Procurement teams across the country are challenged with onslaught of competing demands for health and safety equipment while working situations require them to be at the Emergency Operations Center or home office - not the easiest of times! National Cooperative Procurement Partners (NCPP) has pulled together a host of resources for public procurement professionals to better understand the current COVID-19 supply chain situation, changing FEMA requirements, how cooperative contracts may be leveraged, and additional answers and resources to help during this emergency.
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Public Contracting in the Time of Coronavirus
Lessons Learned From 2008 Great Recession
By Nicole Smith, President of NS Research Solutions
The coronavirus epidemic has brought public life to a halt in most of the United States. It’s easy to see echoes of the 2008 Great Recession in today’s climate of quarantines and business closings as state and local governments face significant losses of revenue and an increased demand for services. However, many governments in 2020 are spending less (adjusting for inflation) and employing fewer people than they were when the Great Recession began 13 years ago, which will complicate their ability to respond to the epidemic.
Cooperative purchasing contracts can expedite the ability of governments to source critical supplier solutions. In addition, cooperative purchasing contracts are competitively awarded, allowing state and local governments to maintain established best practices in public procurement and providing confidence that the suppliers have been properly vetted. This will prove invaluable in the aftermath of the emergency, when public spending is often scrutinized and second-guessed.
