NIGP’s 67th Annual Forum and Products Exposition

Procurement professionals from federal, provincial, state and local governmental agencies in the United States and Canada gathered for the 67th Annual Forum and Products Exposition hosted by NIGP: The Institute of Public Procurement at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Wash. Awards presented at NIGP Forum Aug. 18-22 recognized procurement professionals “reaching new heights.”

2012 NIGP Chapter of the Year Awards

Category: Small Chapter – less than 80 members

Winner: Copper Chapter of NIGP

• Expanded access to professional development programs by purchasing the NIGP Signature Series to meet member needs for educational scholarship opportunities.
• Provided recertification scholarship to nine individuals.
• Set up conference calls for monthly chapter meetings to allow participation by members constrained by time or travel.

Category: Medium Chapter – 81 to 200 members

Winner: Central Florida Chapter of NIGP

• Created a Certification Reward Program. All members obtaining certification have their chapter membership dues paid for the following year.
• Led the way in use of social media, educating other chapters on its use and engaging their members. Also launched the chapter blog as a portal for procurement-related topics, chapter surveys and chapter library. Portal is linked to various social media outlets. The chapter’s social media RRS feed allows deployment of content to five sites at once.
• Established the “Bring a Guest Program” to improve member recruitment.

Category: Large Chapter – 201 or more members

Winner: Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing Chapter of NIGP

• Developed and implemented the Leading Light Agency Award Program to recognize an agency that has taken the “Lead” with innovative ideas and achievements to “Light” the way for other public procurement professionals.
• Legislative Committee developed a Legislative Survey to gather and analyze what Commonwealth of Virginia agencies spend on legal newspaper advertisements required for Request for Proposals. The information will be used for VAGP’s 2012 legislative strategies, including working to eliminate mandatory newspaper advertisements.
• Developed and implemented a new Certification Scholarship to reimburse a minimum of 12 members for UPPCC exam fees each year.

NIGP Award Winners

Darin L. Matthews, FNIGP, CPPO, C.P.M., Director of Business Operations, North Clackamas School District, Ore., won the Albert H. Hall Memorial Award, NIGP’s top honor. This award recognizes a former or present member who has made outstanding contributions to NIGP over an extended period of time. Established in 1977, the Institute named the award in honor of NIGP’s founder, Albert H. Hall, who served as the organization’s first Executive Vice President from 1944 to 1975. As a writer, author and teacher, Darin Matthews is recognized everywhere as a true professional who constantly promotes cutting edge practices and regularly pushes the envelope.

Carol Hodes, CAE, Director of Professional Development at NIGP (left), received the 2012 Anne Deatherage Meritorious Service Award in honor of NIGP’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Anne Deatherage, who served the Institute in a variety of leadership capacities from 1972 to 2005. Presenting the award (right) is Marcheta Gillespie, NIGP’s first vice president.

NIGP presented the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) to three outstanding professionals: Lynda Allair, CPPO, Retired, BPS Supply Chain Secretariat, Cavan, Ontario (left); Dr. Guy Callender, FCIPS, Professor and Chair in Leadership of Strategic Procurement, Curtin School of Business, Perth, Australia (center); and Judy Meisel, CPPO, CPPB Purchasing Manager, City of Olathe, Kan. (right).

Laurie M. Roberts, CPPB, District School Board of Pasco County, Fla. (left), received the 2012 Professional Buyer of the Year Award recognizing non-supervisory professionals who have made significant contributions to purchasing, professional development, their entity, their chapter, and the Institute. NIGP’s Third Vice President DeWight Dopslauf (right) presented the award.

Carrie F. Woodell, CPPO, CPPB, CFCM, C.P.M., A.P.P., City of Winter Park, Fla., (left) won the 2012 Professional Manager of the Year Award recognizing management professionals who have made significant contributions to purchasing, professional development, their entity, their chapter, and the Institute. NIGP’s First Vice President Marcheta Gillespie (right) presented the award.

Spirit of NIGP Awards recognize three unsung heroes of the profession who have played a significant role in shaping the organization. Winners are Ken Babich, BCom, CPPO, Director, Purchasing Services, University of Victoria (left); Jay Jackus, CPPO, CPPB, Purchasing Administrator, City of Tarpon Springs, Fla.(center); and Pam McComb, NIGP photographer. (right)

The 2011 Lewis E. Spangler Purchasing Professional Award from the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) was presented to Mike Bevis, CPPO, J.D. CPPO, CPSM, C.P.M., PMP, purchasing director, City of Naperville, Ill. (left), for outstanding commitment to the profession of Purchasing and Supply Management by evidence of successful contribution to the bottom line and by support given to collaborators in the area of education and training. Don Buffum, NIGP’s second vice president (right), presented the award.

