● Procurement Achievement Award _ Recognizes a professional whose efforts have

had a significant impact on the wider organization or secured procurement a seat at the

management table

■ Rebecca F. Chauncey of Virginia Western Community College processed more than 1,700 procurements totaling nearly $6.4 million, completed Requests For Proposals for two large, complex construction projects, and was a key contributor to the successful negotiation of a new bookstore contract for all 23 community colleges while serving as her organization’s procurement officer for nearly a year following the retirement of another staff member. During that time, she also providing procurement services to another community college as part of the Virginia Community College System’s shared services initiative.

 

 

● Career Achievement Award _ Recognizes a longtime procurement professional

whose achievements showcase innovation, adeptness at applying procurement

principles to solve difficult issues or advancing public procurement

■ Cecelia H. Stowe of Henrico County has served in progressively responsible

roles for the Commonwealth, the City of Richmond, Henrico County and in the

private sector throughout her 35-year procurement career. She helped develop

and taught numerous classes for the public procurement Forum; was one of the

primary developers of the Virginia Contracting Officer Certification program,

which has certified thousands of officers and raised the level of professionalism

in the field since its creation in 1990; guided the county to the National Institute

of Governmental Purchasing’s Outstanding Agency Accreditation Achievement

Award in 2014; and represents county government on the General Assembly

subcommittee studying the Virginia Public Procurement Act.

● Innovation Award _ Recognizes a team that demonstrated a distinct new method or

approach to a challenging issue, a significant improvement to the quality of a function,

or taking an already high-performing function to a new level

■ The Department of Motor Vehicles’ Contracts and Procurement Office created

a Purchasing Partners Program to decentralize purchasing by training resident

experts in offices across the state to conduct small-dollar purchases through

eVA, the state’s electronic procurement program that is managed by DPS. The

program improved purchasing turnaround times, enhanced purchase card

compliance and generated interest among support staff to achieve Virginia

Contracting Associate certification.

● Collaboration Award _ Recognizes a team that has worked with another department

from the same organization or with an external agency or supplier to deliver a

successful project or initiative

■ The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Procurement and Support Services Department worked with its Finance Department to create

an Electronic Requisition Form to replace an old, multi-part hard copy form, to

revise the P-Card Log Form to enhance compliance, to create a quick reference

guide for determining when to use various purchasing and payment method,

among other enhancements. The collaboration improved communications and

efficiencies and resulted in administrative savings.

 

● Supply Chain Management Award _ Recognizes the organization that has

implemented an initiative or practice that has positively impacted the performance of

the organization’s supply chain

■ The Procurement Services team at the University of Mary Washington centralized the selection, vetting and procurement of IT goods. Working with

its IT department, the team identified standard IT goods then it identified

processes that could be streamlined and delegated to departments, thus allowing

pre-vetted equipment purchases to proceed more quickly while other purchases

travel through the necessary approval process.

 

 

● Learning and Development Award _ Recognizes an organization that is using

learning and development to solve a specific problem in the procurement organization

or to address an upcoming challenge

■ The Materiel Management and Procurement Services team at Tidewater

Community College developed and hosted an organization-wide Procurement

Forum in which more than one-third of the college’s non-procurement staff

attended. The training has resulted in significant improvements in compliance

and the approval process for small purchases, giving the procurement staff the

ability to focus on more complex tasks.

 

 

 

● Statewide Electronic Procurement “eVA” Award _ Recognizes a team that

successfully used eVA to advance procurement in the agency (Two winners)

■The Department of Corrections’ eVA and SWaM Training Team designed a

standardized hands-on training platform and program addressing all aspects of

procurement at the agency, including eVA tools, state contracts and the SWaM

program. The program allows users to experience all aspects of the tools and

resources, which greatly enhances the training experience and reinforces the

take-away lessons. The program is monitored using eVA’s automated tools to

analyze procurements and identify where users need training. The findings are

used to plan future rounds of training and the topics to be addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

■ Radford University achieved a significant increase in productivity for those

creating procurements as well as those approving expenditures by taking full

advantage of eVA’s capabilities among its 250 users. Electronic checks and

balances were implemented across university departments through signer rules,

which have expanded into a best practice model across most account codes. A

program of ongoing training keeps seasoned users abreast of system and

process changes, and training is provided monthly to newly hired employees.

Cost savings have resulted from increased efficiencies in the identification,

ordering and receiving of goods and services.