A Message from the President
Greetings, fellow NASPO members.
It's hard to believe the pace at which the first six weeks of 2018 have passed. Now with our feet firmly planted in February, we begin the countdown to our first major event of the year; the 2018 Exchange in New York City, March 18-20.
If you have not yet registered to attend Exchange, I hope you will do so soon. The NASPO Exchange is a truly unique opportunity for suppliers to learn firsthand about the varied procurement processes in each of our states. In 2017, we debuted a highly successful reimagined Exchange, which drew our largest crowd to date. Registrations for the 2018 Exchange are already outpacing last year's, so we anticipate another record-setting Exchange attendance.
During my time as NASPO's Conference and Meetings Champion, I learned much about the art of meaningful engagement and the positive interaction that we seek to foster during our gatherings. As your President, I remain steadfast in my support for continuing to explore opportunities for us to learn together and from each other's successes, as well as our failures.
Whether it is at Exchange, the Academic Forum, our upcoming REACH conference in July, or our Annual Conference in September, I hope you will take advantage of the many educational and networking opportunities NASPO provides. Learning should be a lifelong journey and education will always be a priority for me.
As your President, I am focused, not on only on creating vital educational opportunities, but also on collaboration, transparency, integrity and consensus-building;
the hallmarks of a truly outstanding association like NASPO.
Over the past several years, NASPO has achieved some tremendous success, particularly in the development and expansion of our academic and strategic partnerships. These relationships are vital to the future of NASPO, as well as the profession of public procurement, and we will continue to look for meaningful opportunities for collaboration and advancement with our strategic and academic partners. We must keep our momentum going!
I am excited to begin my tenure as your President. My predecessor, Larry Maxwell, served our association well and I am grateful for his continued leadership. And I know that with Christine Warnock, NASPO's 2018 President-Elect by my side, as well as the 2018 Board of Directors, committee chairs, and the Regional Council leadership, 2018 will be a terrific year for NASPO.
NASPO is YOUR association. I hope you will take advantage of all that your membership has to offer you in your daily work as a public servant.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Jones
2018 NASPO President
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Modular Procurement: A Primer
Modular procurement methods can help state procurement officials achieve simplicity in the most complicated procurements, breaking down projects into manageable stages and helping to ensure that the end product is one that solves problems and improves the services provided by state government. This research brief provides an introduction to modular procurement, exploring the different philosophies and implementation methods (including Agile procurement), examining the advantages and disadvantages of the approach, and discussing the cultural and structural changes a procurement office should consider when making the switch to modular procurement.
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Green Purchasing Technical Assistance Funds
NASPO is pleased to announce the 2018 Green Purchasing Technical Assistance Funds! Each state's central procurement office is eligible for up to $10,000 to be used for professional services to assist in establishing, implementing and enhancing sustainable purchasing (green procurement). Through the development of policies, programs and information resources that assist procurement decision makers in their efforts related to environmental issues and solutions, the purchasing power of state government can aid in conserving energy and national resources, limit environmental pollution and waste, improve public health, encourage clean technologies, and create cost savings opportunities and a balanced economy. Please review the
GPTAF Policy
and submit your state's
application
to
greenfunds@naspo.org
by October 1, 2018.
Click HERE for the 2018 GPTAF infographic
, which includes examples of unique projects!
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Planning to attend the 2018 Exchange in New York City but still haven't registered?
The registration deadline for NASPO member participants is February 14.
Click here to register now before it's too late!
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Academic Forum 
April 10-12, 2018
Registration continues to grow for the 2018 Academic Forum, hosted by Michigan State University, April 10-12, in East Lansing, Michigan. The forum will bring together academics and state procurement leaders to discuss common challenges faced in attracting and retaining qualified talent in the profession of state procurement. The
program
will take a deeper look into how to elevate public procurement as a profession; provide an
inside look into how state attendees can partner and grow a mutually beneficial relationship with NASPO's higher education partners; and foster an open discussion between supply chain management students and the NASPO membership focusing on the factors that are most important to them in an employer. Due to the collaborative nature of this event, participation is limited to NASPO-invited guests. For registration information please contact Lily Pennington.
