Early Forum Registration – Save $50

Deadline is April 30th
 

NIGP is now offering a $50 early registration discount for delegates planning to attend the 2005 NIGP Forum and Products Exposition.  This year’s Forum, July 30 - August 3, will be a celebration of the Forum’s 60th Anniversary.  Join us as we Celebrate the Magic of 60 Years in Anaheim, California at the Hilton Anaheim and the Anaheim Convention Center. 

Through April 30, NIGP national and chapter members, as well as non-members, can take advantage of a $50 early registration discount off the standard registration fees by submitting their registration and payment to the NIGP national office.  Please be advised that the issuance of a purchase order does not constitute payment.

This year, NIGP is offering a discount off the registration fee for delegates choosing to stay at the Host Hotel, the Hilton Anaheim.  Delegates will receive an additional $50 off the registration fee by completing the Registration/Housing Form and requesting reservations with NIGP.  Your patronage of this official NIGP hotel assists NIGP in meeting its contractual agreements, thereby keeping delegate registration fees down. 

Standard fees will be applicable for registrations received and/or paid after the April 30 deadline.  Standard registration fees are $650 for national members, $750 for chapter members, and $850 for non-members.  First-time attendees can take advantage of an additional $50 off the standard registration fee for their membership type.  By taking advantage of all the possible discounts, your total savings could be $150 off standard registration fees!

Registrations and payments received after June 30, 2005 will be assessed a late fee of $50.

NIGP will once again offer pre-Forum Seminars in Anaheim.  So, keep this in mind when making your travel plans.  Sessions being offered this year are:

   CPPO Review Class - Thursday and Friday, July 28 and 29
   CPPB Review Class - Friday, July 29
   Grant Funding - Saturday, July 30
   Negotiations - Saturday, July 30
   Chapter Leadership Symposium - Saturday, July 30

All sessions run from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Registration information will be posted on the NIGP Web site soon!

This year’s Forum will follow a four-day pattern and once again will provide a wide array of training, networking and social activities for the veteran and novice public purchasing professional.   Forty workshop sessions will anchor the educational program, offering a variety of topics following three educational tracks – Knowledge Network, Skills Station and Learning Lab – new 3-hour workshop blocks. A preliminary list of workshop topics by track is currently listed on the Web site.  The ever-popular networking sessions and the Products Exposition will complement the workshop schedule. 

The Forum will kick-off with the Opening Breakfast and Keynote address, featuring actor Ben Vereen, who has performed on Broadway, as well as the big screen.  Mr. Vereen has become one of the nation’s most requested speakers among audiences of all ages. Don’t miss Mr. Vereen’s program, Believe in Yourself.  The closing General Session will feature Dr. Bertice Berry.  Dr. Berry holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Kent State University.  After teaching at Kent State for several years, Dr. Berry left to become an award-winning entertainer, lecturer and comedienne.  She hosted and co-produced her own syndicated talk show, The Bertice Berry Show.  She is a best selling author of several inspirational works.  Dr. Berry’s presentation, Finding Your Purpose,  will include serious issues involved with education, diversity, personal growth, and work/life balance, but will be sprayed with humor and positive thinking.

With the exception of national committee members and participants attending pre-Forum seminars, delegates should plan to arrive in Anaheim on Saturday, July 30 in advance of the Welcome Event – a Goofy Reception is slated for Saturday evening.  Some of this year’s Forum highlights are:

    A limited number of delegates will be able to participate in two LEAP courses offered in conjuction with Forum activities. In 2005, NIGP will be offering Legal Aspects of Public Purchasing and Planning, Scheduling and Requirement Analysis.

      Don’t miss “Twilight Disney” on Sunday, July 31!  Pre-purchase tickets through NIGP at a discount rate to Disneyland Park or Disney’s California Adventure by contacting NIGP at 800-FOR-NIGPx242.

