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Colorado Procurement News

August, 2024

News for the Statewide Procurement Community from the State Purchasing & Contracts Office

From the CPO

Our new State Price Agreement website is scheduled to launch later this summer (see below). Our current solution isn't accessible and has limited functionality, and upgrading it has long been a goal. We're so close to being able to share this new website with our users, and I want to thank the SPCO staff and our OIT partners for their months of work on this project.

Also, if you didn't sign up to join us for one of our in-person State Price Agreement events, don't despair- there's still time to register for the virtual event on August 28th! Visit our website for more details and to register. 

Sincerely,

Sherri Maxwell, CPPB
Chief Procurement Officer

New State Price Agreement Website

We're excited to announce the new State Price Agreement website, a major upgrade from our previous platform! Designed with accessibility and user experience at the forefront, this new site offers enhanced functionality that we think our users will really appreciate.

Whether you're researching price agreement categories, looking for a specific contact, or interested in signing up for category updates, you'll find the interface more intuitive and responsive. 

The new website will go live later this month, and we'll be providing a user guide as well as training, to make the transition as seamless as possible for our users. Please watch for additional communications from our office.

Price Agreement Month

Register and join us online! Visit our event webpage for more information and the full agenda!  Wednesday, August 28th, from 9:00 am to 12:30 online. 

We are providing a Basics of Cooperative Purchasing course ahead of time, so you can learn about cooperative purchasing (or just get a refresher) at your own pace! Please complete this online course before attending a Price Agreement Month event. 

What is Price Agreement Month? This is your chance to learn more about these statewide contracts as we cover the basics of cooperative purchasing and explore some of our most popular contract categories.

Which Price Agreement categories will be covered?

• Advertising & Marketing
• Automobile Rental
• Body Armor
• Cloud Solutions
• Copiers & Managed Print Services
• EV Charging Stations
• IT Research & Advisory Services
• IT Vendor Managed Services
• Procurement Acquisition Services
• Software
• Temporary Personnel Services
• Temporary Personnel Services Medical
• Training, Assessments & Development Programs
• Translation Services
• Travel Management Services
• Vehicles

What other topics will be covered? We’ll also have speakers from the Governor’s Office of Information Technology discussing Colorado’s new accessibility requirements and accessibility in procurement and the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) sharing information on the benefits and resources available to both state and local government procurement professionals. 

Who should attend? If you make purchases for a program, have a pcard, or work in procurement (purchasing and/or contracts!) for the state, an institution of higher education, local government, or a certified nonprofit, these events are a great chance to learn and ask questions!

Do all three events cover the same information? Yes. This year, we are offering the same content on three different days to allow as many people as possible to attend and learn with us. 

A very special thank you to our partner, the Rocky Mountain Governmental Purchasing Association - RMGPA!

2024 NASPO REACH Conference

SPCO staff, along with Kathy Chang from the Department of Agriculture and Nikki Holland from the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) attended the 2024 NASPO REACH Conference in Philadelphia last month. With learning sessions on topics ranging from 'Moving Into the Modern Era of Public Procurement' and 'Guidelines for Successful Communication and Customer Experience in the Procurement Office' to 'Managing Suppliers and Agency Relations' it was an incredible opportunity to learn as well as network.

Our own John Chapman, Western Regional Council Chair, led a great session with our cohorts from other Western states.

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Report 

Non-CORE Agencies: The Statewide Equity Office (SEO) is requesting your Agency/Community College's information for the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Report as required by §24-103-905 CRS. Please submit your data by August 30th using this form. If you have any questions, please contact anthony.berenguel@state.co.us.

REMINDER: Accessibility & Procurement

As the State's accessibility standards continue to evolve, its important that we all stay up-to-date on the latest developments. OIT, who is responsible for these standards, has a webpage dedicated to Accessibility for Procurement. They also publish a monthly accessibility newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. 

Accessibility requirements are also included in the SPCO's solicitation and contract templates.

Did You Know?

Are you familiar with GovWin? It is a free market research tool for government entities!

GovWin aids procurement professionals in leveraging best practices of solicitations and terms/conditions used by other government organizations in contracting.

• Provides a searchable database of hundreds of thousands of federal, state, and local government solicitations as well as historical contracts and associated documents.
• Includes 1.9 million profiles of companies to find and qualify bidders and examine their track record in contracting at the federal, state, local & education (SLED) level.

