https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Co-op Solutions


Image via Unsplash

Article

Building a customer-focused culture

Building a customer-focused culture

A California procurement director outlines the path to public procurement excellence
  • Written by Michael Keating
  • 15th July 2020

The San Diego County (Calif.) Department of Purchasing and Contracting (DPC) is on a roll. DPC, under the leadership of Jack Pellegrino, Director of Purchasing & Contracting, recently was awarded the NIGP Outstanding Agency Accreditation Achievement Award (OA4) which recognizes agencies that lead the public procurement profession. San Diego is one of 23 counties in the nation that has received this accreditation. The department has also achieved the 2019 NPI Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award for the 18th consecutive year.

As part of the county’s $6.25 billion budget, procurement represents just over 20 percent of total expenditures. The county procures a variety of goods and services, with significant spending in the areas of health & human services, public safety and civic services. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year alone, the county spent $1.33 billion on procurements of goods and services.

“San Diego County is enormous with massive breadth and needs for different services,” Pellegrino explains. “Our geographic diversity is a characteristic that makes our county unique. The county’s service area covers 4,526 square miles.” The county serves six health & human service regions including public safety (the sheriff and the probation department); a library system with 33 branches and 2 bookmobiles serving over 5 million library visitors last year; the public works department that maintains more than 1,900 miles of roads; and the county’s park system with more than 100 locations, with numerous hiking trails as part of open space preserves.

“Clearly, in order to effectively meet the diverse needs of the county’s 40 departments, DPC’s staff must focus their procurement efforts on each department’s unique requirements and provide them outstanding internal customer service throughout the contracting process,” Pellegrino says. He adds that DPC’s mission is simple: support department’s needs by acquiring what they need, when they need it, competitively at fair and reasonable prices. “This is what we do every day to ensure that we are best serving our residents and spending taxpayers’ money wisely. DPC calls this ‘Mission-Focused Procurement.’”

At the 2019 NIGP Forum, Pellegrino presented a session: “Achieving Excellence: Using Technology and Performance Metrics to Drive Improvement.” He outlined the path to public procurement success. “One step on the path that procurement departments need to take is to assess what is their procurement portfolio, where procurement is positioned in the organization and how they could best contribute to the organization’s overall success.” He adds:  “For any size procurement team, the key to outstanding performance is to determine the following: What is expected of the department/process, How they measure success, and do they have the informational metrics and tools to be effective – and regularly show how they are doing against these performance metrics.”

Over the past several years DPC has introduced procurement metrics and dashboards that are based upon real-time procurement transactions, which are continually reviewed and reported.

One of the county’s procurement objectives is to ensure that awards are made competitively. “Our Board of Supervisors Policy A-87 requires competitive procurement of goods and services, so we established a goal of at least 90 percent of total dollars eligible for competition are awarded through competitive processes. For fiscal year 2018-19 of that $1.22 billion eligible for competition, we competed 89 percent which amounted to $1.09 billion. This level of competition is one of the best in the nation, including federal government agencies,” Pellegrino says.

These types of results are only achievable in organizations of this scale because of the full support of the county departments and the ownership of the entire DPC team, Pellegrino says.  “DPC staffers understand the rules and expectations, and we work closely with each department to meet their needs in a timely and professional manner.  We deliver outstanding mission-focused procurement support on every transaction.”

Pellegrino points out that these types of results can be achieved in any size procurement organization by implementing the following steps:

  • Clearly define and communicate your organization’s role, process and expectations for staff (including your key customers).
  • Adopt a culture of customer service, transparency, and ownership for results. Ask staff to acknowledge acceptance and support.
  • Define your most essential performance metrics – what contributes to the organization’s success. Track and openly report those metrics.
  • Be open and frequently seek feedback on results and changes in priorities.
  • Be willing to adapt and evolve; never be complacent with your current results. There are always ways to improve.

Pellegrino advises procurement teams to look outwardly to achieve operational efficiencies. “If authorized by local regulations and properly implemented, cooperative agreements can help procurement departments. Proper use of cooperative procurements allows organizations to purchase goods and services on an expedited timeline and often on better-leveraged pricing terms than they otherwise would have been able to accomplish on their own.”

He adds that when an agency uses cooperative purchasing, it eliminates the need for a department to conduct its own solicitation process. “Through established cooperative contracts, governments can get volume discounts as they join with other entities on bulk purchases.” Pellegrino urges public buyers to consult cooperative procurement resources available from NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement Public Procurement and National Cooperative Procurement Partners (NCPP).

Pellegrino concludes: “Delivering mission-focused- and value-added procurement support is not a destination but a journey. It changes every day as the procurement needs of our internal customers do. There is no better time than today to start providing mission-focused procurement support.”

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].

Tags: Cooperative Purchasing Co-op Solutions Article

Most Recent


  • sustainable
    Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council can help governments get up to speed on sustainable buys
    The non-profit Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) has more than 180 organizational members with more than $300 billion in collective purchasing power. The SPLC’s procurement membership is nearly half public procurement entities, says Sarah O’Brien, the group’s CEO. “That sets us apart from many consulting and advisory groups. We have worked closely with a diverse […]
  • Amazon Business
    Amazon Business caters to the public sector with technology-driven features and benefits
    No question, the public sector relies on Amazon Business as a key supplier. “Yes, local governments are good customer prospects for Amazon offerings,” says Mike Kernish, director and general manager, public sector at Amazon Business. He offers this statistic: “Amazon Business currently works with over 90 of the top 100 most populous local governments and […]
  • EV chargers
    Cities steadily adding more EV chargers for public to use
    Local governments are making headway as they develop their electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. “Progress varies depending on what stage governments are at in the electrification strategy and funding availability,” says Brandon Branham, assistant city manager and chief technology officer for Peachtree Corners, Ga., which is part of the Atlanta metro. Its 2022 population is estimated […]
  • sustainability
    National League of Cities has the tools and resources to help cities reach their sustainability goals
    A local government’s sustainability squad needs to be carefully assembled, says Nick Kasza, program manager for sustainability at the National League of Cities (NLC). “A sustainability team might be one person or five people, but they should have a relationship with various city departments that can help the community implement their sustainability strategies and achieve […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Public procurement can be transformative for stakeholders in a community
  • The pandemic has led to big adjustments in procurement staffing in governments
  • IT infrastructure in government is getting a post-pandemic makeover
  • Miami methodically stockpiles procurement talent through purposeful recruitment

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Amid shifting workplace expectations, local government employers must adapt dlvr.it/SQm2RT

20th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Smart911 emergency profiles provide first responders with more information, faster dlvr.it/SQh9gl

19th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Minor league baseball is helping cities hit a revitalization home run dlvr.it/SQc5N4

18th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council can help governments get up to speed on sustainable buys dlvr.it/SQbwqL

18th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

The MSP downstream cyberthreat paradox: Understanding the city and county connection dlvr.it/SQYVjs

17th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Philanthropic group to launch assistance portal for local admins navigating federal bureaucracy dlvr.it/SQY16G

17th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Nearly 95 percent of America’s mayors face harassment, threats and violence dlvr.it/SQTn2z

16th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

The PIO’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media dlvr.it/SQTdCK

16th May 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X