View as a webpage  /  Share

Colorado Procurement News

September, 2024

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

From the CPO

I'd like to take a moment and celebrate the procurement excellence happening within the State Purchasing & Contracts Office. In addition to the hard work my team accomplishes every single day, I'm so proud to see them step up and be recognized on a national level! From serving on the NASPO (National Association of State Procurement Officials) ValuePoint Executive Council to nominations for multiple awards, seeing my team's accomplishments being acknowledged and appreciated by their peers across the country is very exciting. Please read more about it below and join me in congratulating them!

Sincerely,

Sherri Maxwell, CPPB
Chief Procurement Officer

NASPO Election Results & Awards

Congratulations to Sherri Maxwell, the new NASPO Board of Directors President-Elect for 2025 and President for 2026.

Congratulations to Barbara Musick for winning the 2024 Emerging Leader Award and to Thomas Wilson, a finalist for the 2024 Rising Star Award. Barbara and Thomas have contributed so much to Colorado procurement during their time at the SPCO.

Congratulations to John Chapman who was elected to represent the Western Region on the NASPO ValuePoint Executive Council for 2025-2026. John will be stepping onto the Council as Sherri moves out of her Chair role on the Council. Colorado will continue to play an important role and help increase efficiency for national cooperative contracts.

Finally, congratulations to Sherri Maxwell and Thomas Wilson for their multi-year efforts culminating in being a finalist for the 2024 George Cronin Award, in recognition of the statewide contract management training Governor's Wildly Important Goal (WIG), policy, and program. This award is given to one state each year for innovation and excellence in state procurement. We have already been notified that several states plan to follow Colorado's lead in this area.

RECAP: Price Agreement Month

Last month we held three free events (two in-person and one virtual) to educate price agreement users across the state on cooperative purchasing, the benefits and resources available from NASPO, and the Governor's Office of Information Technology's new accessibility requirements and accessibility in procurement. We had more than 400 registrants across the three events for networking and learning. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and, as a reminder, slides and a recording of the virtual event are available on our website. You can also access the Basics of Cooperative Purchasing course, an introduction course we developed and shared with agencies to post on their intranets. 

Solomon Kingston from NASPO presents in Glenwood Springs.

John Chapman from the SPCO presents in Denver.

Keep Jobs In Colorado Reporting

Per C.R.S. 24-102-206 all state agencies are required to report contract performance outside the United States or the State of Colorado via our eSubmissions webpage. The SPCO then posts the notices for six months on our Keep Jobs in Colorado Notice webpage. You can email barbara.musick@state.co.us with any questions.

Procurement Training Update

The SPCO is currently working on two training projects:

• An in-depth course on cooperative purchasing that will be part of our online purchasing certificate for procurement agents. We hope to make this course available by the end of the calendar year.
• An on-demand replacement for the SPCO’s Contract Drafting Bootcamp. Once completed, this course will be available through your agency’s LMS, similar to the new Statutory Violations training that we rolled out earlier this year. It will be delivered in two parts, one covering Terms & Conditions, the other covering Statements of Work. Keep an eye out for more details in the coming months.

We recently completed the Basics of Cooperative Purchasing course, for agencies to share on their own intranets. Please contact your procurement official for more information!

Questions about procurement training should be sent to thomas.wilson@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?

As part of the CORE upgrade, VSS was updated as well. You may have vendors reaching out to you with questions, and you should direct them to the VSS Help Desk at vsshelp@state.co.us.

Live Procurement Training

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

Controller Pre-Delegation Training
11/7/2024 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Register

Contract Drafting Boot Camp
1/16/2024 | 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
• Cooperative Purchasing - Coming soon! 

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:

• Introduction to Terms & Conditions
• CPPB and CPPO Exam Self-Study Tools
• Cybersecurity, 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: Kirby Zachmeyer

Title: Contract Administrator III

Organization: Department of Personnel & Administration

Tell us a little bit about your background: I started working in procurement in the biopharmaceutical industry, specifically in clinical trials. There I learned about contract law/management along with purchase orders, invoicing, and vendor relations. I did this for a little over 5 years before moving to Colorado. Once in Colorado, I started working for Janus Henderson. Janus Henderson is an investment company and after being in the role for a few months, I realized it was not a long term professional solution for myself. This then put me back on the hunt for a procurement job which led me here to DPA where I believe I will not only find work fulfillment but also be working towards making a better world for future generations to come. 

How long have you been with your current organization? I started at DPA on July 8th, 2024.

How did you get into the procurement field? I found my way into procurement through a familial connection. My sister was working for INC Research, which is now Syneos Health, and she informed me that one of her team members was going on maternity leave. I was then given a contract position with them. After 6 months of working I was then offered full time employment as a purchasing specialist.

Did you work in other professions, and if so where and for how long?  Dassault Systems in the biotechnology industry for a little over 6 months and then with Janus Henderson, an investment company, for 6 months.

Please share a professional or personal accomplishment you’re proud of: Receiving the “Spotlight Award” from the Senior Vice President within my first year of employment with Syneos Health.

Tell us something interesting and unique about yourself: I am a bookworm that enjoys spending time out in the forest being a gremlin with cats in tow. We all enjoy hiking and camping, but I am the only one that has been to 14,000 feet in elevation. Since my time in Colorado I have climbed four 14ers and I am looking to add some more.

State Price Agreement Updates

• All previously announced awards for the Advertising and Marketing price agreements have been canceled. We are developing a new solicitation and anticipate that it will be posted in December. Please contact Brian Swift with questions. 
• The SPCO is working on new agreements with vendors in our Facilities MRO category. The current agreements with Fastenal, Grainger, MSC, Conserve-a-watt, and Copper State Nut and Bolt will expire on December 31, 2024.  
• A number of new price agreements have been executed for 2025 vehicles. An additional solicitation for 2025 vehicles has been posted in order to fill needs not met by the current awards. Amy Risley can provide more information as needed.  
• Multiple new agreements for tires have been completed. See the price agreement website or reach out to Mandy Zila for more information. 
• A new agreement with Convergint Technologies for Security and Fire Protection Services has been executed. The SPCO continues to work on new agreements with other vendors within this category. Mandy Zila can provide additional information.
• Our agreements for The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Drone Services Price Agreement expires October 31, 2024. There will be no extension and no resolicitation for this category is currently planned. Please contact John Chapman with any questions. 
• The current agreements for Procurement Acquisition Services will expire on December 2, 2024. NASPO ValuePoint and the lead state of Hawaii issued a solicitation that closed in July and proposals are currently being evaluated.