Trying to save on travel? Participants can save additional travel funds by using the preferred carrier, American Airlines!  NIGP has negotiated special discounts for Forum attendees with AA.  More information on how to obtain 5-15% off most fares is posted at  http://www.nigp.org/forum/AirlineDisInfo05.pdf  

Finally, delegates interested in saving even more on Forum-related expenses can take advantage of NIGP’s roommate finder program.  A roommate request form is posted at http://www.nigp.org/forum/RoomReqFrm05.pdf.  Interested candidates should complete the form and return it to the National Office that will then find a match.  Seeking a roommate to share the cost of accommodations at the Hilton could save nearly $400 in hotel expenses!

For more information on the 60th Annual Forum and Products Exposition and to register, please visit http://www.nigp.org/Events/Forum.htm or contact NIGP at 800-FOR-NIGPx227.  NIGP is currently accepting only faxed or mailed registration forms.  On-line registration will be available in early April.  Check the Web site often for the latest updates on Forum activities.   

Sign Up as a Network Session Co-Moderator

The networking sessions consistently rate as one of the top reasons for attending the annual Forum – so  the Institute is looking for an elite group of people who are great leaders within the profession and who may be willing to share their expertise and facilitation skills with our delegates.

As a network session co-moderator, you will work with one or two other leaders during this session to ensure that delegates have an opportunity to address issues, that the discussions are engaging and meaningful, that information sharing is plentiful, and that no single delegate controls the discussion. 

Three of the networking sessions will focus on agency-based jurisdictions and specialized procurements. A fourth networking session will focus on cutting-edge contemporary topics that have generated significant interest from the public procurement community within the past 12 months. Co-moderators for the Topical Networking Sessions should have a specialized level of expertise in the specific topic.

If you are available and willing to co-moderate one of these sessions, please download the form located at http://www.nigp.org/forum/NetSessCoMod05.pdf and fax it back to Sandy Riggs at NIGP by April 1, 2005.  Please feel free to list additional topics of interest on the form. Final selections will be made by mid-May.
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NIGP Seminars – Coming to a City Near You!

Seminars You Can’t Afford to Miss - Register by April 18th!

If you have not been able to attend a NIGP seminar because of the lack of offerings in your area, this is your opportunity to get a taste of what NIGP can do for you! 

NIGP is pleased to announce two dates for national outreach on the NIGP seminar program.  Developing and Managing Requests for Proposals In the Public Sector will be offered this spring in Las Vegas, NV and Des Moines, IA.  Purchasing professionals located near these areas are encouraged to participate in the class. 

Developing and Managing Requests for Proposals in the Public Sector is uniquely designed to prepare procurement professionals to use the RFP process to its maximum potential. The class agenda will identify the process, offer a key understanding of the elements of the proposal and ascertain ways in which the document can be used to its full capability. Pitfalls and success stories will make the class relevant and applicable when planning to incorporate this type of solicitation into the government process. 

Attendees will earn 24 contact hours or 3 points toward the UPPCC Certification of CPPO or CPPB.  Participants in this class can also earn 2.25 CEUs.  For NIGP’s complete Continuing Education Units (CEU) Policy Statement visit: www.nigp.org/educate/CEUPolicyStat.htm. For a complete course description, please visit: http://www.nigp.org/educate/outline/DMRFP.htm.

Register now! Take advantage of this unique opportunity to attend one of NIGP’s professional development seminars and network with your peers.  NIGP national members and non-members alike can take advantage of the national nember rate of $550.  Register four individuals from the same agency and each person will receive $25 off the registration fee!  Registration for these classes will close on April 18, 2005. 

