2020 Spokane Homeless

Veteran Stand Down

Do you remember ALL of those socks we

donated at the Annual Business meeting

in January? They were warmly received

and below is a thank you note from Spo-

kane County Regional Veterans Service

Center and some pictures of the event

held January 25th.

“Hello Terri,

Wanted to thank you again for the sock donation provided by your team at the Washington State Chapter of NIGP. At the Homeless Veteran Stand Down on Saturday, we passed out all of the socks to homeless and indigent regional Veter-ans in need. From our team to yours, a big thanks for your kind & thoughtful donation!

Warmly,

Heather A. Drake

Operations Manager

Spokane County & Eastern Washington

Regional Veteran Services Center”

From our Chapter President:

“Our Chapter is growing, evolv-ing, and so is the role of a pro-curement professional! NIGP is adapting training curriculum to support members, from novice to well-seasoned. Our Chapter is here to provide opportunities to expand your knowledge through educational classes and network-ing opportunities. I encourage you to attend a training and reach out to your resource com-mittees if you would like to get involved. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming events!”

-Jeff Peterson, CPPB

Intercity Transit

greetings from WANIGP

W A S H I N G T O N S T A T E

C H A P T E R O F T H E

N A T I O N A L I N S T I T U T E

O F G O V E R N M E N T A L

P U R C H A S I N G , I N C .

It’s Procurement Month! M A R C H 2 0 2 0 W A N I G P

SPECIAL

DA TES OF

INTERES T

• March 4, 2020

2020 Excellence in

Procurement Summit

-Washington State Fairgrounds

• March 5, 2020

Reverse Vendor

Trade Show

-Washington State Fairgrounds

• April 29—May 1, 2020

Foundations of Sourcing

and Contracting

-Yakima

Have something you want in a

future newsletter? Be sure to send

it to the newsletter

committee!

syeckley@everettsd.org

michelle.flatt@commtrans.org

troth@kingcounty.gov

We’d love to hear from you!

Did your

organization do

something special

for Procurement

Month? Be sure to

share that with us!

agencies to keep traffic systems in

good working condition and en-

sure the safety of the public as they

travel through the region.

Glen’s leadership, passion for ex-

cellence and engagement with

staff and customers has led to

many improvements in his office.

Glen goes beyond his normal work

duties by also taking on the role of

office manager ensuring six sepa-

rate offices are running smoothly

and have everything they need to

succeed. Most recently, Glen took

the lead in writing a contract to

acquire Arc Flash clothing for both

Northwest and Olympic Regions.

Glen works closely with his superin-

tendent helping her understand

the budget process and identifying

cost savings. Glen is always willing

to take on any task given to him

On September 11, 2019, Account-

ing and Financial Services Deputy

Director, Cindy Kay, presented

Glen Nakamichi with the prestig-

ious Procurement/Supply Profes-

sional of the year award.

Glen was recognized for his ex-

traordinary impact as part of the

NW Region Signals office success

and for his quiet, steady leadership.

Glen serves as the Supply Officer

for the NW Region Signals office.

NW Signals is a maintenance or-

ganization with an annual budget

of $21,000,000 that maintains over

4,200 locations including signals,

intelligent traffic systems (ITS), and

tolling lighting equipment. The

organization consists of a Superin-

tendent, 6 supervisors and 50 em-

ployees that work closely with re-

gion traffic engineers and local

with a smile on his face.

Glen is a Certified Professional Pub-

lic Buyer (CPPB) and a member of

the National Institute of Govern-

mental Purchasing (NIGP) and the

Washington State Chapter of NIGP.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agen-

cy that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Con-

gress. It is “the supreme audit institution” of the federal government of the United States.

It is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and identifies its core

"mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability.

GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies

with objective, reliable information to help the government save money and work more

efficiently.

One such report is the GAO Bid Protest Annual Report. In their summary of Overall Pro-

test Filings During the 2019 fiscal year, 2,198 cases were received: 2,071 protests, 60 cost

claims, and 67 requests for reconsideration. The total number of cases filed reflects a

16% reduction in comparison to last year’s filings (2,642 cases filed in FY2018).

Of interest to all public procurement staff: of the protests resolved on the merits during

fiscal year 2019, the GAO sustained 13 percent of those protests. The most prevalent rea-

sons for sustaining protests were:

unreasonable technical evaluation;

inadequate documentation of the record;

flawed selection decision;

unequal treatment; and

unreasonable cost or price evaluation

Glen Nakamichi (NW Signals) recognized as the WSDOT 2019 Procurement/Supply Professional of the Year.

