Summer 2016 Volume 1, Issue 6

Peach State Procurement

Tammy formerly served as Purchasing Agent for the City of San Diego, the 9th largest city in the

nation. Over her tenure, she purchased over $1 Billion (YES – B!) worth of commodities and

services. During the 2007 Witch Creek Fires that destroyed over 2000 homes and the Mt.

Soledad landslide in one of San Diego’s most exclusive neighborhoods, she served as the

Emergency Logistics Chief. Tammy was in charge of centralizing the city’s purchasing and

warehouse operations and implemented the City’s first environmentally preferred purchasing

program and moved the surplus property operations to online auctions to increase revenue.

Her consolidation efforts of the warehouses resulted in a $1.4M savings during the first year.

Her team won the Achievement in Excellence Award from the National Purchasing Institute

each year she was in management.

Live the Life of Your Dreams…While Working the Day Job!

If Your Customers Had a Choice, Would They Choose You?

Alligator Presentations: How to give those tough presentations

Shades of Grey: Passion in Purchasing

Ethics and Legal Terms Featured at Summer Seminar

Benefits of Being a

GPAG Member

The benefits of membership in

the Governmental Procurement

Association of Georgia are many

and members should take ad-

vantage of these well planned

activities and abundant opportu-

nities for professional growth.

Membership Chair David Odom

has provided a basic benefit list

below, but feel free to add your

own take aways about what

GPAG means to YOU.

Professional Development

Opportunities (most include

certification CEUs)

Spring Conference

Fall Conference

Leadership Conferences and

meetings – Summer and

Winter

Reverse Trade Shows

(Spring and Fall)

Job Opportunities

View open Purchasing Posi-

tions

Post open Purchasing Posi-

tions

Peer Network

Member Connect Service –

email the membership your

questions/requests

Low Cost Membership Fee:

$25.00 annual fee

Awards

Public Procurement Officer

of the Year

Buyer of the Year

Darrell Strange Award

Need based Scholarships to

attend conferences

It’s easy to join GPAG: Go to

gpag.net and Member Services-

Click Join / Renew Membership.

The GPAG Summer Business Meeting and Public Procurement

Leadership Seminar is fast approaching. Join us on August 12th for training (counts toward certification/recertification), lunch and

networking with other procurement professionals. The best part

is that it is FREE. The event is open to all public-sector purchas-

ing professionals.

The Schedule and Agenda are

8:30 am Registration Opens

9:00 am—9:45 am GPAG Business Meeting

10:00 am—Noon Session 1: Legal Terms and Conditions

Presenter: Karen V. Mills P.E.

Mills Law Associates, LLC

Noon—1:00 pm Lunch (provided)

1:00 pm —3:00 pm Session 2: Ethics

Presenter: TBD

The seminar will be held at the Middle Georgia State University -

Professional Sciences Conference Center located at 100 College

Station Drive, Macon, Georgia 31206.

Register online TODAY at www.gpag.net

Middle Georgia State University, Macon, Georgia

Fall Reverse Trade Show

Announced for October 20th!

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

We’ve all seen our share of name-calling

and accusations on the news lately. And we

have heard the charges against those who

are less than politically correct. Things also

seem to be happening at a more rapid pace

than they have in a long time. It truly is the

year for politics whether we are ready or

not.

This is not just happening at the national

level. Earlier this year, the Georgia legisla-

ture fast-tracked Senate Bill SB327 which

stated that “the State or any subsidiary gov-

ernments cannot enter into contracts unless

the contract contains that the organization

does not and will not conduct a boycott of

Israel for the duration of the contract.” The

Governor signed the bill in April to be effec-

tive July 1. To help ensure that we, at the

local government level, are politically cor-

rect in past as well as future business trans-

actions, the State Purchasing Division (SPD)

issued a directive on July 26, 2016 that all

existing agency and statewide contracts in-

clude the language “Contractor certifies that

contractor is not currently engaged in, and

agrees for the duration of the Contract not

to engage in, a boycott of Israel, as defined

in O.C.G.A. §50-5-85.” Those agencies that

must abide by the SPD guidelines are di-

rected to use Form SPD-CP013, which can

be found on their website. It is suggested

that exempt Agencies also use this form to

amend existing contracts and to include the

appropriate language in future contracts.

Also earlier this year, the General Assem-

bly passed an amendment to O.C.G.A. §13-8

-2, by adding section C and requiring that

indemnification provisions must be limited

exclusively to the damages, losses and ex-

penses caused by the indemnitor and its

agents, in agreements related to engineer-

ing, architectural and land surveying ser-

vices. AND THE YEAR IS NOT OVER.

