, CPPB Illinois Executive Ethics Commission

Newly granted CPPO's
Ms. Ellen H. Daley, CPPO, CPPB Illinois Executive Ethics Commission Springfield IL
Ms. Brenda S. Pape, CPPO Administrative Services-Material Division Lincoln NE
Ms. Jessica L. Milburn, CPPO, CPPB Virginia Department of General Services

A complete list of the all the newly certified individuals can be found on the UPPCC website. Congratulations on all your hard work to become the UPPCC's new class of Certified Public Procurement Officers and Certified Public Procurement Buyers! NASPO is proud to be one of the founding partners of UPPCC, the widely recognized certifying entity for public procurement employees. 

For more information on the examination process visit uppcc.org. 
For helpful exam preparation tools check out the Certification Webpage on the NASPO website.
Procurement U News
New Course Available: Introduction to Terms and Conditions 105

Course participants will:
  • Define Terms and Conditions and describe their importance in the state procurement process.
  • Recognize how terms and conditions can impact the bid cycle.
  • List the different steps that are part of the terms and conditions process.
  • Identify how negotiations can impact the development of terms and conditions.
Delivery Method: Web Based, Self-Paced
Contact Hours: 1
Registration: $35 standard rate, $20 discounted rate
 

Procurement U Hosts Training at NASPO Annual Conference
Procurement U  hosted a half day training at the NASPO Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This training was led by Dr. Thomas Kull, from the  W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Dr. Kull provided insight and led a discussion on strategies forfostering professional development in the procurement office. This included demonstrating experiential methods that can be utilized to build the skills of procurement staff. The thirty five attendees engaged in discussion around these topics and identified strategies that they can implement in their states. 


2017 State Training Coordinator Conference Dates Announced
 
Save the date for the 2017 State Training Coordinator Conference which will be held  July 14-16, 2017  at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. This meeting is adjacent to the Southern Regional Conference, and is open to two training coordinators per state. Invitations and registration details will be available in the spring. 

Please mark your calendars for this upcoming conference. Additional information will be released soon.

Lead State & Sourcing Team Reimbursements
Reminder: States eligible for NASPO ValuePoint Lead State and Sourcing Team reimbursements may choose to transfer those funds into their NASPO Professional Development Fund!
  • Notification of this intent must be submitted in writing to the NASPO ValuePoint Chief Executive Officer by November 15. 
  • Once transferred, funds are subject to the NASPO Professional Development Fund Policy & Guidelines as documented herein, including the usage period and limitations.
Cooperative Purchasing Education Funds Available
Reminder: NASPO ValuePoint annually funds to support states in promoting their in-state
 cooperative purchasing programs. Suggested activities include providing education, outreach, media, media placem ent, conferences, etc. highlighting the value of cooperative purchasing within the state and with other states and may include state led contracts facilitated via NASPO ValuePoint. 

Remember the new Training for Procurement Professionals portfolio when planning your event. Don't forget members from the Outreach and Education Team are frequently available to participate in your state procurement conferences!

Email the team to request the Cooperative Purchasing Education Funds Submission form and pre-approval at [email protected].
NASPO's mission is to help our members achieve success as public procurement leaders in their states through promotion of best practices, education, professional development, research, and innovative procurement strategies.