Protest - A written objection by an interested party to a solicitation or award of a contract with the intention of receiving a remedial result.

NIGP Dictionary of Procurement Terms

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that

provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is

“the supreme audit institution” of the federal government of the United States.

It is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and identifies its core "mission

values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability.

GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with

objective, reliable information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.

One such report is the GAO Bid Protest Annual Report. In their summary of Overall Protest Fil-

ings During the 2019 fiscal year, 2,198 cases were received: 2,071 protests, 60 cost claims, and

67 requests for reconsideration. The total number of cases filed reflects a 16% reduction in

comparison to last year’s filings (2,642 cases filed in FY2018).

Of interest to all public procurement staff: of the protests resolved on the merits during fiscal

year 2019, the GAO sustained 13 percent of those protests. The most prevalent reasons for sus-

taining protests were:

unreasonable technical evaluation;

inadequate documentation of the record;

flawed selection decision;

unequal treatment; and

unreasonable cost or price evaluation

Procurement Fun Fact!

It’s Procurement Month!

https://www.wanigp.org/

2019 NIGP Forum, Austin, TX August 24-28, 2019

First Timer and Old Timer Forum Recap

Editor’s Note: Steve Demel won the WANIGP Chapter writing contest for 2019 and the prize was a trip to the 2019 Forum. Since Steve

had already paid for his trip to Forum, he elected to have one of his department’s Buyers, Lori Adams, get the trip. The following article

is a quick recap of their day-by-day Forum experiences.

Travel Day August 24.

Lori: Early un-eventful flight to Austin. I love the heat, so heading to my Uber ride, I was not disappointed. Hot and a little muggy. My

husband traveled with me, so we checked out the Austin night life and enjoyed several live music venues on 6th Street.

Steve: Up at 3:30 AM for the trip to SEATAC with my wife for an early flight to Austin. Other than a last-minute gate change to a differ-

ent concourse, the trip on Alaska was uneventful. The big shock was going outside when we arrived in Austin to catch a shuttle to the

hotel – Wow! Was it hot??!! My phone told me it “feels like 110” and it sure did.

First Day – Sunday, August 25

Lori: I attended the Art and Science of Negotiations Session. A lot of great information was provided. I have many new ideas, strate-

gies and tactics. Some of the input from the attendees was invaluable. Then off to the Exhibit Hall. I was surprised of the number of

suppliers and excited to see a few that we work with on a daily basis. I had some great conversations and picked up some good

SWAG!

Steve: All of Area 8, including WANIGP attendees met in the main ballroom for breakfast. Then Rick Grimm kicked of the Forum with an

announcement of record attendance of over 1,500. Next came the Keynote Speaker. Roy Spence, an Advertising and Marketing su-

perstar. Roy did not disappoint and delivered a motivational start to the 2019 Forum. “Try to be great at what you’re good at.”

Next up for me was the K-12 networking session, attended by about 100 school district purchasing folks. Seems the big concerns this

year were the excessive use of sole source, problems with Amazon purchases, dealing with surplus, and issues with PCard programs.

My afternoon session was about construction risk. Seems a lot of places are using Job Order Contracting (JOC) – no pearls of wisdom

from this session (I’m not a big JOC fan).

Ended the day in the Exhibit Hall and walked by all of the vendors. It seemed to take forever to get through the hall. We were told it

was a record number of vendors – I believe it.

Second Day – Monday, August 26

Lori: Pete Smith’s keynote was great. I appreciated the message, “Address your fears, step out of your comfort zone” “What are you

known for and what is your purpose”. You always have a choice to be your best self and make an impact.

Then on to session# 1 – RFP’s Different, not Difficult. I am new to public purchasing after over 25 years in private sector. RFP’s are very

different then what I am used to. We are using a great on-line tool which makes it so much more efficient, but it was great to hear

best practices and the important elements of a successful RFP.

Session #2 for me was a panel of organizations that have successfully implemented Amazon Business. We are currently using Amazon

Business and it was helpful to hear of new features and that Amazon can be used as a once source for required three quotes.

Austin City limits on Monday night was a great event! My husband had gone home, so I attended with Steve and his wife Debbie. The

music was my favorite genre and after a glass or two of wine, I had to get up and dance with everyone else. I think the band was

surprised at how Procurement people can party!

Steve: Day 2’s keynote speaker, Pete Smith, spoke about focusing on things that matter. “Identify what you are known for…Let go of

negative people…Embrace the crazy- get out of the boat in the pursuit of significance.” Then it was back to the Exhibit Hall to wander

through the vendor aisles. There must be over a dozen companies selling some type of e-procurement solution, including the one we

are using, Bonfire.