Classes will be held in:                     

    Des Moines, IA on May 9-11, 2005 

    Las Vegas, NV on May 16-18, 2005

For information on these seminars, please contact NIGP Events Coordinator Lauren Gaffney at 800-FOR-NIGPx240 or  email at lgaffney@nigp.org. [ return to top ]

Supplier Diversity Webinar

Registration Deadline: April 1st

You have asked for Webinars on supplier diversity, so NIGP is bringing you Reginald Williams!  In 1985, Mr. Williams coined the term "supplier diversity", which is now the prevailing terminology used by corporations to describe diversity in the purchasing arena.   Make plans for you and your staff to join NIGP on April 7th for  How Can Supplier Diversity Work in Government?  

Mr. Williams’ Webinar will cover the difference between supplier diversity and regulatory initiatives and how to apply strategic options that can generate success in creating supplier diversity among government agencies.  For over 30 years the specialized expertise of his company, Procurement Resources, has been focused solely on helping organizations to effectively implement diversity strategies.  Join Mr. Williams for this interactive Webinar!
 
Register Now!  
For more information or to register, visit   http://www.nigp.org/educate/WebinarSuppDiv.htm

  Registration is limited to the first 50 sites

For a schedule of NIGP seminars, including face-to-face seminars, on-line courses and Webinars, visit  https://www.nigp.org/common/Seminar/SemSched.asp

For additional information, email distancelearning@nigp.org or call 800-FOR-NIGPx233. [ return to top ]

Recognizing the Greatest Contributors

Nominations for Hall and DSA Awards are Due May 13th

Nominations for the Institute's two highest awards, the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) and the Albert H. Hall Award, need to reach NIGP by May 13, 2005.  Leaders who have made major contributions to the public procurement profession and should be recognized by the Institute for that work are the focus for these two prestigious acknowledgements.  Visit  http://www.nigp.org/awards/Individual.htm for additional information on the Albert H. Hall and DSA Awards.

The Albert H. Hall Award and the Distinguished Service Awards for 2005 will be conferred during the Institute's 60th Annual Forum and Products Exposition, being held July 30 - August 3, 2005, in Anaheim, California.

The NIGP Board of Directors established the Albert H. Hall Award in 1977 (the NIGP Fellow Award is bestowed on all Albert H. Hall Awardees) as the highest form of recognition offered by the Institute. The purpose of this award is to recognize a former or present member who has made outstanding contributions to NIGP over an extended period of time. 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.

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) was established in 1950 as the second highest form of recognition offered by the Institute. The purpose of this award is to recognize individuals who have made contributions to NIGP and/or to public purchasing and have been actively involved in promoting professionalism.

NIGP members are encouraged to submit nominations by completing the Nominations Submittal Form is available at http://www.nigp.org/awards/AlbertDSAAwdFrm.pdf [ return to top ]

Why Can’t Individual Members Vote?

With the 2005 elections upon us, members holding an individual national membership in NIGP because their public entities will not pay for membership are raising the historic cry: “taxation without representation”. 

Article I.1.a.(2) of the NIGP Bylaws specifically states that “Agency Members shall be the only members entitled to vote … each Agency Member shall be represented in the Institute (for voting purposes) by its chief officer or any other designated representative (“Agency Representative”) and by those employees of the Agency Member designated by the Agency Representative to receive NIGP’s member benefits.”   Sub-section b of this Bylaw section further stipulates that “individual members shall have no voting rights.”  Why?

Speaking of taxation, it all boils down to the Institute’s tax status as a not-for-profit organization under rules established by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  NIGP’s exception under 501(c)(3) is based primarily on the fact that, as an association of governmental agencies, funded and controlled by those government agencies, NIGP “lessons the burdens of government” by cooperatively enabling agencies to make the purchasing and supply management functions more efficient and effective.  In short, NIGP retains its favorable tax status because its governance and funding comes from public agencies – not individuals. 

