Greetings: Region 13 Canadian Members

I am pleased to release the following bulletin concerning the legal opinion of Mr. Robert Worthington on the Canadian Communities Purchasing Alliance on behalf of Canadian Communities and the Canadian Communities Leadership Team. The Leadership Team is comprised of key government and education public purchasing officials from across Canada.

I wish to thank the Leadership Team for their efforts in promoting the great value this program has to offer Canadian government and education agencies.


               Legal Review and Opinion Confirms No Barriers to Public Agency
                   Participation in Canadian Communities Purchasing Alliance

The Canadian Communities Purchasing Alliance is pleased to release the Legal Review & Opinion from Mr. Robert Worthington of Robert Worthington and Associates, Ltd.  The Legal Review & Opinion from Mr. Worthington provides a detailed overview of the Canadian Communities Purchasing Alliance as well as the legal background and framework on how agencies in Canada can participate in the Canadian Communities Purchasing Alliance.

Topics in the review include how Canadian agencies can lawfully participate in the purchasing alliance, how Canadian Communities fits within Canada’s Internal Trade Agreements & Bidding Laws, as well as additional information on how agencies in Canada can access the contracts available.

In the review, Mr. Worthington applauds the interlocking but separate contracts between the four entities (U.S. Communities, the Lead Public Agency, the Participating Public Agencies and the successful Vendor or Supplier) and he believes they should be adopted by Canadian Communities and its Participating Public Agencies. “The three contracts (the Master Agreement, the Master Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement and the Administration Agreement) keep the roles and responsibilities of all parties clearly separate and defined, yet allow everyone to work together,” says Mr. Worthington.

Summarizing his findings, Mr. Worthington writes, “…it is clear that the U.S. Communities’ GPA program upholds the spirit and intent of the AIT and ANNEX 502.4’s objectives of fair and open competition for public contracts, in any event. As a result, we would conclude that neither the AIT nor ANNEX 502.4 is a barrier to the U.S. Communities’ GPA program, in fact, in law or in spirit and intent.”

“Looking only at Canadian competitive bidding and contract law, there is nothing in law to prevent a Canadian Public Agency from taking advantage of a contract created in the U.S.A. through an American-conducted competitive bid solicitation. In fact, private companies do it all the time and governments should, too.”

Mr. Worthington concludes that no real barriers can be seen from a legal point of view arising from the Canadian laws canvassed that would prevent any Canadian Province, Territory or MASH Sector government entity from participating in this unique and valuable endeavour.

Questions and Answers and a Summary of Findings from the Legal Review can be found by visiting www.canadiancommunities.org.

“Canadian Communities is an exciting new avenue for public buyers across Canada to access cooperative purchasing contracts and save their agencies money and time,” says Jamie Dobbin, CPPO, CPPB, Manager, Supply Management with Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1.

“Working together to buy commonly used items and services produces good results,” says Earl Oddstad, Manager of Procurement for the District of Maple Ridge.

Canadian Communities currently offers seven contracts through six suppliers for commodity areas such as Office Furniture, National Security, Maintenance, Repair & Operating Supplies, Public Safety, Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies, and Physical Education Equipment.

“The Canadian Communities program allows Haworth to provide quality products at the best possible customer pricing to Canadian government agencies,” commented Cyndi Kamps, Program Manager for Haworth Inc., a supplier partner of Canadian Communities. “We have been a part of Canadian Communities since its inception and are very proud to be a supplier partner on this program.  Haworth believes that this is a best practice model for public procurement officials”

For additional information on the Legal Review and Opinion from Mr. Robert Worthington of Associates, Ltd, please contact Scott Wilson at swilson@canadiancommunities.org.

Robert C. Worthington and Associates Ltd. is a legal education company dedicated to helping professional purchasers, materials managers, supply managers and contract administrators reduce their legal risk & expand their legal knowledge.  Mr. Worthington has over 26 years of experience teaching the laws of purchasing, contracting and competitive bidding.

Canadian Communities is sponsored internationally by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and the Association of School Business Officials International. Designed in cooperation with Canadian government and education purchasing professionals, Canadian Communities provides an international purchasing forum for municipal, academic, social, health, federal, provincial territories and crown corporations throughout Canada by pooling the purchasing power of thousands of government and education agencies internationally. All Canadian Communities contracts are competitively solicited/tendered and are in compliance with the Agreement on Internal trade.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at anytime.

Gord Sears, CPPB
Manager of Purchasing
Town of Newmarket
gsears@newmarket.ca
Telephone:   905-953-5335

Forum 2009: Call for Presentations

NIGP is in Search of Excellence.  We'd like to receive your proposals for presentations and papers to be delivered during the 64th Annual Forum in St. Louis, Missouri, August 22 - 26, 2009.

This is the place to share Excellence that can help to shape our future.

This year NIGP is especially interested in the innovative programs you created that turned challenges into successes, supported your organization and inspired others to be the best. 

