The Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing (VAGP) is a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of procurement practitioners, established in 1958 to improve and assist public purchasers through legislative advocacy, research, education and other services. The membership includes employees in Virginia state, city, local governments, educational institutions, and special authorities.

President's Message

I enjoyed seeing so many of my fellow procurement professionals at the Spring Conference. It was a very successful event. Thank you to the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and all of the volunteers who helped to make this an excellent event. A big thank you also goes out to the VAGP Professional Development Foundation who donated $1,500 to help with speaker expenses for the conference.

What did your department/division, agency or public body do to celebrate March 2010 as Governmental Purchasing Month? I would like to collect these ideas and share them with the membership. Promoting the importance of public procurement is essential. Please send your celebratory stories to me via e-mail.

At the 2009 Fall Business Meeting, the membership voted to issue a solicitation and receive proposals for a new contract for a management firm. The Board has been actively working on this project, and the Request for Proposal is in strong draft format. At the 2010 Spring Business Meeting, 2nd At Large Member, Crystal Weller, encouraged members to contact her to provide any suggested service improvements to be addressed in the RFP. The deadline for input to Crystal is April 19, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

The Board’s Action Planning session is scheduled for April 30, 2010. If you have ideas to share on strategic initiatives to help VAGP grow, please contact me or Linda Wade, President-Elect. The opportunity to hear from the membership is welcomed and appreciated.

VAGP’s first Reverse Trade Show is being planned for early Fall 2010. The event will be held in the Richmond area. The Ad Hoc Committee is working to bring a diverse group of vendors such as architects, engineers, contractors and consultants, as well as vendors providing goods and services of every kind to the full range of public agencies represented by VAGP. What will draw these vendors to this event? An opportunity to meet and network with public procurement professionals like you! The intent is to have 40-50+ participating public agencies. The success of the event will depend on having a good cross section of public agencies, by size, type and spend. The Committee is working on a schedule that will minimize travel to eliminate the need for a hotel stay. Attendance will be at no cost to the agencies/public bodies. More information will be forthcoming in the near future. Please contact Etta Henry, Old Dominion University, or Al Elias, Goochland County, if you are interested in participating and representing your agency at this exciting new event.

VAGP’s first Fall Symposium will be held October 6-8, 2010 at the Sheraton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel. The City of Virginia Beach and Old Dominion University will host this low cost, high value event. Topics have been selected with a focus on programs that project procurement as value added, particularly in the areas of generating revenue, cost avoidance and measuring procurement value. Please plan to attend this event!

VAGP has several NIGP Seminars and VAGP Low-Fee Seminars scheduled for the remainder of the year. Please take a moment to review the schedule for upcoming training opportunities. The seminars can provide a wealth of knowledge, networking opportunities, and certification/recertification points for new and seasoned public purchasers. Please contact me to discuss the opportunity to volunteer or any of our Association’s business. I look forward to hearing from you.