Another construction session to start my afternoon – more on JOC – again no pearls.

“Using Technology & Performance Metrics to Drive Improvement” was an excellent presentation given by Jack Pellegrino, Procure-

ment chief for San Diego County. Too many pearls to share them all – get his presentation slides from NIGP – “Survey internal custom-

ers, be value driven to get customers what needed, when, for fair and reasonable price. Use phone more and email less. Identify top

spend suppliers and track spend by categories.” Jack shared many of the metrics they use in San Diego – see presentation.

The Host social event was held at a live music venue called “Austin City Limits. There was a lot of food served buffet style, which I will

rate as just “okay”. However, the live music provided by the “Austin Party Band” was awesome and most everyone stayed until there

last song, around 10:00 pm.

Third Day – Tuesday, August 27

Lori: Keynote speaker Michelle Poller was my favorite and my best inspiration. Again a message about stepping out of your comfort

zone, but she emphasized it even more and it really hit home for me. “Make sure your fears are not making you miss out on life”. I

loved her 100 day project and 1 fear each day.

Next I attended a session on Software RFP’s which can be very complicated and involved. They provided great examples of how to

define your requirements for a successful outcome.

I also attended two Microsoft Tips and Tricks sessions and learned so many new ways to make my daily work more efficient. There

were many Ooo’s and Ahh’s in that class. It amazing what you don’t realize you can do with Excel and Outlook.

Steve: Day 3’s keynote speaker was Michelle Polar. She spoke about overcoming fear and sharing her experience of 100 days of do-

ing something she feared each day. Some of these were no big deal, like public speaking, but others, like posing nude for a college

art class, were well beyond most people’s comfort zone. Michelle’s approach to her fears is not about what can go wrong, but

“What’s the best that can happen?”

Next, I attended a really good session titled “Best Practices in Coop Purchasing”. The presenters, Gary Barkman and Bill Munch were

both from school districts in Arizona and both are members of the Arizona State Capitol Chapter of NIGP. They shared a lot of info

about coop purchasing, including questions to ask, how to pick between coops and a checklist for justifying use of a coop. Go to their

chapter website, www.AZNIGP.org for some great material that you can download and use as desired.

Next up was the annual Awards Luncheon which clocked in at over two hours, but it was nice to see people and chapters get recog-

nized.

I attended two more construction related sessions in the afternoon. The first one was about determining the right construction project

delivery method and explored the pros and cons of Design Bid Build, Design Build, and Construction Manager At Risk Plus the present-

ers provided a matrix to compare methods. The second session had no pearls.

Went out that evening at sunset in the 100 degree heat and watched millions of bats come out from the underside of the Columbia

street bridge. These bats migrate to Austin every March and leave in October.

Final Day – Wednesday, August 28

Lori: Wednesday I attended a session, From Goods to Great Procurement. The team provided their project of transforming their com-

plex business processes and how they went about reducing time spent and becoming more efficient. The important message I got

from this was to communicate, get involved early in the process and stay accountable.

The plenary sessions with headphones were interesting. I especially enjoyed Kevin McCarthy’s message.

I attended the Pathways panel networking session and received a lot of information on the upcoming CPP Certification. I am looking

forward to working towards this certification.

Off to the airport Wednesday afternoon and another great flight home.

Thank you to Steve for his great writing skills that enable me to attend this year. I feel very lucky to be able to work with Steve and that

I was able to be there for his last Forum before retirement. He will be missed by all, especially those in the Tacoma School District. On

to gardening, bee keeping, running, etc., etc.

Steve: My first session of the day was titled “Broken & Useless: Today’s Reference Check System”. The presenter, David Yarkin, is the

President of Government Sourcing Solutions. While I did not get any pearls, from this, I could agree that we need to do a better job of

using references in our bids/RFPs. I also agreed with the speaker’s main point: “past performance is the best predictor of future suc-

cess.”

The mid-day “Plenary” sessions were interesting, but I came away with no pearls.

My final session of the conference was serving as moderator for a discussion session on “Effectively Tracking Procurement Savings”.

There were about 100 people present and we had interesting discussions on what to measure and how to measure savings. For more

on tracking and measuring procurement savings, read my article titled “Winning the Procurement Value Game”.

One last 4 block walk in the heat to the hotel, then off to the airport and back home by midnight. All-in-all, a great Forum and lots of

info to share with our team here. If you have never been to an NIGP Forum, it really is the ultimate learning experience for public pro-

curement professionals. Thanks to the Chapter for the writing contest Forum Scholarship which allowed Lori to attend her first Forum.

Warm regards and all the best to all of you in the future. Cheers – Steve Demel