Decisions That Matter: A Public Procurement Podcast

On this episode of the Decisions that Matter Podcast, we are sharing a conversation between Procurated Founder and CEO David Yarkin and Ken Hess - Deputy Secretary for Procurement for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together they discuss the trends that procurement professionals should be aware of when purchasing for Fleet!

As part of our recent buyer survey we took a look back at the procurement landscape in 2022. Our respondents shared their biggest challenges, from supply chain disruption to staff turnover. We dove into the issues and some potential solutions for tackling them. 

Take a look at the full report.

This podcast is brought to you by Procurated, the first supplier evaluation and vendor management platform created exclusively for public sector purchasers.

Procurated’s Denitra Gober is joined by Kerry Kirkland, Pennsylvania’s Deputy Secretary for Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities for a conversation on the ways that government can better engage the supplier community. 

The discussion covers ways that agencies can use grassroots organizations, community engagement and sheer determination to overcome obstacles and create a procurement process that is inclusive, expansive and fortified in supporting historically underutilized businesses.

Procurated’s founder and CEO, David Yarkin, sat down with Jack Pitzer, a public procurement legend whose career began in 1966 and spanned more than 40 years, to discuss the evolution of procurement during his tenure, and what it means for the future. Jack worked in two state procurement offices (and was the CPO of IA) and ran procurement for a university and a large local government. He was a leader in National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), becoming its president in 1984.

To understand the future of procurement we must understand the history that has brought us to the point where we are today. Jack provides context and insight into the decisions that have led to our recent transition to a more digital world and an emphasis on technology, collaboration, and communication. 

Becca's goal is to elevate the role of public procurement by bringing buyers together on the Procurated platform and making it easy for them to share insights and find great suppliers. She leads the product, design, engineering, marketing, and community functions for the company. Together, her team discovers new ways to solve user problems, builds innovative solutions, and develops creative strategies to drive engagement with the government and supplier communities served by Procurated.

Before joining Procurated, Becca led product management at Xometry, a custom manufacturing marketplace. Earlier in her career, she served in technical project management and business development roles at Politico, a leading digital news outlet.

Michael Derr joined the Procurated team as Community Engagement Manager in 2021 and is excited to bring to the Procurated Team his 25 plus years of experience and wealth of knowledge to the Procurated Team in supporting the needs of our clientele.

Prior to joining Procurated Michael worked as the Contracts/Purchasing Officer for the County of Monterey, where he was directly responsible for the following operations: Contracts/Purchasing, Fleet Operations, Records Management, Mail Operations, as well as the oversight of two Food Service Operations and one Daycare Center.

Jenny Doherty joined the team in July 2022 as the Vice President of the Community Engagement team, where her mission is to serve government customers by giving them a voice in the supplier performance process to inform purchasing decisions. Jenny has a broad breadth of public procurement experience in both state government and higher education. As the Chief Procurement Officer for Pennsylvania, she saved over $100 million in year one and implemented technology innovations and private-sector best practices to streamline the RFP process and created transparency and efficiency with a new e-procurement solution (Jaggaer). She also recognized the value of commercial feedback and brought together suppliers and purchasers for the Commonwealth’s first Supplier Forums.

As the Director of the Shared Services Procurement group at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), Jenny was a thought and change leader and transformed the siloed university procurement teams into a unified commodity-based shared services team. In parallel, she implemented SAP Ariba to make PASSHE a leader in higher education. Prior to joining PASSHE, Jenny led Amazon Business’s State Government sector, where she brought together state governments, purchasing cooperatives, and the digital marketplace to drive best-value procurement. Jenny started her procurement career as an entrepreneur with FreeMarkets in Pittsburgh, PA.

John Walters joined the Procurated team as Community Engagement Manager in 2022 and is excited to bring to the Procurated Team his 24 plus years of experience in enterprise software and public procurement.

Prior to joining Procurated, John was a co-founder of Periscope Holdings, a leading e-procurement solution for state and local governments. At Periscope, he led the development of the BuySpeed product, executing 4 statewide e-procurement implementations. He also led the NIGP Code and NIGP Consulting groups within Periscope. He is an author on procurement topics and a frequent speaker on public procurement best practices. 

Darin Matthews is a procurement and supply chain leader with over 3 decades of experience. He has published several books on supply chain management including Effective Supply Management Performance and Public Procurement: A Guide to the Body of Knowledge through Exercises and Case Studies. He is a past President of NIGP and currently serves at the Chief Procurement Officer at CalPoly.

On top of her over 4 decades of experience as a Procurement leader with the State of South Carolina, Norma Hall is past president of NIGP, as well as a past president of her local chapter. She has served for 12 years on the board of the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council, she has been recognized with the James H. Barnes Award, Albert H. Hall Award, and the Mazzone Award.

To learn more about Procurated's Community Leadership Forum click here.

Procurated's Genna Gold is joined on this live webinar recording by several highly respected education purchasers, including:

• Jayme Baker, Manager, Category Management, Purdue University
• Carol Munroe, Business Analyst, Michigan Department of Education
• Kevin Walters, Supervisor, Office of School Support Services, Michigan Department of Education

The webinar covers a variety of important topics specific to the education market including the unique buying cycles of higher education and K-12, trending goods and services, and more.

This podcast is brought to you by Procurated, the first supplier evaluation and vendor management platform created exclusively for public sector purchasers. If you have a supplier that you love, or one that you want to warn other purchases about, you can write a review in 90 seconds at www.Procurated.com/review.

On this episode of Decisions That Matter, Procurated Founder & CEO, David Yarkin, interviews Deltek's Paul Irby to get his thoughts and understand the data behind the biggest trends impacting cooperative purchasing. 

Paul Irby is a Principal Research Analyst on Deltek’s SLED Market Analysis team. Learn more about how GovWin IQ enables companies to identify early stage opportunities, plan strategically, build relationships and navigate the competitive landscape.

This podcast is brought to you by Procurated, the first supplier evaluation and vendor management platform created exclusively for public sector purchasers. If you have a supplier that you love, or one that you want to warn other purchases about, you can write a review in 90 seconds at www.Procurated.com/review.

Throughout his career, Dr. Gordon has worked to increase the contribution of public procurement and contract management to the strategic management of public enterprises at every level of government. He served as CPO to multiple local governments, led NIGP as the National President, received the Institute's two highest individual awards, and has made a huge impact in education and research. 

Dr. Gordon is focused on helping state and local governments and institutions achieve their enterprise goals by providing guidance, counsel, and training that enables their procurement and contract management functions and team members to contribute strategically. In addition to strategic public procurement and contract management, his specific areas of expertise include performance-based contracting, internal and external collaboration, and leadership, ethics, and accountability.

This podcast is brought to you by Procurated, the first supplier evaluation and vendor management platform created exclusively for public sector purchasers. If you have a supplier that you love, or one that you want to warn other purchases about, you can write a review in 90 seconds at www.Procurated.com/review.

This episode of Decisions That Matter features an in-depth interview with IT Software & IT Service procurement expert, James Crenshaw.  James has been with the District of Columbia, Office of Contracts since 2019, where he joined after 4+ years with the City of Atlanta in Georgia. He also serves as the Vice-President of NIGP's Washington, DC Chapter. 

On this episode, you will hear James discuss the 4 Key Elements of Complex Software Procurements:

• Partnering with program office as early as possible
• Building a strategic scope
• Period of performance
• Demos and customer interviews

This podcast is brought to you by Procurated, the first supplier evaluation and vendor management platform created exclusively for public sector purchasers. If you have a supplier that you love, or one that you want to warn other purchases about, you can write a review in 90 seconds at www.Procurated.com/review.