New this year, the Measure Up Award recognizes one NIGP agency member best using the free member tool called Measure to capture and report savings and efficiency gains through procurement activities. The inaugural recipient of this award is the Washington State Department of Transportation, which documented almost $10 million of savings and efficiency gains last fiscal year through demand, supplier and process management

Multnomah County Purchasing, Ore., won the NIGP Innovation Award for developing an in-house, low-cost computer-based platform to train those with procurement and contract development roles throughout the organization. Using off-the-shelf computer-based course development software and a freeware learning management system, they were able to achieve a 69 percent savings over contracting for the work. In addition, the computer-based training provides Contract Administrators access to greatly needed educational resources that are flexible to their individual schedules. This procurement training solution was made available to support the training needs of other agency departments.

Sound Transit Procurement and Contracts Division, Seattle, Wash., won the Pareto Award of Excellence in Public Procurement. The Pareto Award is the pinnacle award for public procurement excellence. It is tantamount to the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award and the Deming Prize for Quality. The Pareto Award accreditation is earned only by OA4 accredited agencies who have undergone extensive evaluation by a third party review team and met all performance requirements.

Kelly Okken, CPPB, VCO, James Madison University, Va., won the NIGP Diversity Essay Award for “Can Diversity Be Evaluated in Public Sector Procurement Process?”

Ruth Estrada, CPPB, City of Tucson, Ariz., won the NIGP Ethics Essay Award for “Even Superman Has a Weakness: What is Your Kryptonite?”

OA4 Accreditation Award Recipients

Achievement of OA4 accreditation is awarded based on successful completion of an agency self-evaluation process that assesses performance in 12 key functional areas. Obtaining OA4 accreditation is a prerequisite to qualifying for the pinnacle agency accreditation in public procurement, the Pareto Award of Excellence.

• Arizona Department of Transportation
• Atlanta Public Schools, Ga.
• Chesterfield County, Va.
• City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii
• City of Chandler, Ariz.
• City of Richmond, Va.
• Cobb County School District, Ga.
• Cobb County, Ga.
• Colorado Springs School District 11, Colo.
• Denver Public Schools, Colo.
• Fulton County, Ga.
• Gwinnett County, Ga.
• Howard County, Md.
• Loudoun County, Va.
• Miami-Dade County, Fla.
• Pima County, Ariz.
• Region of Peel, Ontario
• Texas Department of Transportation

2012 Certified Agencies

• Alaska Department of General Services
• Anderson County, Tenn.
• Anne Arundel County Schools, Md.
• Arizona Office of Tourism
• City of Ames, Iowa
• City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• City of Chandler, Ariz.
• City of Dunwoody, Ga.
• City of Clearwater, Fla.
• City of Goodyear, Ariz.
• City of Fort Collins, Colo.
• City of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• City of League City, Texas
• City of Longmont, Colo.
• City of Miami Gardens, Fla.
• City of Naperville, Ill.
• City of Olathe, Kan.
• City of Oviedo, Fla.
• City of Raymore, Mo.
• City of Port St Lucie, Fla.
• City of Red Wing, Minn.
• City of Sparks, Nev.
• City of Tarpon Springs, Fla.
• City of Venice, Fla.
• City of Wheaton, Ill.
• City of Winter Park, Fla.
• Glendale Elementary School District, Ariz.
• Hinds Community College, Miss.
• Johnson County, Kan.
• Kentucky Division of Engineering and Contract Administration
• King George County, Va.
• Larimer County, Colo.
• Little Rock Wastewater, Ark.
• Livingston County, Mich.
• Louisiana Dept of Transportation and Development
• Maricopa County, Ariz.
• Nashville Electric Service, Tenn.
• Ohio Department of Aging
• Ohio Lottery Commission
• Old Dominion University, Va.
• Polk State College, Fla.
• Santa Rosa Co School Board, Fla.
• Technical College System of Georgia
• Texas Racing Commission
• Town of Marana, Ariz.
• Town of Oro Valley, Ariz.
• Unified Purchasing Cooperative of the Ohio River Valley, Ohio
• Village of Glenview, Ill.
• Village of Niles, Ill.
• Warren County, Miss.
• Wichita Public Schools, Unified School District 259, Kan.

NOTE: Bold text indicates Sterling Agency Award Recipient.

Through its Agency Certification Award program, the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council (UPPCC) identifies organizations that have earned the distinguished and unique honor of achieving and/or maintaining a UPPCC fully certified public procurement staff. This program was developed to recognize those organizations that have made a concerted effort to achieve procurement excellence. Sterling Agencies have maintained Certified Agency standing for three or more consecutive year. Visit www.uppcc.org to learn what it takes to become a Certified Agency.