Overview
When New Jersey legislation allowing local government and school districts in New Jersey to use electronic procurement (eProcurement) was passed, Bergen County was one of the first public entities to digitize their previously paper-based procurement processes, and they did this all during a pandemic. The County needed a solution that met their security, vendor experience, and interdepartmental collaboration needs without making a huge impact on the high purchasing demands and pivots felt by the pandemic. Join Gerald, Purchasing Agent at the County of Bergen, as he sheds light on how he was able to seamlessly pivot his team’s procurement strategy from being completely manual to a digital, streamlined process. Gerald will speak on the lessons learned, areas to focus on, and strategies to consider when considering ways to further enable your procurement leaders and teams through a more digitized approach.
What You'll Learn
Make sure to join this session to learn:
- Have a clear understanding on how to get started with creating a strong digital procurement process and strategy
- Understand what to look for when assessing and reviewing eProcurement options.
- Understand how to set up an easy and seamless rollout and adoption strategy for both your staff and vendors.
Presenter Bio(s)
Gerald is currently the Director of Purchasing for the County of Bergen where he oversees a centralized purchasing team for over $500 of public funds. In addition, Gerald has worked to create one of the largest Group Purchasing Organizations named the New Jersey Cooperative Purchasing Alliance which utilizes the County’s buying power to help over 350 local units see value and savings in their procurement efforts. In addition, Gerald recently established a first of its kind digital transformation of procurement by creating BergenBids. BergenBids is a shared service SAAS solution for Bergen County’s communities to be able to post their bid opportunities in one centralized portal to reach a broader community and increase competition and drive costs down. Lastly, Gerald has been integral in the County’s energy policy where he has focused on green procurement including public private partnerships for electric vehicle charging stations and pooling the County’s load profile into a contract which is not only 100% renewable but also at least 20% less than the tariff rate.
Attendance for Individuals
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Attendance for Groups
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