By Cindy Fay, Legislative Chair

GPAG 2016 Fall Reverse Trade Show Thursday, October 20 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Middle Georgia State University Macon, GA

This event will draw vendors and company representatives from through-out the region and the state, and is a great way to learn about new prod-ucts and services that can help make your procurement job easier. EXHIBIT SPACE IS FREE for government agency purchasing depart-ments (cities, towns, counties, school districts, etc). Each exhibit space includes lunch for up to FOUR agency representatives. Bring your table top displays, table throw or skirt, and any literature about your agency. This is your opportunity to make your entity shine. Wi-Fi access is available in the exhibit area. If you need electricity for your booth space, please indicate this on the registration form. Make your plans now! You may reserve more than one exhibit location, but a separate registra-tion is required for each display area. Watch for registration to open soon at www.gpag.net

In Macon

Spring Reverse Trade Show: A Great Success

by Stephanie Brice, RTS Event Planner

On June 3, 2016, the Spring Reverse Trade Show was held at the

KSU Center, an off-campus facility of Kennesaw State University.

We had a great turnout with 23 governmental entities represented

to connect with the over 60 vendors who registered to attend. Our

returning Platinum Sponsor, US Communities, along with our new

Gold Sponsor, White Sunrise/Bid508, gave informative presenta-

tions while all attendees enjoyed a great Southern-inspired lunch

from KSU Catering. With several governmental entities being new

to the Reverse Trade Show this year, and many new vendor regis-

trants, it was a well spent four hours for all in attendance.

SAVE THE DATE for GPAG FALL CONFERENCE

Amicalola Falls Lodge

November 8 – 11 2

NIGP FREE Webinars

August 17th

Webinar - Intro to Sustainable Procurement: Saving Green by Going Green

Presented by: Franziska Singer

Does your entity have a sustainability initiative? Are you unsure of what this really means, and how it can benefit

the procurement process? Did you know that you can obtain cost savings as well as help our environment through

sustainable purchasing decisions? Join this online training session to gain an introductory understanding of sus-

tainable purchasing and how it can benefit the procurement process. This webinar will go over general sustainabil-

ity concepts and will be presented by an international speaker.

September 7th

Webinar - Total Cost of Ownership: Realizing Procurement’s Full Potential in Value Creation

Presented by: Members of the NIGP Business Council and Member Practitioners.

A panel of Business Council members and expert practitioners will present the new white paper, “Total Cost of

Ownership (TCO): Realizing Procurement’s Full Potential in Value Creation.” The online training session will start

with a lecture explaining TCO and then welcome questions from participants. A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

approach to procurement can help agencies achieve best value and sustainable, long-term cost savings & more.

Certifications, Recertifications

and Other News…

Penny Murphy, City of Smyrna, was recertified in

July by Institute for Supply Management as a

C.P.M.

Congratulations to Penny!

Alex Talley sent the following sad news about a

long time GPAG member:

Bendine Minish Parham Hoechst, age 89, passed

away at her residence in Athens, Georgia in Janu-

ary 2016. She worked for the City of Athens for

40 years, first as a secretary, then as Administra-

tive Assistant to the Athens Mayor, and finally, as

manager of the Purchasing Department.

Legislative Committee News

I would like to welcome Ted Burgess to the Legisla-

tive Committee. Ted is currently the Director of

Fayette County’s Purchasing Department, so he is

almost a next-door neighbor. He has a total of thirty

-eight (38) years’ experience in the public sector,

serving the first twenty-nine (29) with the State of

Georgia in various capacities and the last nine (9)

with Fayette County’s Finance department. He be-

came Director of Purchasing with that department in

2011.

While with the State, one of Ted’s duties was to re-view proposed state legislation, and to determine the impact on clients or other citizens, costs to imple-ment the legislation, and other significant impacts if passed. During the legislative session, he attended House and Senate Committee meetings, answered questions, and provided information as elected offi-cials considered appropriations or other legislation. This experience will be invaluable in determining how some bills and other ‘decisions’ that are seem-ingly unimportant and obscure can have a big impact to the procurement offices in our agencies. I am so excited to have Ted Burgess join us. We all know I’m not very “political”! Cindy Fay, Legislative Chair

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GPAG in Action

Scenes from 2016 Events

Spring Conference

at Lake Blackshear

Spring Reverse Trade

Show at Kennesaw State

University

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Photos by Becky Daniel,

Renee’ Langston and Ernie

Webster

Peach State

Procurement

Peach State Procurement is the current official newsletter of the Govern-mental Procurement Asso-ciation of Georgia (GPAG)

It is produced quarterly by the Public Relations / His-torical Committee, Penny Murphy, Chair. Other Committee members are Cindy Fay, Stacy Hobson, Mendi Boddie, Duane Studdard.