To create your FREE account, visit the GovWin website and follow these three easy steps:

1. Click the "Login" button on the upper right hand corner of the screen,
2. Navigate to New GovWin User, and click "Yes" when it asks if your company has a subscription, and
3. Fill out the "Request GovWin Access" form with your own information and click "Submit Request".

GovWin provides technical support on their Contact Us page if you need it.

Live Procurement Training

These training courses are currently being offered via Zoom. Visit the SPCO Procurement Training page for more information. 

Statutory Violations Prevention
The SPCO has rolled out a new training on Statutory Violations for program staff, which agencies are providing in their own LMS. The training is available for all executive branch employees to take when it is convenient for them and will provide agencies with better oversight and transparency. Please contact your agency controller with any questions.

Controller Pre-Delegation Training
8/20/2024 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Register

Contract Drafting Boot Camp
8/22/2024 | 8:00am - 3:00pm
Register

COPROU Procurement Learning Library

These training courses are available to State procurement professionals through the Colorado Procurement University (COPROU). Visit the SPCO Procurement Training page for more information. 

Basic Procurement Certification

• Foundations of State Procurement 
• Methods of Source Selection 
• Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
• Overview of Commitment Documents 
• Statutory Violations and Unauthorized Purchases 

Procurement Official Series

• Procurement Official Training  
• Protests and Appeals Processes  

Purchasing Certification

• Documented Quotes 

Contact thomas.wilson@state.co.us with questions about training. 

Reminder: All NASPO-designed

Procurement U courses are now free!

The National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) offers all of their Foundational Procurement courses for free! 

Visit Procurement U to view the course offerings, which include:

• Successful Change Management: Policy, Procedures, and People
• The Future of Procurement
• Introduction to Bid Protests, and more!

You can create a free Procurement U account and sign up for these courses here. Note that most Procurement U courses are self-paced, so you can start them at any time.

Questions? Email procurementu@naspo.org.

Name: Lisa Young

Title: Purchasing Agent IV

Organization: Department of Transportation

Tell us a little bit about your background: Customer service has always been a part of my life; providing service to others is integral to who I am as a human being.  From my first job as a Florist’s Assistant to the level of expertise I have gained in a technical, project, and administrative capacity, was cultivated by building trust relationships, participating as a team member, and creating efficient systems in many different industries environments ranging from corporate to manufacturing to contracting, higher education and now transportation.

How long have you been with your current organization? 10 Years

How did you get into the procurement field? In each of the professional positions I have held, procurement has been a crucial element and requirement.  It felt like a natural progression in my career and movement for professional growth to pursue procurement in a full-time capacity.  Procurement allows me to work with a wide variety of people, our most important resource, and provide a service in an area that many fear and then navigate through the process with them for a successful outcome. 

Did you work in other professions, and if so where and for how long? 

• Administrative/Technical/Supervisory 20 years
• Project Control  4 years
• Estimating and Project Management 6 years
• Marketing / Project Coordination 2 Years

Tell us something interesting and unique about yourself: Music shapes many worlds and experiences.  I have attended over 200 concerts/live music shows in my lifetime.

State Price Agreement Updates

• Awards have been made for Advertising and Marketing services. New contracts are currently in process and will be posted as they are finalized. You can contact Brian Swift for additional information. 
• A second ITN for fleet vehicles is in process to ensure that the needs for all vehicle types can be met. Questions should be directed to Amy Risley. 
• The SPCO is currently negotiating new Participating Addenda with Goodyear, Bridgestone, and Continental for Tires, Tubes, and Services. The current agreements expired on 6/30/2024.  Negotiations are hopefully nearing completion. Please reach out to Mandy Zila with any questions.
• The current agreements for Procurement Acquisition Support Services will expire on December 2, 2024. NASPO ValuePoint’s RFP for this category recently closed. We will begin work on new agreements as soon as awards are finalized to avoid or minimize any potential lapse in contract coverage
• A new agreement is currently routing for signatures with Convergint for Security and Fire Protection Services. Additional agreements in this category are still in negotiations. Please reach out to Mandy Zila with any questions.
• The new portfolio of agreements for Copiers and Managed Print Services went active on 8/1. Leases made under the prior agreements are still valid, but any new orders or leases will be placed under the new contracts. You can contact Nikki Pollack for additional information.
• A new agreement with CenturyLink/Lumen for Cloud Services was recently signed. Please reach out to Theresa Fraijo for more information.