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

Bill Lindsey, CPPO, C.P.M.

As our membership closes one fiscal year and opens another, I am amazed at the progress of our Association over the last six months, but more importantly, what lies ahead!

We opened calendar year '13 with a dominant presence in the General Assembly where VAGP was recognized as a 'go-to' organization in regards to legislative activity concerning public procurement in Virginia. Not only did we consult with many legislators and administration officials, but we were also firmly engaged in activities to amend and in some cases eliminate bills that had a detrimental effect the competitive principles of the Procurement Act.

From that point, we had an excellent Spring Conference and Vendor Expo sponsored by Henrico County and a successful Reverse Trade Show in Richmond. Although these may be some of the highlighted programs offered by our Association, our Education and Professional Development Committees have remained extremely busy offering a variety of educational opportunities for our membership. One item that I would also like to mention is our recent successes in partnering with other professional associations. For example, we worked with the Capitol Area Purchasing Association on our past success with the Reverse Trade Show. Additionally, we recently worked with the National Association of Purchasing Management to offer a negotiation class in Tidewater which was very successful. Finally, we are presently working with VASCUPP on their Supplier Diversity Advocate Institute and offering this to our membership on July 25 at William and Mary. More about this program is available on VAGP's Event Tab.

So, what's next? Unquestionably, you can certainly avail yourself of NIGP's Forum in Orlando in late August.

From a VAGP standpoint, you have a rare opportunity to pre-register for our Fall Symposium in late September. I call this 'pre-register' because this is one of the few times that VAGP has ever offered our Fall program so early in order to allow members the ability to use any year-end travel funds in order to register for the program.

I guarantee you that the extremely limited registration cost of $99 for the Fall Symposium will be the lowest amount you will ever spend for a program of this magnitude. As an example, for about $7.50 per hour, you will receive some of the best procurement training in the country from speakers that are recognized both nationally and internationally.

I encourage you to register early for this program. If you have any questions about this or any aspect of our Association, please do not hesitate to contact me at blindsey@gloucesterva.info.