To submit articles or pho-tos, please send to Penny Murphy at pmurphy@smyrnaga.gov

The newsletters are pub-lished prior to the next general business meeting or conference each quar-ter.

Contributors to the Summer Edition include: Stephanie Brice, Elaine Wilson, David Odom and Cindy Fay.

SOB or ESP: What’s Your Communication Style? Assess If You Are Practicing Great Communication Skills

An individual strikes up a conversation: "Where are you from?"

Second individual replies: "I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions."

First individual replies: "Okay -- where are you from, smart aleck?"

We are rapidly losing the art of communication. The very trait that separates us from the animals is about to be our downfall, but fear not! There are ways we can rally. First and fore-most, ask yourself: Do I communicate to serve myself, or do I communicate to serve others?

In other words, when you communicate, are you an SOB (self-oriented behavior) or an ESP (emotional, spiritual, personal)?

Mind and Heart In order to get to the heart of the issue, you have to get to the heart. Communication is not simply the external circuitry of words transmitted from your mouth to others’ ears, but ra-ther an internal reverberation of thoughts between your mind and your heart.

Communication is simply the golden rule. It’s part etiquette, part ethics, and part just being a decent human being. That means delineating boundaries for your emotional side so every-one can play in the sandbox nicely without getting into fights.

You can’t expect people to see your point of view if you can’t see theirs. When we get squeezed, what’s inside comes out. All too often this takes the form of uncivil discourse.

People are polarized by their tendency to see communication as a battle: somebody wins, somebody loses; too bad, so sad; in your face; suck it up. It seems to be forgotten that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And if you can’t get comfortable float-ing in the fluidity of humanity, it’s sunk.

Opinions are not a competitive sport. They are deeply held convictions. So here’s a quick and easy way to assess if you are practicing great communication skills or if you are just being an SOB.

SOB: Self-Oriented Behavior Let’s face it: A lack of compassion is downright distasteful and has nothing to do with who or what is right and wrong. If you constantly feel the need to seize and to preach the “ministry of me,” then you are an SOB communicator.

SOBs exhibit these traits in their communication:

Aggression Seeking sympathy Manipulation Clowning or mocking tone Competition Domination Labeling Bullying/cyberbullying.

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Continued from page 5

If you’re an SOB, you view communication as a battlefield. Your level of indignation grants you the right to go from silence to thermonuclear in your content and tone. You have a hard time with dissenting points of view because you assume anyone who doesn’t agree with you is a bigot.

This type of behavior has been amplified by technology and mainstream media, which grant unfiltered, unchecked, and am-ple coverage to an unending parade of poltroons. Winston Churchill said it best, “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

Now let’s look at the flip side of the coin: How can you best communicate with another in a way that affords the respect and civility that binds you to others in deeper and more knowledgeable ways?

Here are the ways to win friends and influence people and ensure that you can talk to someone’s heart, thus guaranteeing an open and honest dialogue sure to leave both parties enlightened and valued.

ESP: Emotional, Spiritual, Personal It’s like extrasensory perception on steroids. People use the term “It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it.” Truer words were never spoken.

The manner in which you connect is the most important factor in communication. If you do it well, the details are superflu-ous. Someone can completely disagree with everything you say, but still totally respect you as a person. The truth, no matter how hard it is to hear, should always have an element of love accompanying it. As the saying goes, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. The person who can accomplish this is a leader of unparalleled magnitude and a true uniter, not a di-vider.

ESPs exhibit these traits in their communication:

Individuality Respect The Golden Rule One-on-one Private Peacemaker Acceptance Civility.

ESP communicators also understand that strongly held convictions do not necessarily classify someone as a “hater.” They respect the other person’s emotions and personal beliefs. Communication isn’t some sort of Darwinian survival of the fittest.

ESP communicators firmly believe that we are not to trample one another out of existence with the butts of our heels and the slices of our tongues, but rather to be kind to one another, especially during disagreements.

Churchill had another great quote about this type of communicator, “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”

Beautiful people see beauty; hateful people see hate. Someone once said, “Those who spend their time looking for the faults in others have no time to correct their own.” Once you get serious about discussing and not just cussing, you’ll take your com-munication to a new realm.

Be kind to humankind because it’s all you have.

Author: Tracey Jones is a U.S. Air Force veteran, speaker, and author of Beyond Tremendous: Raising

the Bar on Life, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania (www.TremendousTracey.com).

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