Kansas public purchasing executive honored

Judy Meisel, CPPO, CPPB, purchasing manager for the city of Olathe, Kan., has been named the 2008 Purchasing Manager of the Year by the Mid-America Council of Public Purchasing.

The award is the highest form of recognition offered by the council, which is a chapter in the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP). The award honors a member who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the profession over an extended period of time.

For much of her career, Meisel has been active in promoting cooperative purchasing and purchasing education and has served in leadership positions in several local, regional and national purchasing-related organizations. She is one of only five members ever to receive the award in the council’s 25-year existence. Meisel also received the Charles M. Johnson Founder’s Award.

The city of Olathe, Kan., is a charter member of the Mid-America Council of Public Purchasing. Its membership includes public purchasing professionals from all levels of government. In 2007, the city of Olathe documented over $1 million in avoided costs through the competitive purchasing process.

A passion for cooperative purchasing

Meisel is a passionate proponent of cooperative purchasing as a cost-saving tool for procurement professionals, noting that cooperative purchasing “has been a goal of mine for many years.”

“We are in a unique area here in the Midwest in that we are in a 10-county metropolitan area covering many city, county, school districts, higher education institutions and special districts within the Kansas City area. This location lends itself easily to promoting cooperative agreement for commonly used items,” Meisel told GovPro.com. “The quantities garnered by cooperative solicitations, along with associated terms and conditions, aid smaller entities in being able to purchase at a price usually paid by the higher users. With the current economic situation, these cooperatives are becoming more important for all.”

Meisel credited the Mid-America Council of Public Purchasing for its promotion of such cooperative agreements, “which has resulted in both an annual vehicle bid and the development and expansion of the Kansas City Regional Purchasing Cooperative (KCRPC) through the Mid America Regional Council.” According to Meisel, the cooperative offers contracts for cable, ammunition, Carhartt outerwear, warning sirens, emergency vehicle equipment, janitorial paper goods and copy paper, among other products and services.

“Approximately 150 contracts have been developed for the area since the beginning of KCRPC six years ago,” Meisel noted. “The newest contract is for water and wastewater treatment chemicals.”

Meisel has served on the advisory board of the Kansas City Regional Purchasing Cooperative for the past five years.

The importance of a purchasing curriculum

Meisel has been an advocate for the development of a higher-education curriculum for public-sector procurement.

“Until recently, there has not been any type of public or government procurement curriculum in higher education,” Meisel said. “The NIGP has been the major resource for government buyers through their classes and certification program (now handled by the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council. Purchasing performed in the private sector has a different end in that savings contribute to the bottom line of the company and its shareholders. Government purchasing is such that it provides the maximum return on the taxpayer dollar, within the limits and authority granted by the specific entity or agency, and savings enable procurement of other needed goods and services.

“The documentation and justification for government procurement decisions is also critical. Those in our profession who have attained the CPPB and CPPO certifications have the same basic understanding of how to perform the procurement functions, which leads to a certain consistency for which vendors and citizen can expect similar behaviors from the purchasing function in their area.”

As a member of NIGP’s board of directors, Meisel vowed to “continue to promote cooperative procurement and purchasing education.”