Mark your calendars, the last day to submit reimbursements for NASPO and NASPOValuePoint expenses is December 8, 2017. This includes all 2017 requests for Professional Development Funds, events, travel reimbursements and more. If you have questions regarding this deadline, please contact [email protected]. 

More than 115 procurement professionals, representing 38 states and the District of Columbia, joined with Life and Honorary members and strategic and academic partners for NASPO's 2017 Annual Conference, October 8-9, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The conference honored NASPO's 70th Anniversary and Legacy of Excellence, while looking ahead to the innovations that are key to shaping the future of state procurement. Attendees joined in on the celebration fun by completing a scavenger hunt at the 70th Anniversary Reception. Participants took a look back through NASPO history at some of the major milestones since the organization's inception.

The legacy of NASPO continued to be celebrated through the President's Luncheon with the presentation of the Giulio Mazzone Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes service, on a continuing exemplary basis, to the public purchasing profession. This distinct honor was presented to Vern Jones, formerly of Alaska, for his lifelong dedication and leadership in public procurement. 

While the celebrations proceeded as planned, they did not go on without a heavy heart for those NASPO coastal state members affected by destructive weather and who could not be in attendance. The value of peer-to-peer interaction within the public procurement community thrived regardless in the conference's rescheduled dates and location. 

The "reimagined" conference engaged attendees with interactive exercises that allowed greater opportunities to connect and share state experiences on important topics featured in the program - like eProcurement and Cooperative Purchasing. The interactive exercises proved to be of great value to conference participants - like the "eProcurement: Choose Your Own Adventure," which required groups of procurement professionals to think through the critical decision points that arise in the life cycle of eProcurement. Attendees were faced with the challenges that can often arise with each eProcurement phase and how they can make or break outcomes for the state. Discussion-led breakouts focused on building and preparing for the future of state procurement and granted attendees the opportunity to analyze the various benefits available to NASPO members - like professional development through Procurement U, funding resources provided by NASPO and NASPO ValuePoint and engagement opportunities through committee and volunteer initiatives. A 2017 NASPO Top 10 priority was strongly supported at this year's conference by the first-time invitation to all NASPO academic partners to participate in the Annual Conference program. Academic partners in attendance included Michigan State University, Arizona State University and the State University of New York in addition to a highlighted review of the inaugural Academic Forum and growth initiatives in academic internship programs. 

 
NASPO's partnership with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers brought to light the ongoing work of the Joint Task Force on Negotiations to improve IT procurement processes in response to the rapidly changing technology needs of state government. Attendees participated in an interactive discussion and left the session with tools to implement the recommendations in their own states. The meaningful conversations, resources and collaborative work engendered at the conference will continue to be a huge part of building the future of state procurement. Look to even more innovative opportunities to grow the successful history of NASPO and to advance public procurement and its community leading up to the 2018 Annual Conference, September 23-26 in Long Beach, California!

NASPO proudly honored three innovative state procurement programs with the George Cronin Awards for Procurement Excellence at its Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month. After receiving a record number of nominations for the second year in a row, the Cronin Awards Committee  diligently  worked to score the nominees on the criteria of innovation, transferability, service improvement, and cost reduction.

Congratulations to the State of Utah, which was awarded Gold in the competition. Utah's win recognized its ability to lead a multi-state effort in cloud solutions procurement, which turned the traditional acquisition method for IT Procurement on its head. It also, provide key benefits in cost savings and efficiency, and addressing critical issues like data integrity, ownership and security.

The New York State Office of General Services won the Silver Award for its unique "umbrella" contracting approach to face evolving demands for efficiency and cost savings from existing contracts by collaborating with key stakeholders including state and local CIOs and vendors.

The Bronze Award was presented to the State of Tennessee, which adapted a collaborative contracting model developed by the University of Tennessee for use in the public sector, which increased cost savings as well as improving the flexibility and transparency of the state.

Georgia and Florida were selected as Cronin Award finalists. Georgia's submission highlighted the implementation of an Amazon for Business catalog within the Team Georgia Marketplace™, the state's virtual catalog application integrated within the State's ERP system. Florida's Department of Management Services Division (DMS) created a State Purchasing Concierge program to provide training to Florida state agencies on how to use federal government tools, revamped its website to provide instructions on accessing General Services Administration (GSA) schedules, and established a Concierge Team to assist customers.

Finally, in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Cronin Awards Program, the NASPO membership was asked to select a prior Gold Award winner that embodied the most innovative procurement initiative in the past decade. This one-time, honorary award was presented to the Commonwealth of Virginia for its 2014 nomination, eVA Mobile Apps.

Congratulations to all our winning states! We look forward to continuing to recognize your hard work and innovation in next year's awards. Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming Cronin Finalist Webinar Series.

2017 Cronin Award Winners

	2017 Cronin Heritage Award Winners