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Call for Proposals
Don't miss your chance to help support the sharing of education, best practices and innovative approaches to state procurement at the NASPO REACH.
Submit your proposal
by Friday, February 23rd
to showcase your state's expertise and success with topic areas during breakout sessions at the conference. We want to hear from you and explore nationwide the challenges and solutions your state procurement team faces within technology and data, contract development, training and support, vendor relations, NASPO ValuePoint cloud solutions contract, and sustainable purchasing! Share your ideas and
submit your proposal now!
Have ideas for great networking activities for REACH?
Click here
to share your thoughts with the planning work group!
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Member Resource Page
NASPO provides a long list of benefits to our members to help support and strengthen the public procurement community. As this list continues to grow, we want to ensure our members know who to contact and where to find them to make the most of their membership. Because of this need, we have created an easy-to-access list of benefits for our members located in the NASPO Network. You can access this list directly
by clicking here or you can navigate to it in the NASPO Network by clicking "Member Benefits" under the Resources tab shown below.
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Congratulations to New CPPB & CPPO Designees!
Registration is open for Procurement U's Spring Prep Courses for the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council's (UPPCC) Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) Exams. These prep courses are designed as a facilitated review of the UPPCC Body of Knowledge and are intended to assist any public procurement professional preparing to take the certification exams. Each course will provide resources, discussion with CPPB and CPPO certified instructors, case studies, and assessment tools that allow participants to gauge their individual exam readiness, including exam practice questions designed to mirror the question writing process used by the UPPCC Course. Participants are expected to have acquired knowledge in each of the domain areas through training, professional experience, and an understanding of the practical application of the procurement process, so these courses can help take that knowledge and prepare them for the exam.
NASPO would like to extend congratulations to those in state procurement who have successfully completed the UPPCC certification exams and have recently been granted the designations of CPPO or CPPB. Congratulations on all your hard work!
Newly Granted CPPOs
Ms. Catherine O. Severin, CPPO, State of Nebraska
Mr. Jay Jackson, CPPO, State of Oregon
Newly Granted CPPBs
Ms. Crystal Rink, CPPB, State of West Virginia
Mr. Joe Kelly, CPPB, State of Michigan
Mr. John Andrew Chapman, CPPB, State of Colorado
Mrs. LeAnna M. Sandy, CPPB, State of Washington
Ms. Nikki Kalen, CPPB, State of Colorado
Mrs. Tara Larwick, CPPB, State of Colorado
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A complete list of the all the newly certified individuals can be found on the UPPCC website.
As part of their preparation for the exam, half of the above named NASPO members participated in Procurement U's Fall 2017 CPPB or CPPO Exam Prep Courses. These prep courses are offered each Spring and Fall to coincide with preparation for the upcoming exams. Click here to learn more, or email procurementu@naspo.org.
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NASPO on the Road: Higher Education Events
MSU Career Fair
On Thursday, January 25, NASPO's Academic and Education Coordinators traveled to East Lansing, Michigan to attend Michigan State University's (MSU) Supply Chain Management Career Fair. Also in attendance at the fair were representatives from the state of Michigan and Ohio purchasing offices. In addition to recruiting talented MSU students for full-time positions and NASPO summer 2018 internships, the team spoke with the chair of the Supply Chain Management Department and several faculty about the relationship NASPO has built with MSU over the last two years.
Oregon Trip
On February 8, NASPO's Higher Education team traveled to Salem, Oregon to meet with Oregon's Department of Administrative Services to discuss their summer 2018 internship plans. In addition to the seven other participating states, Oregon is in the process of creating a handful of challenging internship opportunities for students from NASPO's academic partner institutions to take advantage of.
On February 9, the NASPO Higher Education team traveled to Oregon State University in Corvallis, to attend a Career Fair event at the new Austin Hall College of Business. The NASPO team hosted a booth where they spoke to students about public procurement as a profession and what it is like to have a career in the public sector. It was a productive few days in Oregon Higher Education team!
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Welcome New NASPO Members!
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Director
State of Utah
Division of Purchasing
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Interim Director
Commonwealth of Virginia
Division of Purchase & Property
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STAY CONNECTED
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