Should your proposal be selected for presentation, you will receive $50 off your Forum registration, UPPCC re-certification credit and the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the effectiveness of our profession.

NIGP members have wide ranging interests and the Forum attracts attendees from all levels of government, so all submissions will be considered.  Submit your Call for Presentations today. 

Submission Deadline:  Monday, December 22. 


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Forum 2009: New Budget-Conscious Conference-Only Registration

In recognition of the difficult economic conditions and budgetary constraints facing public entities, the NIGP Board approved expanded registration options for NIGP’s 2009 Gateway to Excellence Forum in St. Louis, Missouri, August 22-26, 2009.

Historically, NIGP has offered only the value-based full-registration package that provides unrestricted access to all plenary, workshop and networking sessions, morning coffee breaks, and five meal functions including the Welcome Reception, Host Chapter Social Event (dinner), Awards and Recognition Luncheon, Exhibit Hall Lunch, and Presidential Banquet.  The current full-registration member fee of $675 reflects over $235 per person in direct expense related to providing meals for each Forum delegate.

For its 2009 Forum, NIGP will also offer a conference-only registration option that excludes all meal functions (except lunch in the exhibit hall) and passes along the meal-related expense savings to those choosing this registration option.  Those seeking lower cost face-to-face professional development opportunities may find this an attractive alternative, especially if they are unable to attend all meal events.  Additionally, daily registrations will continue to be offered for those who can attend one or two days of the Forum.

Conference-only delegates will have admission to the plenary, educational, and networking sessions, and the lunch in the exhibit hall on Tuesday, August 25.  Individual meal event tickets will be available for purchase in advance of the Forum.  Event tickets may be available onsite based on availability.  Conference-only delegates must purchase and present an event ticket for each meal function they wish to attend.

As the conference-only fee already includes a deep discount, there are no additional early registration discounts for conference-only attendees.  The conference-only registration option is available to both NIGP members and non-members.

2009 Forum Fees

•  Full Registration Fee - NIGP National Members:  $675
•  Full Registration Fee - Non-Members: $775
•  Conference-Only Registration Fee - NIGP National Members: $440
•  Conference-Only Registration Fee - Non-Members: $540
•  Daily Registration Fee (for a max of two days) - $150 per day

2009 Forum Fee Discounts (applies only to full-registration)

•  First-Time Registrant:  -$50 (available any time)
•  Early Registration – Fees paid by April 30, 2009:  -$50

NOTE:  There is a $50 Late Registration Penalty if Fees are not paid by July 31, 2009 (applies only to full-registration).

Registration for NIGP’s 64th Annual Conference and Products Exposition begins early 2009.


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Upcoming Webinar: A Guide to Effective Protest Management

Me thinks thou doth protest too much!
Thursday, December 18
1PM - 2:30PM (Eastern)
Registration Deadline:  Friday, December 12

Course Objectives:

•  View specification and award protests from the perspective of 
   both vendors and purchasing staff
•  Learn ways to avoid pitfalls that could lead to protests and
   undermine contract awards
•  Help vendors be better equipped to make practical decisions
   regarding when and on what basis to protest
•  Address the practical aspects of presenting and responding to protests

                                               Presented by:

                                   

                             Melissa J. Copeland and John E. Schmidt
                               Partners, Williams Mullen, Raleigh, NC

                                               Register Today 



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Research Results: Comparison of Purchasing Staffing

How does your agency's staffing compare to other agencies?

The latest NIGP Benchmarking Survey provides some useful data to help you determine how your agency stacks up.

The average number of employees per Purchasing department is 11 FTE (full-time equivalent) consisting of 2 directors/managers, 6 buyers/agents, and 3 clerical/administrative positions.  Staffing depends on a number of factors including entity type and size.

The following presents the averages in various ways to help you evaluate your staffing.

Average Purchasing FTE by Entity Type

Entity Type	Directors/ Managers	Buyers/ Agents	Clerical Support/ Administrative	Total
City/Municipality	2	4	3	9
County/Region	2	9	3	14
School (k-12)	2	4	4	10
State/Province	3	7	6	16
University/College	2	5	2	9

Ratio of Average Purchasing FTE to Population Served

Entity Type	Average	Median	Low	High
City/Municipality	1:42,360	1:26,000	1:4,481	1:600,000
County/Region	1:65,218	1:44,125	1:12,000	1:300,000
School (k-12)	1:6,398	1:6,397	1:1,000	1:16,917
State/Province	1:1,478,913	1:650,000	1:170,588	1:9,333,333
University/College	1:5,564	1:2,850	1:833	1:53,333

Note:  There were not enough responses from other entity types to provide meaningful averages.

