118th Annual Conference Sessions: Procurement
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Sessions for Sunday, June 9
Cutting the Red Tape: Performance Based RFPs
Slow. Outdated. Costly. Complicated. Awkward. If you have used any of these terms to describe your request for proposal (RFP) process you are not alone. GFOA routinely hears from government employees and vendors about the challenges of issuing and responding to an RFP. At its core, an RFP should define a problem and request help to solve it. Attend this session to learn how to simplify the RFP process, improve your ability to write specifications, attract more competitive vendors, and reduce risk. Speakers will discuss how governments can use performance-based RFPs to focus on results and transform the relationship between operating departments, procurement staff, and the vendor community.
No Need to Panic: Disaster Planning, Response, and Recovery
When disaster strikes, the finance professionals in a government play a critical role in response and recovery to help the community rebound from loss and damage. However, proper planning should begin months or years before tragedy strikes. Speakers will discuss how to assess risk, prepare proper response plans, and implement appropriate systems to help prepare for when disaster strikes. Speakers will also discuss how to leverage available tools and partners to manage the immediate aftermath and position the organization and community to access available funding to begin and sustain an effective recovery.
Sessions for Monday, June 10
Navigating Contractor Disputes
Whether in our professional or personal lives, we've all heard horror stories about contractor disputes throwing projects off their timeline and causing budget overruns. This session will explore how local governments can manage contractor disputes, from change orders to performance issues. Panelists will discuss topics including the main drivers of contract disputes, how to better understand your risks, essential contract terms for local government, and how to identify problematic situations before they occur.
Sessions for Tuesday, June 11
Out of Sight: Building a Procurement Function in Small Governments
For many small organizations, there is no official procurement department and having staff dedicated to procurement functions like coordinating requests for proposals (RFPs), managing vendor relationships, issuing purchase order (POs), managing contracts, and ensuring compliance with state, federal, or grantor purchase requirements is not realistic. However, the procurement responsibilities for small governments are not all that different than those of their larger peers. In this session, speakers will explain how to establish an effective procurement function in a small government and how to integrate purchasing and finance responsibilities while still maintaining focus on each. Speakers will also discuss strategies for using your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system more effectively and policy and process considerations for modern procurement functions.
Sessions for Wednesday, June 12
Beyond the Finance Office: Building a Collaborative Relationship with Parks and Rec
In many communities, the Parks and Recreation department is the primary way the public interacts with local government. Constituents and their families visit parks, join sports teams, learn to swim, and engage in other activities that greatly increase their quality of life. At the time, these programs can have some unique or complex finance, budget procurement considerations. To ensure this important work continues in our communities, finance staff and parks and rec staff must collaborate. At this session, you’ll hear from both finance and parks and recreation professionals about how they have developed more collaborative relationships and how that helps with purchasing supplies, processing payroll, budgeting for facilities, and more.