However, the NIGP Board of Directors has been concerned about disenfranchising its individual members who are not covered under a public agency membership.  In May 2004, the NIGP Board directed its legal counsel to seek an official opinion from the IRS on the implications of our tax classification if NIGP’s voting structure was modified to include the right of individual members to cast a vote in elections – in hopes of receiving a favorable ruling.  NIGP’s legal counsel has petitioned the IRS for a ruling, but this process can take one to two years to complete.  The NIGP Board is confident in a positive ruling because the number of persons holding individual membership is not significant to affect the governance of the Institute.  For example, using February 2005 data, 11,700 individuals hold national membership under a public agency umbrella while only 385 hold individual membership in various classifications – representing three percent of the total membership.

Until this ruling is formalized, however, individual members cannot vote in elections.  This is the only benefit extended to national agency members that is not available to national individual members.  Regardless of their formal relationship to a national agency, all national members enjoy deep discounts for educational programs including the annual Forum, access to value-added services within the Members-Only section of the NIGP Web, and an array of premium benefits as listed on the NIGP Benefits Matrix at http://www.nigp.org/member/BenefitsMatrix.pdf .  Note: Please print to read.

Hopefully the right to vote will be clarified before the 2006 elections process begins next year.  [ return to top ]

NIGP Applauds Our Veteran Members

56 Agencies Have Held NIGP Membership for 25+ Years

In celebration of Purchasing Month, it is an honor and privilege for NIGP to have served these agencies and the NIGP national membership for many years – the Institute looks forward to a continued partnership with its members to advance the public procurement profession through education, training, technical assistance, and networking opportunities. 

In 2005, the Institute provides special recognition to those agencies that have approached milestone anniversaries: 

Member Agencies that joined in 1950 and are celebrating their 55th Year
City of Bangor, ME
City of Greensboro, NC
City of Springfield, MO
Oakland County, MI

Member Agencies that joined in 1955 and are celebrating their 50th Year
Anne Arundel County, MD
City of Lincoln, NE
City of Vineland, NJ
St. Louis County, MO
Unified Government of Wyandotte County, KS

Member Agencies that joined in 1960 and are celebrating their 45th Year
City of Columbia, MO
City of Decatur, IL
City of El Paso, TX
City of Grand Junction, CO
City of Little Rock, AR
Hawaii County, HI
Village of Skokie, IL

Member Agencies that joined in 1965 and are celebrating their 40th Year
City of Chattanooga, TN
City of Sarasota, FL
Dutchess County, NY

Member Agencies that joined in 1970 and are celebrating their 35th Year
City of Alcoa, TN
City of Elgin, IL
City of Englewood, NJ
City of Kettering, OH
City of New Orleans, LA
Clark County, NV
The Corporation of the City of Oshawa, ON
Genesee County, MI
Orange County, FL

Member Agencies that joined in 1975 and are celebrating their 30th Year
City of Ann Arbor, MI 
City of Falls Church, VA
City of Leesburg, FL
City of Palm Springs, CA
City of Upper Arlington, OH
Palm Beach County, FL
St. Clair County, IL

Member Agencies that joined in 1980 and are celebrating their 25th Year
Carroll County, MD
City of Boca Raton, FL
City of Boise, ID
City of Bossier City, LA
City of Meridian, MS
City of Mesa, AZ
City of Olathe, KS
City of Orlando, FL
City of Portland, OR
City of Roanoke, VA
City of Springfield, IL
City of Springfield, OH
Commonwealth of Kentucky, KY
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK
Hampton Roads Sanitation District, VA
Monroe County, NY
Putnam County District School Board, FL
State of Wisconsin
Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, LA
Village of Addison, IL
Western Tidewater Community Services Board, VA   [ return to top ]

Welcome New Members - February 2005

Agency Members

Canada Health Infoway
Montreal, QC
Representative: Robert Lavallee

City of Romulus
Romulus, MI
Representative: Lynn Conway

DeSoto Parish School Board
Mansfield, LA
Representative: Richard Wilkinson

District School Board of Niagara
St Catharines, ON
Representative: Katherine Wyatt, CPPB