Procurement FTE as a Percentage of Total Entity FTE

Entity Type	Percentage of Total Entity FTE
City/Municipality	.7%
County/Region	.6%
School (k-12)	.4%
State/Province	1.1%
University/College	.7%
Overall Average	.8%

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Welcome New Members: October 2008

Agency Members

Baltimore Department of Public Works
Lyque O'Connor
Baltimore, MD

California Polytechnic State University
Leah Kirklin
San Luis Obispo, CA

Capital Region BOCES
Billie Burgamy, CPPB, C.P.M.
Albany, NY

City of Hattiesburg
Michael Pope
Hattiesburg, MS

City of Spring Hill
Debbie Loveless
Spring Hill, TN

City of Winter Haven
Bob Bishop, C.P.M.
Winter Haven, FL

Clerk of Superior Court Maricopa County
Deborah Brooks
Phoenix, AZ

County of Louisa
Faye Stewart
Louisa, VA

Falcon School District #49
Vivian Harvell
Falcon, CO

Jones County Board of Education
Carol Miller
Gray, GA

Minnesota Department of Health
Chris Marquette
Minneapolis, MN

Ohio Deferred Compensation
Cindy Ward
Columbus, OH

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety
Lisa Armstrong
Oklahoma City, OK

Oregon Department of Forestry
Shannon Rand, C.P.M.
Salem, OR

Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Jill Sutherland
Austin, TX

Trinity River Authority of Texas
Teresa Lobacz
Dallas, TX

Yakima Valley Libraries
Kim Hixson
Yakima, WA

York Technical College
Velma Simmons
Rock Hill, SC


Individual Members

Tara Allred
South Jordan, UT

Kathy Bridwell, C.P.M.
Dallas, TX

Minoo Damanpour
Seattle, WA

Robert Denson
Boynton Beach, FL

Marie Guinyard
Denmark, SC

Dawn Gurda
West Allis, WI

Tangela Innis
Richmond, VA

Umesh Kalia
Guelph, ON

Steven Sakai
Chicago, IL

Thomas Schiener, C.P.M.
West Seneca, NY


Retired Members

Nadine Caudill, CPPB
Yuma, AZ

William Deaver, CPPB, RPPO, CCPO
Cape May Court House, NJ

Earla Pallette, CPPO, CPPB, CTP, CTPM
May, TX

Nicholas Roach, CPPO
Topeka, KS


Faculty Member

David Montour
Kirkwood, MO
St. Louis University

Student Members

Steven Georgevitch
Arnold, OH
St. Louis University

Christine King
Crawfordville, FL
Florida State University

Alicia Koster
Kingston, NY
University of Phoenix

Eric Marr
Petrolia, ON
Humber College

Megan Pittman
Chevy Chase, MD
University of Phoenix

Suma Rajwani
Aliso Viejo, CA
St. Louis University

Zachary Shoemaker
Meridian, ID
Boise State University

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During a Down Economy: Construction Contract Options...

 Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contracts Get the Job Done
                                                                                      by Vince Duobinis

“Virginia county proposes meal tax to pay for school construction,” “Florida district revises new school design to save $17.4 million in construction costs,” “Dallas schools' budget deficit may increase to $84 million.”

These headlines and many more have been printed across the country in recent weeks.  As individuals what can we do during these trying economic times?

As stewards of the facilities you are entrusted to manage, you have to make many budget decisions to maintain your facility. One forward thinking option is to utilize firm fixed, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for your repair, renovation and minor construction needs. The status quo says low bid contracts save money on your projects.

Are you really saving costs this way? Think about the number of projects you put out for bid each year. How much does it cost to prepare and review the bid packages?  What are the costs to develop the scope of work, plans and specifications? Do you have increased costs when the bids come back higher than your budget and you have to redesign and re-bid the project?  Think about the change orders, the added costs and the associated headaches.  Would a project cost less today than in six to eighteen months if you didn’t have to go through your normal bid processes? Finally, think about your staffing needs and abilities to manage such projects.

Through Job Order Contracting (JOC), an IDIQ contract that provides for firm fixed pricing for each delivery order, you obtain the benefits of having a general contractor on-call that can utilize targeted or incidental designs to manage and complete projects.  Joint scopes of work and pricing are developed using a unit price book and coefficient, allowing you to know the price of the project prior to issuing a notice to proceed.  Contractor change orders are virtually eliminated, since JOC is performance based and the majority of the contractor’s due diligence is done during the scoping phase, making certain they understand as much as possible about existing conditions, and identifying and addressing “unknown” conditions that could affect the construction process.

Would knowing the price of the project prior to issuing a notice to proceed help you manage your budget?  Would an on-call contractor walking your project and providing a written scope of work along with a line item cost of the project within days of being contacted help you reduce your delivery time of your projects?  If change orders occur, would it be beneficial knowing that the cost of the change is based on a set unit price book and multiplier and not a number pulled out of a hat?

As a steward of one of our nation’s public facilities, wouldn’t it be beneficial to utilize a construction tool that is going to help you complete your projects, on-time, within budget and in a professional manner?  If so, Job Order Contracting is one such tool.

---------------------------------

Vince Duobinis is a senior market development manager for a commercial contracting company headquartered in Vienna, VA.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not represent an endorsement by NIGP.  [ return to top ]