Idaho State Liquor Dispensory
Boise, ID
Representative: Kevin McMichael

Jefferson County Purchasing
Birmingham, AL
Representative: Jack Collar

Manassas Park City Schools
Manassas Park, VA
Representative: Jennifer Maguire

Marana Unified School District
Marana, AZ
Representative: Hazel Houston

Mesa County Purchasing
Grand Junction, CO
Representative: Daniel Frank, CPPB

Mississippi Military Department
Jackson, MS
Representative: Judith Eberhardt

Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission
Oklahoma City, OK
Representative: Brenda Marr

Oklahoma Military Department
Oklahoma City, OK
Representative: Paul Edgemon

Port of Tacoma
Tacoma, WA
Representative: Larry Mjelde, C.P.M.

Randall County Purchasing Department
Canyon, TX
Representative: Dodie Levitt

State of Idaho, Department of Lands
Boise, ID
Representative: Clarke Camenga

Texas Animal Health Commission
Austin, TX
Representative: Frances Robbins, CTPM

Individual Members

C. Michelle Blackwell, CPPB
Monroe, LA

Eila Hill, CPPB
Santa Fe, NM

Jill Klaskin Press, CPPO
Miami, FL

Monica Bonner
Jackson, MS

Roger Covert
Williamsburg, VA

Ruby Boykins
Hempstead, NY

Retired Members

Karen Devereaux, CPPO, CPPB
Evergreen, CO

Willard Walton, CPPO
Fairfax Station, VA

Jack Zubris
Holland, PA

Student Members

Lilah Gael
Tacoma, WA

Lea Ann Hart-Chambers
Harrisburg, OR [ return to top ]

UPPCC - Certifications for February 2005

Congratulations to the following individuals for successfully completing
the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council (UPPCC) certification requirements!

New CPPOs

Arizona

Larry Weeks, CPPO, CPPB

Purchasing and Contracts Manger

Yuma Union High School District #70

Florida

John Kunzman, CPPO, CPPB

Purchasing Agent II

Broward County Board of County Commissioners

Georgia

Alisa Morningstar, CPPO

Procurement Director

Cobb County School District

Maine

Matthew Fitzgerald, CPPO

Purchasing Agent

City of Portland

Ontario

Donna Jane Fera, CPPO, CPPB

Purchasing Analyst/Admin Supervisor

City of Brampton

New CPPBs

Florida

Sherry Clentscale, CPPB

Senior Procurement Contracting Agent

Miami-Dade County Procurement

Darryl Kight, CPPB

Purchasing Agent

Alachua County Board of Commissioners

Adriana Lucker, CPPB

Purchasing Coordinator

City of Tamarac

Randall Plunkett, CPPB

Purchasing Agent I

Broward County Board of County Commissioners

Elayne Rovner, CPPB

Senior Buyer

Palm Beach County

Carol Taylor Miller, CPPB

Contracts Administration

St. Johns River Water Management District

Illinois

Vickie Lyons, CPPB

Storeroom Supervisor

Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District

Ohio

Tracy Floyd, CPPB

Supervisor Purchasing/Contracts

OH Department of Public Safety

Dennis Igo, CPPB

Purchasing Coordinator

OH Department of Public Safety

Kelli Whalen, CPPB

Purchasing Supervisor

OH Department of Public Safety

South Carolina

Allen Mance, CPPB

Procurement Director

SC Department of Disabilities and Special Needs

Cheryl Patrick, CPPB

Purchasing Specialist

Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech College

Texas

Charles Barker, CPPB

Purchasing Supervisor

City of Round Rock

Veronica Douglas, CPPB

Buyer

City of Allen

Michael Lowry, C.P.M., CPPB

Purchasing Supervisor

City of Fort Worth

Virginia

Sara Brush, CPPB

Administrative Assistant I

Fairfax County Public Schools

All certified and recertified CPPOs and CPPBs may be found on the NIGP Web site at: http://www.nigp.org/cert/certindex.htm     [ return to top ]